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List of ambassadors of the United States to Ireland

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Ambassador of the United States of America to Ireland
Ambasadóir Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá go hÉireann
Seal of the United States Department of State
since February 10, 2022
ResidenceDeerfield Residence
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderFrederick A. Sterling (envoy)
George A. Garrett (amb.)
Formation1927 (envoy)
1950 (ambassador)
WebsiteU.S. Embassy - Dublin
Embassy of the United States, Dublin

The United States ambassador to Ireland is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States of America to Ireland. It is considered a highly prestigious position within the United States Foreign Service. The current ambassador is Claire Cronin.

The chief of mission for the United States in Ireland held the title of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from 1927 through 1950, and six people served in the role.[1] Since 1950, the title has been ambassador, and 23 people have served in the role.[1] Only the first envoy, Frederick A. Sterling, was a career Foreign Service Officer – other envoys, and all ambassadors to date, have been non-career appointees.[1] The first four envoys were commissioned to the Irish Free State,[1] prior to the formation of the State.

The ambassador and embassy staff at large work at the Ballsbridge Chancery of the Embassy of the United States, Dublin.[2] Deerfield Residence is the official residence of the ambassador, located in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.[3]

Incumbent

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The position was vacant from January 2017 through the end of June 2019, with Reece Smyth serving as the chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ireland.[4] The prior ambassador, Kevin O'Malley, was nominated by President Barack Obama and served from October 2014 until the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. In December 2016, it was reported that then president-elect Trump intended to name Brian P. Burns as the next ambassador to Ireland.[5] However, in June 2017, Burns withdrew his name from consideration, due to ill health.[6]

Edward F. Crawford, a businessman and entrepreneur from Ohio whose parents were from Cork, was approved to be the next ambassador by the Senate's foreign relations committee in May 2019,[7] confirmed by a vote of the United States Senate on June 13, 2019,[8] and sworn into office on June 26, 2019.[9] He officially began his term as ambassador upon presentation of his credentials to President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins on July 1, 2019.[10][11]

Chiefs of mission

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Envoys

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Until 1950, the official title was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.[1]

No. Name Appointed Presentation
of credentials 		Termination
of mission 		Days in
office 		Notes
1 Frederick A. Sterling February 19, 1927 July 27, 1927 March 7, 1934 2415 E1
2 W. W. McDowell January 15, 1934 March 27, 1934 April 9, 1934 13 E1 E2
3 Alvin Mansfield Owsley May 15, 1935 June 27, 1935 July 7, 1937 741 E1
4 John Cudahy May 28, 1937 August 23, 1937 January 15, 1940 875 E1
5 David Gray February 16, 1940 April 15, 1940 June 28, 1947 2630
6 George A. Garrett April 10, 1947 July 28, 1947 April 18, 1950 995 E3
^E1 Commissioned to the Irish Free State
^E2 Died in office (while in Ireland)
^E3 Promoted to Ambassador

Ambassadors

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Since 1950, the official title has been Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.[1]

No. Name Appointed Presentation
of credentials 		Termination
of mission 		Days in
office 		Notes
1 George A. Garrett March 17, 1950 April 18, 1950 May 27, 1951 404
2 Francis P. Matthews July 6, 1951 October 22, 1951 September 7, 1952 321 A1
3 William Howard Taft III April 2, 1953 May 13, 1953 June 25, 1957 1504
4 R. W. Scott McLeod May 9, 1957 July 17, 1957 March 15, 1961 1337
5 Grant Stockdale March 29, 1961 May 17, 1961 July 7, 1962 416
6 Matthew McCloskey July 12, 1962 July 19, 1962 June 7, 1964 689
7 Raymond R. Guest March 11, 1965 April 28, 1965 June 7, 1968 1136
8 Leo J. Sheridan September 26, 1968 November 1, 1968 June 1, 1969 212
9 John D. J. Moore April 19, 1969 June 23, 1969 June 30, 1975 2198 A2
10 Walter Curley July 23, 1975 September 18, 1975 May 2, 1977 592
11 William V. Shannon June 22, 1977 July 20, 1977 June 7, 1981 1418
12 Peter H. Dailey March 15, 1982 April 30, 1982 January 15, 1984 625
13 Robert F. Kane February 28, 1984 March 6, 1984 May 29, 1985 449
14 Margaret Heckler December 17, 1985 January 30, 1986 August 20, 1989 1298
15 Richard A. Moore August 7, 1989 September 19, 1989 June 15, 1992 1000
16 William H. G. FitzGerald June 15, 1992 June 26, 1992 June 5, 1993 344
17 Jean Kennedy Smith June 17, 1993 June 24, 1993 September 17, 1998 1911
18 Mike Sullivan October 22, 1998 January 21, 1999 June 20, 2001 881 A3
19 Richard Egan August 29, 2001 September 10, 2001 January 31, 2003 508
20 James C. Kenny October 6, 2003 October 31, 2003 August 13, 2006 1017 A3
21 Thomas C. Foley August 28, 2006 October 18, 2006 January 22, 2009 827 A3
22 Dan Rooney July 1, 2009 July 3, 2009 December 14, 2012 1260
23 Kevin O'Malley September 18, 2014 October 8, 2014 January 20, 2017 835 A3
24 Edward F. Crawford June 13, 2019 July 1, 2019 January 19, 2021 568 A3
25 Claire D. Cronin December 18, 2021 February 10, 2022 Incumbent
^A1 Died in office (while in the United States)
^A2 Interred in Ireland
^A3 Still living

Other nominees

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Deerfield Residence, official residence of the Ambassador

Appointed or nominated, but did not serve.[1]

  • W. W. McDowell
Appointment: September 13, 1933. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; did not serve under this appointment. Reappointed in January 1934.
  • William E. McCann
Note: Not commissioned; nomination of March 17, 1981, not acted upon by the Senate.[12]

Chargé d’affaires

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Interim chiefs of mission.[1]

  • Stuart A. Dwyer
September 2013 – October 2014
  • Reece Smyth
January 2017 – June 2019
January 2021 – February 2022

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Chiefs of Mission for Ireland". history.state.gov. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  2. ^ "Embassy History". U.S. Embassy in Ireland. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "History of Ambassador's Residence". U.S. Embassy in Ireland. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  4. ^ "Donald Trump is yet to select an Irish ambassador but a Texan is keeping the seat warm". TheJournal.ie. March 8, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  5. ^ O'Dowd, Niall (December 30, 2016). "NYT reporter tweets Trump ready to name Brian Burns as US Ambassador". Irish Central. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "Irish-American withdraws as Trump's nominee for US ambassador". RTÉ. June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  7. ^ Lynch, Suzanne (May 2, 2019). "US Senate committee approves next Irish ambassador". The Irish Times. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  8. ^ O'Donovan, Brian (June 13, 2019). "US Senate confirms Edward Crawford as US Ambassador to Ireland". RTÉ. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  9. ^ O'Donovan, Brian (June 26, 2019). "New US Ambassador to Ireland sworn into office". RTÉ. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  10. ^ @USEmbassyDublin (June 29, 2019). "Ambassador Designate Ed Crawford has arrived in Ireland!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Billionaire Irish-American takes office as US ambassador to Ireland after Áras ceremony". TheJournal.ie. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  12. ^ "President Reagan dropping McCann nomination". The Marshfield News-Herald. Marshfield, Wisconsin. AP. August 8, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved March 20, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
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