Actors Arts •
Mathew Brady – photographer •
Jean Butler – dancer; mother is from County Mayo •
Kurt Cobain – songwriter and musician, lead singer of Nirvana •
Jerome Connor – sculptor •
Auliʻi Cravalho – singer and actress •
Thomas Crawford – sculptor •
Colleen Doran – cartoonist, illustrator, writer •
Michael Flatley – dancer •
William Harnett – painter, Irish immigrant best known for
trompe-l'œil renderings of still life •
George Peter Alexander Healy – portrait painter •
Thomas Hovenden – painter •
Carrie Ann Inaba – dancer, actress; mother of Chinese and Irish descent •
Gene Kelly – dancer, actor, singer, director, choreographer •
James E. Kelly – sculptor and illustrator •
Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt – artist, activist •
Edward McCartan – sculptor •
Nancy Jewel McDonie – singer, dancer, member of the South Korean group
Momoland; mother is Korean and father is of Irish ancestry •
Dorothy Miner – art historian and curator •
Samuel Murray – sculptor •
Jim Morrison – singer, frontman of the Doors •
John Neagle – painter •
William Rudolf O'Donovan – sculptor •
Georgia O'Keeffe – painter •
Eileen O'Meara – animator, artist; of Irish and Italian ancestry •
Timothy H. O'Sullivan – photographer •
Maurice J. Power – sculptor, politician, foundry owner •
John Ramage – miniaturist •
George Reynolds – painter, student of Eakins, Civil War Medal of Honor •
Christopher Ross – sculptor and designer; grandfather is from Dublin •
Augustus Saint-Gaudens – sculptor; Irish mother •
Louis Saint-Gaudens – sculptor, brother of Augustus Saint-Gaudens •
John Talbott Donoghue – sculptor
Astronauts •
Eileen Collins – commander for
STS-93 and
STS-114; pilot for
STS-63 and
STS-84 •
Michael Collins – Command Module Pilot for
Apollo 11, 1969 •
James Irwin – Lunar Module Pilot for
Apollo 15 •
Mark Kelly – commander for
STS-124 and
STS-134; pilot for
STS-121 and
STS-108 •
Scott Kelly – NASA astronaut; he and his brother Mark are the only twins and the only siblings who have both traveled in space •
Joseph P. Kerwin – Science Pilot for
Skylab 2 •
James A. McDivitt - American test pilot, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Business •
Diamond Jim Brady – financier and philanthropist •
George Bryan – judge of Pennsylvania Supreme Court, abolitionist •
Mortimer J. Buckley - President and CEO of
The Vanguard Group •
Dan and Frank Carney – founder of pizza Hut •
Ron Conway - American
venture capitalist and philanthropist. He has been described as one of Silicon Valley's "
super angels". •
Edward Creighton – Omaha businessman and philanthropist •
John A. Creighton (1831–1907) – Omaha businessman and philanthropist •
George Croghan – fur trader •
Michael J. Cullen – founder of
King Kullen, inventor of the
supermarket •
Marcus Daly (1841–1900) – A "Copper King" of Butte, Montana, United States •
Charles Stark Draper – Anglo-Irish •
Dawn Fitzpatrick – Global Head of Equities, Multi-Asset and
O'Connor at
UBS Asset Management •
John L. Flannery – former CEO of
General Electric •
Henry Ford – founder of
Ford Motor Company; Anglo-Irish •
Mark Gallogly - American private equity investor who co-founded and served as Managing Principal of the private investment firm Centerbridge Partners until his retirement in 2020 •
Paul Galvin – inventor of the car radio; founder of Motorola •
James P. Gorman - chairman and CEO of
Morgan Stanley •
Franklin B. Gowen – lawyer, president of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, prosecuted the trial against the
Molly Maguires •
William Russell Grace (1832–1904) – mayor of New York City and founder of W. R. Grace and Company •
Herb Kelleher –
Southwest Airlines chairman •
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. –
SEC chairman, former ambassador to the UK and father of President JFK. •
John Leahy –
COO of
Airbus; commercial pilot •
John C. Malone – American billionaire businessman, landowner, and philanthropist •
Richard and Maurice McDonald – founders of
McDonald's •
Mike McGrath – Chief Justice of Montana Supreme Court •
Edmund McIlhenny – inventor of hot sauce •
Shane McMahon – minority owner of WWE •
Stephanie McMahon – CBO of WWE •
Vince McMahon – CEO of
WWE •
Robert McNamara - President of
Ford Motor Company. Known for using 1950s computer spreadsheets featuring graphs, a new idea •
Thomas Mellon – founder of Mellon Bank •
Tom Monaghan – founder of
Domino's Pizza •
Brian Moynihan - chairman and CEO of
Bank of America •
Pat Powers – businessman and film producer •
Bill Rancic – entrepreneur •
Joseph F. Sinnott – owner of Moore and Sinnott, the largest rye whiskey distillery in the United States before Prohibition •
Louis Sullivan – inventor of the skyscraper •
Jack Welch – former CEO of
General Electric •
Mary Callahan Erdoes - CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, a division of
JPMorgan Chase •
Anne Finucane -
Vice chair of
Bank of America and chair of the board of Bank of America Europe. •
Edward F. Crawford (businessman) - American businessman and entrepreneur •
Cathie Wood - American investor and founder,
CEO and
CIO of
ARK Invest, an
investment management firm •
William S. O'Brien - American businessman who dealt in mining stocks and operated silver mines. •
Peter McCarthy (industrialist) - Manufacturer, businessman and philanthropist •
Art Rooney - Founding owner of the
Pittsburgh Steelers •
James E. Casey - Founder of
UPS •
Chuck Feeney - Businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of
Duty Free Shoppers Group, the travel retailer of luxury products based in Hong Kong. He was the founder of the
Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world.
Educators •
Mary Harris Jones – "Mother Jones", educator and labor organizer •
Joseph S. Murphy (1933–1998) – president of Queens College, president of Bennington College, and chancellor of the
City University of New York •
Victoria Leigh Soto – educator who was killed in the 2012
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; hid students and died trying to protect them
Film directors, producers and scriptwriters •
Rafael Casal (1985–) – American writer, actor, producer, and showrunner. He is of Irish, Spanish, and Cuban descent. •
Roy E. Disney (1930–2009) – senior executive for
The Walt Disney Company and son of Roy O. Disney •
Roy O. Disney (1893–1971) – Walt Disney's brother •
Walt Disney (1901–1966) •
Thom Fitzgerald – known for independent films like
The Hanging Garden; born in New York; his grandparents were immigrants from County Kerry and County Cavan, Ireland •
John Ford (1894–1973) – director, best known for stylish Westerns and the film classic
The Quiet Man •
Mel Gibson (1956–) – known for both writing and directing the highest grossing rated R film of all time ($370,782,930),
The Passion of the Christ •
Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) •
John Huston (1906–1987) •
Rex Ingram (1892–1950) •
Leo McCarey (1898–1969) •
Michael Moore (1954–) •
John Sayles (1950–) – independent film director and writer, frequently takes a small part in his own and other indie films •
Mack Sennett (1880–1960) •
Quentin Tarantino (1963–) •
William Desmond Taylor (1872–1922) •
Raoul Walsh (1887–1980) •
William A. Wellman (1896–1975) •
Shannen Doherty •
Pat Powers (businessman) Gangsters and mobsters Journalists, media •
Mike Barnicle •
Nellie Bly •
Jimmy Breslin •
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925–2008) •
Howie Carr •
Ann Coulter •
John Devoy (1842–1928) – editor of the
Gaelic American 1903–1928 •
Phil Donahue •
Maureen Dowd •
Roger Ebert •
Jimmy Fallon •
Austin E. Ford (1857–1896) – editor of the
New York Freeman •
Patrick Ford (1837–1913) – founded the
Irish World in New York •
Pete Hamill •
Sean Hannity •
Greg Kelly •
Mary McGrory – Washington political reporter and columnist •
James McMaster (1820–1886) – editor of ''Freeman's Journal'' (New York) •
Chris Matthews •
John Mitchel (1815–1875) – editor of leading Confederate newspaper •
Peggy Noonan (1950– ) – author, political analyst and columnist •
Conan O'Brien •
Soledad O'Brien – journalist and producer •
Norah O'Donnell •
John Boyle O'Reilly (1844–1890) – editor of
Boston Pilot •
Bill O'Reilly •
John L. O'Sullivan •
Dennis Roddy •
Mark Shields (1937–2022) •
Ed Sullivan •
Elizabeth Vargas –
ABC News anchor •
Brian Williams –
NBC News anchor •
Ellen DeGeneres – talk show host •
Ben Bradlee •
Ben Bradlee, Jr. •
Tom Kenny •
Billy West •
Loretta Lynn •
Dennis Quaid •
Randy Quaid •
Karen Allen •
Jim Acosta •
Mike Barnicle •
Bob Costas •
Greta Van Susteren •
Nellie Bly •
Joseph I. Breen •
Jimmy Breslin •
Howie Carr – author, Boston newspaper columnist and New England radio talk-show host; has claimed family "two-boater" Irish ancestry (i.e., Ireland-to-Canada, then Canada-to-Maine) on his father's side •
Neil Cavuto •
Carson Daly •
Phil Donahue •
Maureen Dowd •
Brian Doyle-Murray •
Roger Ebert •
Pete Hamill •
Sean Hannity •
Greg Kelly •
Megyn Kelly •
Chris Matthews •
Kayleigh McEnany •
Nick Mullen •
Bill Murray •
Joel Murray •
Peggy Noonan (1950– ) – author, political analyst and pundit for the Republican Party •
Conan O'Brien •
Soledad O'Brien •
Norah O'Donnell •
Michael O'Looney – New York-based reporter; later a business executive with Merrill Lynch •
Bill O'Reilly •
John L. O'Sullivan •
Regis Philbin •
Sally Quinn, fist anchor woman in America •
Tim Russert (1950–2008) – journalist, hosted NBC's
Meet the Press from 1991 until his death in 2008 •
John B. Sheridan (1870–1930) – sports journalist (
Sporting News) •
Ed Sullivan •
Elizabeth Vargas •
John Walsh •
Brian Williams •
Smith Hart •
Bruce Hart •
Keith Hart •
Dean Hart •
Bret Hart •
Ross Hart •
Diana Hart •
Owen Hart •
Ireland Baldwin •
Alec Baldwin •
Daniel Baldwin •
Stephen Baldwin •
William Baldwin •
Emily Deschanel •
Nicole Sullivan •
Kevin Conroy •
Tim McGraw •
Debbie Reynolds Law enforcement •
John O. Brennan – Director of the
CIA from March 2013 to January 2017 •
Raymond W. Kelly – former New York Police Commissioner •
Francis O'Neill – Chicago Police Chief •
Brian Terry – United States Border Patrol Agent, BORTAC (USBP Tactical Response Team) Operator •
Charles V. Glasco – New York City Police Sergeant who served in the
New York City Police Department from June 1926 to July 1948 •
Bernard Kerik – former
NYPD commissioner (Irish mother) •
Buckey O'Neill •
William J. Brady •
Bat Masterson Law •
James Duane •
William J. Brennan, Jr. –
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States •
Wayne M. Collins – civil rights attorney •
James B. Comey – former
United States Deputy Attorney General •
Charles Patrick Daly –
Chief Justice of the
New York Court of Common Pleas •
Patrick Fitzgerald –
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois •
Anthony Kennedy –
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States •
Robert F. Kennedy –
United States Attorney General •
Roger I. McDonough –
Chief Justice of the
Utah Supreme Court •
Dorothy Miner – chief counsel for the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission •
Frank Murphy –
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States •
Roger J. Traynor –
Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of California •
James Sullivan (governor) •
George Wythe McCook •
James Clark McReynolds •
Charles Carroll (barrister) •
Brett Kavanaugh -
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States •
Amy Coney Barrett -
Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States •
James B. Donovan - Lawyer known for hostage negotiation of 1960–1962 with the Soviet Union
Literature •
Philip Barry – playwright; author of
The Philadelphia Story •
L. Frank Baum – author of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz •
Ted Berrigan – poet, part of the second generation of the New York School; author of
The Sonnets •
John Berryman – poet; one of the founders of the
Confessional school of poetry •
J.P. Donleavy – novelist; author of
The Ginger Man, named on the
Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels •
Kirby Doyle – poet and novelist; associated with the
New American Poetry movement and "third generation" American
modernist poets •
Alan Dugan – poet; winner of the 1961
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his volume
Poems •
James T. Farrell – novelist; author of the
Studs Lonigan trilogy, named on the
Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels •
F. Scott Fitzgerald – novelist and short story writer; his novel
The Great Gatsby was named on both the
Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels and the
TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005 •
Robert Fitzgerald – poet, critic, and translator; served as
Poet Laureate of the United States 1984–1985 •
Thomas Flanagan – novelist and academic; winner of the 1979
National Book Critics Circle Award for
The Year of the French •
Vince Flynn –
political thriller novelist; author of bestselling
Mitch Rapp series •
Alice Fulton – poet and short story writer; awarded the 2002
Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for
Felt •
Brigit Pegeen Kelly – poet; finalist for the 2005
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for
The Orchard •
J.F. Powers – novelist and short story writer; winner of the 1963
National Book Award for ''
Morte d'Urban'' •
Anne Rice –
horror novelist; author of bestselling
Interview with a Vampire series •
Ryan Max Riley – humorist and freestyle mogul skier on the
US Ski Team •
Nora Roberts –
romance novelist; first inductee into the
Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame •
Kay Ryan – poet and academic; currents
Poet Laureate of the United States •
Michael Ryan – poet; awarded the 1990
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for
God Hunger •
John Brennan – Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2013 to 2017. •
William J. Casey – Director of Central Intelligence (CIA) from 1981 to 1987. •
Albert Cashier,
American Civil War soldier •
Michael Hayden (general) - Director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Director of NSA •
Patrick Edward Connor – Union general born in Kerry •
Michael Corcoran – United States Army general •
James Hickey – leader of
Operation Red Dawn; son of Irish immigrants •
Stephen W. Kearny – US Army officer, noted for action in the southwest during the Mexican–American War •
David Conner (naval officer) •
William D. Leahy – The most senior United States military officer on active duty during World War II, he held several titles and exercised considerable influence over foreign and military policy. As a fleet admiral, he was the first flag officer ever to hold a five-star rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. •
Andrew Lewis –
Continental Army general •
Alfred Thayer Mahan – naval officer and author whose work, including
Sea Power, inspired the creation of the modern United States Navy •
Dennis Hart Mahan – guiding light and head of faculty at West Point for decades prior to the Civil War; influential author whose published works were the keystone for spreading engineering knowledge throughout the antebellum US; his Napoleon seminar at West Point informed Civil War strategies, North and South •
George Gordon Meade – commanding general of the Army of the Potomac who led the Union forces to victory at Gettysburg in 1863 •
Thomas Francis Meagher –
United States Army general,
Fenian •
Richard Montgomery –
Continental Army general •
Audie Murphy – most decorated combat soldier of
World War II • Lt.
Michael Patrick Murphy – Navy Seal, Medal of Honor •
Timothy Murphy –
marksman,
Continental Army; parents were Irish immigrants •
Thomas Macdonough, Jr. 19th-century Irish-American naval officer •
Hugh McGary, 18th century Irish-American military officer, founder of McGary's station in Oregon, Kentucky •
Jeremiah O'Brien – captain in
Continental Navy •
Joseph T. O'Callahan – Medal of Honor •
John O'Neill –
United States Army general,
Fenian •
George S. Patton – general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. •
John P. O'Neill – high ranking
anti-terrorism expert •
Molly Pitcher – Revolutionary War heroine •
John Reynolds – general commanding the right wing of the Army of the Potomac who surprised Lee and committed the Union Army to battle at Gettysburg in July 1863; killed in the front lines while personally rallying troops for counterattacks during the first day of fighting •
Philip Sheridan –
United States Army,
General of the Army,
Cavalry •
John Sullivan –
Continental Army general •
William M. Browne •
Richard Busteed •
Joseph Finegan •
William Gamble •
James Hagan •
James Lawlor Kiernan •
Walter P. Lane •
Michael Kelly Lawler •
Patrick Theodore Moore •
James Shields •
Thomas Alfred Smyth •
Thomas William Sweeny •
James McLaughlin •
Samuel Brady - Irish American Revolutionary War officer, frontier scout and notorious Indian fighter •
James Clinton Anglo-Irish •
Stephen Moylan •
James Moore (Continental Army officer) •
Hercules Mulligan •
Thomas Hickey (soldier) •
Richard Butler (general) •
Edward Hand •
Thomas McInerney •
Thomas White (patriot) •
Simon Girty •
Charles Clinton •
Myles Keogh •
Patrick Edward Connor •
Stephen Joseph McGroarty •
Robert Nugent (officer) •
John McCausland •
Lawrence O'Bryan Branch •
Peter O'Brien (Medal of Honor) •
John Gregory Bourke •
Edmond Butler •
Henry D. O'Brien • Out of the 115 killed at
Battle of Bunker Hill 22 were Irish-born some of their names include Callaghan, Casey, Collins, Connelly, Dillon, Donohue, Flynn, McGrath, Nugent, Shannon, and Sullivan •
Robert Magaw •
John Rutledge – Anglo-Irish •
Richard Byrnes •
Bennet C. Riley •
Philip Kearny •
William Wilson Quinn – lieutenant general •
Presley O'Bannon - A
first lieutenant in the
United States Marine Corps, famous for his exploits in the
First Barbary War (1801–1805). He was presented a sword for his part in attempting to restore Prince
Hamet Karamanli to his throne as the Bey of
Tripoli. That sword is the inspiration for the United States Marine Corps officer uniform since 1825. •
William J. Donovan - He is regarded as the founding father of the CIA, and a statue of him stands in the lobby of the
CIA headquarters building in
Langley, Virginia. •
Dennis E. Nolan - Major General who distinguished himself by heading the first modern American military combat intelligence function during
World War I. •
Martin Dempsey - General and the 18th
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Musicians Politicians Presidents At least 22
presidents of the United States have some Irish ancestral origins, although the extent of this varies. Whereas
Andrew Jackson and
John F. Kennedy were of wholly Irish descent, most other Presidents trace their ancestry to multiple countries, Ireland being only one of them.. ;
Andrew Jackson (Scotch-Irish and English) : 7th President 1829–37: He was born in the predominantly Ulster-Scots
Waxhaws area of
South Carolina two years after his parents left
Boneybefore, near
Carrickfergus in
County Antrim. A
heritage centre in the village pays tribute to the legacy of 'Old Hickory', the People's President. Andrew Jackson then moved to
Tennessee, where he served as Governor. ;
James Knox Polk (Scotch-Irish) :11th President, 1845–49: His ancestors were among the first Ulster-Scots settlers, emigrating from
Coleraine in 1680 to become a powerful political family in
Mecklenburg County,
North Carolina. He moved to
Tennessee and became its governor before winning the presidency. ;
James Buchanan (Scotch-Irish) :15th President, 1857–61: Born in a log cabin (which has been relocated to his old school in
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania), 'Old Buck' cherished his origins: "My Ulster blood is a priceless heritage". The Buchanans were originally from
Deroran, near
Omagh in
County Tyrone where the ancestral home still stands. ;
Ulysses S. Grant (Possibly Irish, Scotch-Irish, English and Scottish) :18th President, 1869–77: The home of his maternal great-grandfather, John Simpson, at
Dergenagh, County Tyrone, is the location for an exhibition on the eventful life of the victorious
Civil War commander who served two terms as President. Grant visited his ancestral homeland in 1878. His grandmother was Rachel Kelley, the daughter of an Irish pioneer. ;
Chester A. Arthur (Scotch-Irish and English) :21st President, 1881–85: His election was the start of a quarter-century in which the White House was occupied by men of Ulster-Scots origins. His family left
Dreen, near
Cullybackey, County Antrim, in 1815. There is now an interpretive centre, alongside the Arthur Ancestral Home, devoted to his life and times. ;
Grover Cleveland (Irish and English) :22nd and 24th President, 1885–89 and 1893–97: Born in
New Jersey, he was the maternal grandson of merchant Abner Neal, who emigrated from County Antrim in the 1790s. ;
Benjamin Harrison (Scotch-Irish and English) :23rd President, 1889–93: His mother, Elizabeth Irwin, had Ulster-Scots roots through her two great-grandfathers, James Irwin and William McDowell. Harrison was born in
Ohio and served as a brigadier general in the
Union Army before embarking on a career in
Indiana politics which led to the White House. ;
William McKinley (Scotch-Irish and English) :25th President, 1897–1901: Born in
Ohio, the descendant of a farmer from Conagher, near
Ballymoney, County Antrim, he was proud of his ancestry and addressed one of the national Scotch-Irish congresses held in the late 19th century. His second term as president was cut short by an assassin's bullet. ;
Theodore Roosevelt (Irish, Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Scotch, English and French) :26th President, 1901-09: Roosevelt's mother,
Mittie Bulloch, had Ulster Scots ancestors who emigrated from
Glenoe, County Antrim, in May 1729. Roosevelt praised "Irish Presbyterians" as "a bold and hardy race." However, he also said: "But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts "native" before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen." (Roosevelt was referring to "
nativists", not
American Indians, in this context) ;
William Howard Taft (Irish and English) :27th President, 1909–13: His great-great-great-grandfather, Robert Taft was born in 1640 in Ireland and immigrated to America, during the mid 17th century. Robert taft was from
County Louth. ;
Woodrow Wilson (Scotch-Irish) :28th President, 1913–21: Of Ulster-Scot descent on both sides of the family, his roots were very strong and dear to him. He was the grandson of a printer from
Dergalt, near
Strabane, County Tyrone, whose former home is open to visitors. Throughout his career, Wilson reflected on the influence of his ancestral values on his constant quest for knowledge and fulfillment. ;
Harry S. Truman (Scotch-Irish and German) :33rd President, 1945–53. ;
John F. Kennedy (Irish) :35th President, 1961–63 (ancestors from
County Wexford,
County Limerick,
County Cork,
County Clare and
County Fermanagh). The first Catholic president. ;
Richard Nixon (Irish, Scotch-Irish, English and German) :37th President, 1969–74: Nixon's ancestors left Ulster in the mid-18th century; the Quaker Milhous family ties were with County Antrim and
County Kildare and County Cork. ;
George H. W. Bush (Irish and English) :41st President, 1989–93: County Wexford historians have found that his apparent ancestor,
Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (known as Strongbow for his arrow skills), is remembered as a desperate, land-grabbing warlord whose calamitous foreign adventure led to the suffering of generations. Shunned by
Henry II, he offered his services as a mercenary in the 12th-century invasion of Wexford in exchange for power and land. He would die from a festering ulcer in his foot, which his enemies said was the revenge of Irish saints whose shrines he had violated. The genetic line can also be traced to Dermot MacMurrough, the Gaelic king of Leinster reviled in history books as the man who sold Ireland by inviting Strongbow's invasion to save himself from a local feud. ;
Bill Clinton (Irish, Scotch-Irish and English) :42nd President, 1993–2001: According to a census document, Clinton's paternal great-grandmother Hattie Hayes had Irish parents and his paternal great-grandfather had an Irish father. Clinton's mother's maiden name, Cassidy, also suggests Irish ancestry on the maternal side, although there is no documentation to substantiate that claim. His great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, was born in the Irish town of
Moneygall. ;
Joe Biden, (Irish and English) : 46th President 2021-2025: His closest link to Ireland is his great-grandfather James Finnegan, who was born in County Louth in 1840.
Science •
Jim Collins – Rhodes Scholar, MacArthur genius, bioengineer and inventor •
Simon Hullihen – Known as The Father of Oral Surgery •
Charles McBurney – Medical Pioneer •
Sean B. Carroll - Biologist who has won several awards including the
Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science from the
Franklin Institute "for proposing and demonstrating that the diversity and multiplicity of animal life is largely due to the different ways that the same genes are regulated rather than to mutation of the genes themselves." •
Margaret Murnane - Physicist who has earned multiple awards including the
MacArthur Fellowship award in 2000, the Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Prize in 2017, the highest award of
The Optical Society, and the 2021
Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics. •
John P. Hayes - Computer scientist and electrical engineer who in 2013, the
IEEE Computer Society Test Technology Technical Community honored with a Lifetime Contribution Medal. In 2014, Hayes was recognized with the
ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation Pioneering Achievement Award "for his pioneering contributions to logic design, fault tolerant computing, and testing." •
Thomas Maurice Rice - Theoretical physicist specializing in
condensed matter physics who won the prestigious 1998
EPS Europhysics Prize for his "original contributions to the theory of strongly correlated electron systems." •
Conor P. Delaney - Physician and medical researcher whose research contributions include various aspects of
surgery, surgical cost-efficiency and surgical education, while his clinical research contributions include developing enhanced recovery pathways in minimally invasive
laparoscopic colorectal surgery,
carcinoma of the
colon and rectum,
Crohn's disease and
Ulcerative colitis,
sphincter-saving surgery, re-operative abdominal surgery, and
colonoscopy. •
Joseph John O'Connell -
Electrical engineer and inventor. •
John A. O'Keefe (astronomer) - Astronomer who is the co-discoverer of the
YORP effect. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center conferred its highest honor, the Award of Merit, on O'Keefe in 1992. •
Gerard K. O'Neill - American
physicist who invented a device called the
particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiments. He is well known for the idea known as an
O'Neill cylinder. •
Patrick M. McCarthy (surgeon) - Professor of Surgery who invented the Myxo ETlogix ring, a heart valve repair ring. •
Betty Sullivan - Biochemist and first women to win the Osbourne Medal by the
American Association of Cereal Chemists. Sullivan was also awarded the
Garvan–Olin Medal in 1954 by the
American Chemical Society. •
Craig Fennie - Physicist and materials scientist. He is best known for winning a
MacArthur Award in 2013. •
Neville Hogan - Professor of Mechanical Engineering who received the
Rufus Oldenburger Medal in 2009. •
Eamonn Healy - Irish-American professor of
chemistry,
organic chemistry, and
biochemistry. As a member of the Dewar research group he co-authored
Austin Model 1, or AM1, a
semi-empirical method for the quantum calculation of molecular electronic structure in
computational chemistry. •
David Madigan - Professor of
Statistics with over 200 publications •
John F. McCarthy Jr. - Scientist and engineer who was awarded the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1982 •
Garret A. FitzGerald - Medical researcher who has won several awards including the 2013
Schottenstein Prize,
Lefoulon-Delalande Prize,
Scheele Award, the
Lucian Award as well as the 2009
Taylor Prize. His work contributed substantially to the development of low-dose
aspirin to prevent heart attacks and stroke. •
Morrough Parker O'Brien -
Hydraulic engineering professor and is considered the founder of modern
coastal engineering. He is known for the
MOJS equation, an equation used to estimate the
wave loads in the design of
oil platforms and other
offshore structures. He also worked in the
aerospace division of
General Electric and was elected to their Propulsion Hall of Fame in 1984. •
Katherine A. Fitzgerald - Irish-American
Molecular biologist and
virologist •
John Benjamin Murphy -
Physician and
abdominal surgeon. Several medical terms are named after him including: Murphy's button,
Murphy drip,
Murphy’s punch,
Murphy’s test, and
Murphy-Lane bone skid. The
Mayo Clinic co-founder
William James Mayo called him "the surgical genius of our generation". •
John McCarthy (mathematician) - Mathematician who won the Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson award in 2016. •
Michael J. Flynn - Electrical Engineer who won the
Computer Pioneer Award •
Michael O'Shaughnessy - Civil Engineer for which
O'Shaughnessy Dam (California) is named after. •
Joseph Francis Shea -
Aerospace engineer and
NASA manager. He worked on the radio
inertial guidance system of the
Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile •
Paul C. Donnelly -
Guided missile pioneer and a senior
NASA manager during the
Apollo Moon landing program. He was awarded the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal. •
Patrick Bernard Delany - Electrician and Inventor. Newspaper feature coverage in 1909 called him "the world's greatest telegraph expert and inventor." Delany was a two-time recipient of the
Elliott Cresson Medal awarded by the
Franklin Institute, one in 1886 for "Synchronous Telegraphy" and another in 1896 for "Telegraphy, High speed system". •
Patrick G. O'Shea - Physicist who served as chief research officer at the
University of Maryland. He also is a Fellow of the
American Physical Society, the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. •
Edward Condon - Physicist and pioneer in quantum mechanics. The
Franck–Condon principle and the
Slater–Condon rules are co-named after him. He participated in the development of radar during world war II and was awarded the
Frederic Ives Medal by the
Optical Society in 1968. •
Brian O'Brien (optical physicist) - Physicist who received numerous awards, including the Medal for Merit, the nation's highest civilian award, for his work on optics in
World War II and the
Frederic Ives Medal in 1951. •
Patrick O'Neil - Computer Scientist •
Denton Cooley - American cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total
artificial heart. He was one of the most-renowned heart surgeons in the world. •
Randall C. O'Reilly - Professor of Psychology and Computer Science. He is most famous for developing the
Leabra recirculating algorithm for learning in
neural networks. •
Charles P. O'Brien - Medical research scientist and a leading expert in the science and treatment of addiction. •
Eugenius Nulty - Mathematician whose work
Elements of Geometry, theoretical and practical was one of the first two or three original geometries published in the United States. •
James D. Griffin (oncologist) - Professor of Medicine at
Harvard Medical School, an expert in
medical oncology and is widely recognized for his research in the clinical and biologic aspects of
hemotologic malignancies. •
F. A. Murphy - Medical Researcher. He was a member of the team of scientists that discovered the
Ebola virus at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is internationally known for his work on
rabies,
encephalitis and hemorrhagic fevers, with over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Sports •
Muhammad Ali – former professional boxer •
Danny Amendola – NFL player •
Lance Armstrong – professional road racing cyclist •
Micah Ashby – mixed martial artist •
Larry Bird - former NBA player •
Cal Bowdler – former basketball player •
Brian Boyle – former NHL player •
James J. Braddock – professional boxer •
Tom Brady – NFL player, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback •
Joseph "Joe" Brennan – Basketball Hall of Famer •
Courtney Brosnan, soccer player, international for Ireland •
Phillip Brooks (CM Punk) – WWE wrestler •
Tom Cahill – MLB baseball player •
Ryan Callahan – former NHL player •
Kyra Carusa – soccer player, international for Ireland •
Chris Coghlan – MLB baseball player •
Marty Conlon – former basketball player •
Billy Conn – professional boxer •
Dan Connolly – former NFL player •
George Connor – NFL player, Chicago Bears •
Gerry Cooney – professional boxer •
James J. Corbett – professional boxer •
Charlie Coyle – NHL player, Boston Bruins •
Matt Cullen – former NHL player •
John Daly – professional golfer •
Clint Dempsey – former professional soccer player •
Jack Dempsey – former professional boxer •
Landon Donovan – former professional soccer player •
Pat Duff – MLB professional baseball player •
Mike Dunleavy Sr. – basketball coach •
Mike Dunleavy Jr. – professional basketball player •
Patrick Eaves – former NHL player •
Julian Edelman – NFL player, New England Patriots •
John Elway – NFL player, Denver Broncos quarterback •
Dave Finlay – former professional wrestler •
Mick Foley - professional wrestler •
Whitey Ford – MLB player, New York Yankees pitcher •
Mike Gibbons – professional boxer •
Tommy Gibbons – professional boxer •
Mike Hall – professional basketball player •
Noah Hanifin – NHL player, Vegas Golden Knights •
Luke Harangody – professional basketball player •
Jeff Hardy – WWE wrestler •
Matt Hardy – WWE wrestler •
Tom Harmon - American football – former NFL player •
Ben Hogan – professional golfer •
Holly Holm – MMA fighter •
Derek Jeter – MLB player, New York Yankees shortstop •
Patrick Kane – NHL player, Detroit Red Wings •
Jason Kidd – NBA player/coach •
Joe Lapira – soccer player, had 1 cap for Ireland •
Jay Larranaga – basketball coach •
Jim Larranaga – basketball coach •
Katie Ledecky – Olympic swimmer •
Tommy Loughran – professional boxer •
Rebecca Quinn (Becky Lynch) – WWE wrestler •
Christian McCaffrey - NFL player, San Francisco 49ers •
Brian McCann – MLB player, catcher for the Houston Astros •
John McEnroe – professional tennis player •
Donnie McGrath – professional basketball player •
Terry McGovern – professional boxer •
Kevin McHale – NBA player •
Larry Miggins – MLB player, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder •
Shannon Moore – TNA wrestler •
Chris Mullin - former NBA player •
Charles "Stretch"Murphy – late Basketball Hall of Famer •
Connor Murphy – NHL player, Chicago Blackhawks •
Troy Murphy – basketball player •
Larry O'Bannon – basketball player •
Philadelphia Jack O'Brien – professional boxer •
Patrick O'Bryant – basketball player •
Mike O'Dowd – professional boxer •
Ian O'Leary – professional basketball player •
Troy O'Leary – MLB player, Boston Red Sox outfielder •
Sean O'Malley - UFC fighter •
Ted Potter Jr. – professional golfer •
Jonathan Quick – NHL player, New York Rangers •
Bob Quinn – current general manager of the Detroit Lions •
Dan Quinn – NFL head coach of the Atlanta Falcons •
John Quinlan – pro wrestler •
Giovanni Reyna – soccer player •
Ryan Max Riley – skier, US Ski Team •
Freddie Roach – former boxer, current boxing trainer •
Aaron Rodgers – NFL player, Green Bay Packers •
Kevin Rooney – NHL player, Calgary Flames •
Ken Shamrock - professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist •
Ryan Shannon – former NHL player, won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007 •
Sheamus – professional wrestler •
Kelly Slater – professional surfer •
Sam Snead – PGA Golf Hall of Famer •
Erik Spoelstra – NBA head coach (Dutch-Irish American father) •
Giancarlo Stanton – MLB player, Miami Marlins outfielder •
John L. Sullivan – professional boxer, first Heavyweight champion of gloved boxing •
Gene Tunney – professional boxer •
Mickey Walker – professional boxer •
Andre Ward – professional boxer •
Mickey Ward – professional boxer •
Lenny Wilkens – professional basketball player •
Derrick Williams Soccer Player For
Atlanta United FC Others •
Delphine LaLaurie - Serial killer •
Jim Jones -
Cult leader and mass murderer •
Billy the Kid –
gunslinger •
George Croghan •
Joe Rogan - podcast host and UFC commentator •
Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper) – aka Thomas Fitzpatrick broken hand. •
John Kinney (outlaw) - outlaw •
Lawrence Murphy •
Bill Doolin - outlaw •
Hugh Glass - frontiersman and fur trapper •
John Daly (outlaw) - outlaw •
Hopalong Cassidy •
Tom O'Day •
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet •
George Shannon (explorer) •
Joseph Breen –
Production Code director •
Frank E. Butler – marksman •
The "Unsinkable" Molly Brown – born Molly Tobin; Irish-born father •
R. Nicholas Burns – American diplomat, Harvard professor, columnist and lecturer; 19th Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs; 17th United States Permanent Representative to NATO; United States Ambassador to Greece 1997–2001 •
John Chambers (1922–2001) – Academy Award-winning makeup artist •
Cheiro – astrologer •
Eileen Collins – first female commander of a
Space Shuttle •
Éamon de Valera – third president of
Ireland •
John Dunlap –
printer, printed the first copies of the
Declaration of Independence •
Wyatt Earp – lawman •
Henry Louis Gates – professor at Harvard University •
Cedric Gibbons – art director •
Ann Glover –
hanged as a
witch in
Boston •
Dan Harrington – world poker champion •
James Healy – Bishop of Portland, America's first African-American bishop; born a slave according to the laws of Georgia to an Irish immigrant and his beloved African wife; first graduate and valedictorian of the
College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts •
Michael Healy – Captain of the Revenue Cutter
Bear; defender of Alaska's Native Americans; inspiration for Jack London's
The Sea Wolf; prominent figure in James Michener's
Alaska; younger brother of James and Patrick Healy •
Patrick Healy – President of Georgetown University, considered its second founder; brother of James Healy; first African-American president of an American university; Priest in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) •
James Hoban –
Architect of the
White House in
Washington, DC •
Mary Jemison – frontierswoman •
Bat Masterson – lawman •
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – former First Lady; her mother,
Janet Lee Bouvier, was of mostly Irish descent •
Margaret McCarthy – migrant •
Marguerite Moore – orator, patriot, activist •
Paul Charles Morphy – chess player •
Coco Rocha – Canadian model of Irish, Welsh, and Russian descent •
Ellen Ewing Sherman – stepsister and wife of William Tecumseh Sherman. Because they would have needed to buy a slave to help with the children, Mrs. Sherman refused to accompany her husband to command at the Louisiana military academy, which later became LSU. During the Civil War, she and their children took up residence at Notre Dame University, with which her family was closely affiliated. •
David Steele – Presbyterian minister •
John L. Sullivan – last bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight champion of the world; first gloved heavyweight champion of the world; first American athlete to become a national celebrity and to earn over $1 million •
Andrew Anglin –
Neo-Nazi, founder, and proprietor of
The Daily Stormer; a white supremacist, anti-Semitic news and commentary website. •
Kathleen Willey – major figure in the
Paula Jones and
Monica Lewinsky scandals involving President
Bill Clinton; mother is of Irish descent •
Vince McMahon – professional wrestling promoter and executive American football executive Businessman (paternal grandmother is Irish descent) •
Seth Rollins – professional wrestler (Irish descent) •
Dana White – American businessman and current president of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) •
Helen Thorpe – journalist, former First Lady of
Colorado and
Denver == References ==