Powerful Irish-Americans

There are quite a few high-profile Americans with Irish roots. Check out this list of influential and powerful individuals who take pride in their

Irish Americans form up to more than ten percent of the total U.S. population, and the largest concentrations are found in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Montana.

Irish Americans hold Irish solid roots, and most of their ancestors migrated to America during the potato famine in the mid-19th century.

There are actually two significant periods when the Irish came to the United States. The first period was when the English colonialists ferried Irish people across the Atlantic to work for them in their plantations while the Irish women were traded to work in American brothels.

The Great Irish Potato Famine

The second period was during the great Irish potato famine, when people on the island were suffering terribly from all sorts of food shortages. A good deal of the Irish population fled their home country to find a better life in America.

The Irish have greatly contributed to the U.S. revolution and have helped shape the new country in all its economic, social, political, and cultural aspects. Let's take a look at some Irish Americans who currently are pretty influential and who have received (inter)national recognition for their achievements:

President Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 20, 1942. Joe (secret service name: 'Celtic') is just a heartbeat away from the most influential and powerful job on earth.

Joe Biden was U.S. Vice President for eight years, assisting the Obama administration since 2008, and he has been U.S. President for over three years. At age 29, Biden was one of the youngest persons ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Shortly thereafter, tragedy struck as Joe Biden’s first wife (Neilia) and their daughter (Naomi) were killed in a tragic car accident. Biden remarried to Jill Jacobs in 1977 and has three children. Biden is very proud of his Irish ancestry, and in 2013, he was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame.

Congressman Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, and he is a 5th-generation native of Wisconsin. In 2012, Paul ran as running mate on Mitch Romney's GOP presidential ticket.

He was the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and has served as Representative for the 1st congressional district of Wisconsin since 1999.

Ryan has also occupied the very powerful position of chair of the House Budget Committee. His father was of Irish ancestry, and Paul often addressed his family's Great Famine roots that trace him back to Kilkenny in Ireland. Paul Ryan earned a degree in political science and economics from Miami University (Ohio).

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

Former Supreme Court Justice Anthony McLeod Kennedy was born in 1936 in Sacramento, California. He was the senior Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1988 to 2018. Anthony Kennedy is a Harvard University graduate who, in the 1970s, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

In 1988, Kennedy was appointed as a Supreme Court Justice by Ronald Reagan. Kennedy is known for having (sometimes extreme) conservative views, but he has also become the major swing vote, making him an unpredictable and surprising Justice of the Supreme Court.

He displayed independence and, when it comes to individual rights such as gay rights and same-sex marriage, a civil-libertarian perspective. Anthony Kennedy's engagement in educational projects (e.g., Dialogue on Freedom, where American traditions and values are explored) was remarkable.

President Bill Clinton

Former President of the U.S. William Jefferson ("Bill") Clinton was born in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas, as William Jefferson Blythe III. Bill doesn't need so much introduction as he is still actively involved in American politics, and his wife Hillary was a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

Bill's Irish roots trace back to Kerry and Cork. In 1992, Clinton was elected as the 42nd President of the United States, and he served two terms. Bill Clinton is now running his 'Clinton Global Initiative' together with their daughter Chelsea and his wife Hillary, former Secretary of State under Obama and former senator for New York.

Clinton played a crucial role in the peace process in Ireland, gave a visa to Gerry Adams (1994), and was of great help in establishing the IRA ceasefire. Clinton visited Northern Ireland during his December 1995 historic trip, and he also played a crucial role in cementing the Irish peace process.

Television director Anne Sweeney

Anne Marie Sweeney is a businesswoman who was born on November 4, 1957, in Kingston, New York. Sweeney was named by Forbes magazine as one of America's most influential businesswomen, definitely in the U.S. entertainment sector. She earlier co-chaired Disney Media, was Disney–ABC President, and, from 1996 to 2014, she functioned as President of Disney Channel.

In 2014, Anne Sweeney left the Walt Disney Company as she wanted to be a television director. She traces her Irish roots to the counties of Mayo, Meath, and Kerry in Ireland, where she has become a frequent visitor. Sweeney has earned a Master’s degree from Harvard University.

Anne Sweeney currently serves on the directors' boards of companies like the Mayo Clinic and Netflix, just to mention a few.

Television host Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien (Conan Christopher) was born on the 18th of April, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he was raised in a traditional Irish Catholic family. O'Brian is one of America's most famous comedians, television hosts, producers, and writers.

From 2010 to 2021, he has been hosting "Conan," the well-known late-night TV talk show of the television station TBS. After graduating from Harvard University, Conan moved to Los Angeles, where he was writing for a number of comedy shows.

Later, he moved to New York City and started to write for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. From 1993 to 2009, he hosted "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and briefly also "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," but that was short-lived. O'Brien often relates proudly to his '100 percent Irish Catholic' roots as his ancestry is from Dungarvan, County Waterford.

Television host Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 19, 1974. The late-night host started to perform as a stand-up comedian already in high school but later dropped out of college as he wanted to pursue a professional comedy career. The comedian Jimmy Fallon rose to fame via 'Saturday Night Live' and currently hosts 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'.

Fallon got his dream job in 1998 when he joined Saturday Night Live, but he left SNL in 2004. In 2009, he started his own pretty successful 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,' until in February 2014, Fallon succeeded Jay Leno to host 'The Tonight Show,' and the show moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Jimmy Fallon is predominantly, but not totally, Irish, as he also has German and Norwegian ancestry.

Television host Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert was born in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 1964, in a large family of 11 children. In 1974, Stephen, just 10 years old, experienced a very tragic event when his father, together with two of his brothers, got killed in a plane crash. Stephen became introverted while he found solace in reading.

When Stephen joined the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, he got in touch with fellow comedians Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he starred in Strangers with Candy and EXIT 57. In 2005, Stephen started 'The Colbert Report' on Comedy Central, in which he portrayed a blustery, starchy right-winger and made a joke of the pundits dominating the talk shows.

In 2007, he published the book 'I Am America (And So Can You!) and was also an important contributor to 'America (The Book) - A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy in Action'.

Colbert is a writer, producer, media critic, and comedian, and is currently the host of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' the highly acclaimed late-night talk show on CBS Television. Stephen Colbert’s great-great-grandfather came from Limerick in Ireland, and Stephen is also proud of his Irish roots.

Of course, there are so many more highly influential Irish-American persons, but we'll take a look at them next time...