Today there are more than 34 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry, which is nearly 10 times the current population in Ireland. Here in Connecticut, there are a half million of Irish heritage. And they keep coming. Here are a few you might run into around town:

Present day member, Mairead Brady came from County Kavan, near Ulster, in the town of Ballyjamesduff, and arrived in America in 1997.  She had no intention of coming, but some of the young men where she worked decided to answer an ad in the paper for work in Connecticut. She applied too, just for the fun of it. They were all accepted. At 22 years old, quite to her surprise, she was on her way to America, where she would provide care to an elderly man. She did that job for a year or so, and now works days for a senior woman who is also a Gaelic American Club member.  When asked if she plans to stay permanently in America, she says with a twinkle, “I am always going home. There’s even a song called, Come Back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff.”

Maryann Doonan, who today works for People’s Bank, arrived from County Kerry in 1956, only 16 years old, with her uncle and his six sons. “I can’t imagine my children doing such a thing today. Of course, I had no idea at the time how far away I was going.”  She immediately went to work for the Brodie family in Black Rock as a nanny, a cook, and a housekeeper, and lived with the “wonderful” family for three and a half years. After that she worked for another “lovely” family as a nanny and housekeeper. Maryann saved her money and, over the years, was able to bring eight of her brothers and sisters to America. In 1958, while at the Gaelic American Club in Bridgeport, she met the man she married and with whom she has three sons and a daughter. Maryann was the first women president of the club and served from 1997-1998.



Jude Fitzgerald is a past, two-term president of the Gaelic American Club. She came to Fairfield in 1988 from Clonmel in  County Tipperary.  She was engaged to be married when her fiancé obtained a Donnelly visa (an immigration lottery). They married, but she remained in Ireland until he was settled in his job. Eventually, she came to America, but only stayed a few months.  “I didn’t have any friends and I was very homesick for my family and friends.” She returned to Ireland and remained for several years. Her husband came and visited until Jude gave it another shot. She returned to America and has been here ever since. It is home now, and she is happy, involved and active. Today, if you go to the Fairfield Tax Collector’s office, Jude is the tall vivacious one, with the familiar Irish lilt in her voice.

Fairfield, she says, is her home. But like so many, “home” is still the land of green, Ireland.