PIERRE — The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Ireland was on display Thursday in the South Dakota Senate and House.

Irish Sen. Mark Daly, who was a special guest of Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, presented the Irish flag to Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden. He later presented the flag to Speaker of the House Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown. His visit was part of the American Irish State Legislature Caucus.

The caucus seeks to build bipartisan relationships between Ireland and America at the state and local government level. Daly said it was “a great honor” to present the flag as a symbol of the connection.

“That flag was flown last year, 175 years to the day when Thomas Francis Meagher flew an Irish flag for the first time,” in Montana, Daly said.

Meagher was appointed the Territorial Governor of Montana in the mid-1800s.

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Daly noted the special relationship between the U.S. and Ireland since the former English territory became an independent republic in 1921. He also recognized the role of the U.S. in helping negotiate the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which ended the Troubles, a a 30-year period of civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

In the Senate, Sen. Ryan Maher, R-Isabel, noted Meagher had been his great-great-great grandfather. Meagher had been an Irish revolutionary and was arrested for his crimes before being deported for his crimes. He later immigrated to the U.S. and served in the Civil War before his gubernatorial appointment.

Maher said his family loved to tell the history of being related to an Irish “rabble rouser.”

“Now all these years later, some of us are still playing politics,” Maher said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Irish politician honors US-Ireland relations with flag presentation in South Dakota