Firefighter from line of department members dating back to Irish potato famine promoted at FDNY ceremony

He’s a chip off the old block.

A new dad who comes from a long line of cops and firefighters — dating back to the Irish potato famine — was promoted at an FDNY ceremony Friday along with dozens of other proud smoke-eaters.

Timothy Clarke, 41, was bumped up from firefighter to Lieutenant in Chelsea’s Tower Ladder 12,  following in the footsteps of a forefather who fled the Emerald Isle to become one of the Big Apple’s Bravest.

“My great, great, great, grandfather was one of the first ever paid New York City firefighters, so it’s been kind of a family tradition, a family career,” Clarke told The Post.

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“My grandfather was a firefighter, my father was a cop, so we’ve been all firefighters and cops since the Irish potato famine,” he said, referring to the traumatic period in Irish history, which led to roughly a million deaths between 1845 and 1851.

His pioneering great, great, great grandpa, Patrick Conaghan, put out fires “all over Manhattan” beginning in the mid-1800s after emigrating, he said.

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“My middle name is Conaghan, so I’m named after him,” he said. “[I’m] fifth generation.”

He said his new higher rank is an honor his late relatives would have been proud of.

“It means a ton, it’s a huge responsibility, it’s a big tradition to carry on, not with just my family, but with the job itself,” he said. “It’s your obligation to train and be better and rely on the people around you, to make sure everyone gets home and does the right thing.”

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Clarke said he now has a 13-day-old daughter — but the jury’s out on whether she’ll go into the force, too.

“Right now we’re just trying to get through breastfeeding,” he said.

Clarke was promoted,  along with roughly 70 other FDNY members,  at a ceremony held at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Facility on Staten Island.

In total, six staffers were promoted to Captain, three were promoted to supervising fire marshal, 32 were promoted to Lieutenant, 29 were promoted to fire marshal.

“Congratulations to all of you,” FDNY Chief Robert Tucker told them. “Your promotions today are making you the leaders of the greatest fire department in the world.”

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