IrishAmerica250 is an initiative dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the profound role Irish Americans have played in shaping the United States over the past 250 years. From the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the present day, Irish heritage is deeply woven into the fabric of American democracy and culture.
The earliest known use of the term “United States of America” in 1776 is credited to a letter written by General Stephen Moylan, born in Cork, Ireland, who served as an aide-de-camp to George Washington. Over the centuries, Irish Americans have built the nation, defended the Union, led political movements, and organized labor unions to historic victories. Irish Americans established great institutions of higher learning and have shaped American political leadership—from Speakers of the House like John McCormick and Tip O’Neill to numerous U.S. Presidents who proudly claim Irish heritage.
Irish Americans have also enriched the arts, literature, film, music, scholarship, and sports. Many have been honored with the Medal of Honor and have led U.S. armed forces. Yet, our history is complex and includes darker chapters. IrishAmerica250 is committed to telling this full story—celebrating unsung heroes while setting the record straight.
In recent months, we have engaged with the Irish government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and the America250 Commission to build a collaborative and inclusive commemorative effort. We are consulting historians on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure our narrative is accurate and meaningful. Our activities will be expansive, reflecting the richness of Irish American contributions.
We are particularly keen to tell the story of the Ulster Scots, religious dissidents, who fled Northern Ireland in the early 1700’s and played a significant role in writing the Declaration of Independence and fighting for the Revolution. We are an inclusive, bipartisan and nationwide effort to acknowledge the strength and resilience of our emigrant forebears, who over 250 years dedicated themselves to building the United States from strength to strength.
We are working with Irish community and culture centers all over America to prepare for the 250th Anniversary. The Irish were there at the beginning of the birth of the nation. We hope to use this opportunity to pass on our culture and values to the next generation to sustain our democracy. We are an established LLC in Maryland and all funds donated are tax deductible.
Together, we will celebrate the legacy, culture, and spirit of Irish America.
Founders and Directors
Irish America 250 is a pro bono initiative dedicated to honoring and celebrating the enduring legacy of Irish contributions to American history and culture. The project is made possible through the generous donation of time, expertise, and resources by its Directors, who serve without compensation in support of this mission.
- Kevin Sullivan, CEO and Chair
Kevin Sullivan is a first generation Irish American with deep family ties in Cork and Tyrone. He is an Irish citizen. Kevin led the Board of the Washington Ireland Program (WIP) for nine years and in 2019 cofounded the Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the GFA https://adhocgfa.org/. He remains the Executive Director of the Ad Hoc Committee. He co-founded www.votingrights.ie in 2016 with the late Senator for the Diaspora Billy Lawless. Sullivan spent 14 years working for various members of Congress before joining the Clinton Administration in 1992. In the immediate aftermath of the GFA signing Sullivan working with https://cooperationireland.org/ helped to launch Civic Link, a cross community, cross border secondary school initiative that would reach over 12,000 students before it ended in 2010. He is a principal at Kevin Sullivan and Associates. - Morgan O’Sullivan, Vice Chair
Morgan O’Sullivan, originally from Cork, is the Director of Financial Aid Communications and Operations at Lynn University in Boca Raton. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork, a Masters focused on the US role in the Irish Peace Process and a doctorate focused on educational leadership and financial literacy. Morgan is a long-time advocate for strengthening links between Ireland and its global community, and has written extensively on Irish diaspora engagement, voting rights, and civic participation abroad. He is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the GFA and VotingRights.ie - Hilary Beirne, Greater New York, Irish US Relations
Hilary Bierne, originally from Roscommon served as the Chair of the NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation and was the Executive Secretary of the NYC Saint Patrick’s Parade between 2002 and 2025 - Noreen Bowden, Communications Director
Noreen Bowden is a communications professional with deep experience in Irish and Irish-American storytelling and has spent her career building digital platforms, campaigns and communities that strengthen the bond between Ireland and the diaspora. She has worked across a range of initiatives focused on emigrants, citizenship, heritage, and transatlantic Irish identity, always with a focus on deepening the relationship between Ireland and its diaspora. Noreen showcases Ireland every day through her content marketing role at CIE Tours, inspiring audiences to experience the island for themselves.
Raised in New York by parents from Mayo and Kilkenny, Noreen has lived in Galway, where she worked with Liam Ferrie’s Irish Emigrant news service, and in Dublin, where she was the Executive Director of the Emigrant Advice Network. She has served on numerous boards, including the Irish Immigration Center in Boston; Europeans Throughout the World in Brussels, where she served as Vice President; and the Irish Business Organization of New York. She has founded and led a number of diaspora-focused initiatives including GlobalIrish.ie, and cofounded VotingRights.ie with Kevin Sullivan. She earned her BA from Notre Dame, MA in Irish Literature and Culture at Boston College, and an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. - Susan Davis, Counselor
Susan Ann Davis is Chairman, Susan Davis International, a global public affairs and strategic communications agency headquartered in Washington DC. With expertise in strategic positioning, government relations. market entry and crisis communications, Davis provides counsel to government and industry leaders on six continents. She is Co-Founder of IPREX, the $200 million agency network with 74 partners worldwide . Davis became an advisor to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland when the first Northern Ireland Bureau was established in the U.S. She has continued that support over decades with the Executive, as well as business and community leaders , to include Women in Business NI and women entrepreneurs.
A passionate advocate for building young leaders and for girls education, she serves on the Washington Ireland Program Leadership Council and as the Board Chair of the RRoH Foundation, which continues to educate 800 girls in Afghanistan. Davis is Board Chair Emeritus of Vital Voices, a network of 18,000 emerging women leaders and is a founder and the first International President of the 7000-member International Women’s Forum. She is presently an Executive Board member of the American Ireland Fund and serves on the Grants Committee and as chair of the Communications Committee. - Prof. Darragh Gannon, Georgetown University Global Irish Studies, Lead Historian
Prof. Darragh Gannon is Associate Director of Global Irish Studies at Georgetown University and the Ireland Funds Fellow at the Princess Grace Library, Monaco.
He has published widely on Irish, British, and American History. His books include Proclaiming a Republic: Ireland, 1916 and the National Collection (Irish Academic Press, 2016) and Ireland 1922: independence, partition, civil war, edited with Fearghal McGarry (Royal Irish Academy, 2021). His most recent monograph – Conflict, Diaspora, and Empire: Irish nationalism in Britain, 1912-1922 (Cambridge University Press, 2023) – was awarded the National University of Ireland Irish Historical Research Prize (Special Recognition Prize).
A former Fulbright scholar and a former curator at the National Museum of Ireland, Prof. Gannon is a regular commentator on culture and current affairs for international media outlets, including TIME magazine, BBC, RTÉ, the Irish Times, Le Monde, and ABC Australia. - Sean O’Dowd, Treasurer
- James Gaffey, The South and the Scots Irish
- Bobby Cunningham, Government Relations
- Chris Isleib, Retired Navy Captain: Liaison to U.S. Armed Forces and America 250 Commission
- Ruadhán Byron, Marketing Director
- Robert Leigh, Lead Graphic Designer
- Michelle O’Mahony, History Consultant & Communications Director in Ireland
- Owen Kirby, Outreach Director