On 4 July 2026, the United States of America will celebrate America250, commemorating a milestone anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Around the country, communities will celebrate with fireworks, cookouts and parties, marking the moment that America became an independent nation.

While the country has suffered significant political, societal, and cultural upheaval through the interim years, it’s become a hub for immigrants from all over the globe to make their home.

Irish people, in particular, are closely linked with the USA and have enjoyed a particularly special relationship with the country over the years. Directly post-Famine, it’s estimated that 990,000 people emigrated from Ireland to America between 1851 and 1860, with the total number of immigrants to the country since 1820 coming in at around 6m.

In fact, according to the National Museum of Ireland, one-sixth of US citizens – or around 43m people – note Irish as their national background. As we approach the anniversary, three of our own who have made the States their home tell Irish Country Living about their experiences.

Kate Saul, Chicago, Illinois

Having grown up in rural Co Tipperary, Kate Saul is now based in Chicago, Illinois in the American midwest, where she has lived and worked since 2022. Having studied business and French at Trinity College Dublin, before completing an internship with the Bord Bia in Paris, Kate’s work history also includes stints in marketing with Aryzta and La Rousse Foods.

For over a decade now, she’s worked with Órnua to promote Irish food, but her love for the sector started long before.

“My mam, Marcella Broderick, worked in the health and wellness space, while my dad, John Broderick, worked in agriculture and was the director of an agri business company. So between my background and the internship I did, there was a huge love for Irish food that kicked off a whole career promoting Irish products and working with Irish food,” explains Kate.

“With Kerrygold, I was based in Dublin but working across international markets, so when the opportunity to take a role in Chicago came up, I packed up my husband and three kids. For me, it’s a privilege to get to tell the incredible story of Irish food on a world stage.”

While she was vice president of marketing in Órnua for the Kerrygold brand in north America for the last three and a half years, just six weeks ago Kate stepped into a new leadership role as vice president of strategic growth platforms, which has got her thinking about her future in the States.

“The brand is very supportive of succession and moving people into these sort of roles, so when I wanted to take it on, I felt I had lots of support from the people who had come here and done it all before me. As a mum-of-three who moved to the suburbs, I was able to meet a lot of people very quickly and settle easily, but I’m not sure that this is our forever home or permanent. We’ll probably move again, but Ireland will always be home,” she says.

When Kate and her husband Marcus moved to Chicago with their three children, Roly, Jonathan and Sebastian, her youngest was just 18-months old, meaning he has no memories of life in Ireland. Roly, however, was eight years old and had lived a whole childhood here, meaning his assimilation was very different.

There’s a wonderful Irish community here that’s great to embrace new people and support them, but what I learned was that a lot of American people themselves move around for work

Luckily, Kate says, Marcus gave up work for a period after they moved to enable her to seamlessly transition into the role once they landed in the States.

“It was tough when we first arrived, especially in the harsh Chicago winter, but Marcus was our secret weapon. In any successful partnership, you have to have each other’s backs, so him settling the kids as they started school and sports while I threw myself into the job was a real anchor for us,” says Kate.

“There’s a wonderful Irish community here that’s great to embrace new people and support them, but what I learned was that a lot of American people themselves move around for work, so it’s quite a mobile workforce, meaning people are really open-minded and embrace newcomers.”

While the first year felt like a blur, Kate says Chicago feels like home right now.

“By the third year, we felt like we were thriving with our lives here, but our family is still back in Ireland. I wondered how to navigate that with the kids, who were still quite small, but now I say we have two homes,” says Kate.

“We travel over quite a bit still, but I can’t imagine a life anywhere else. The kids all play American sports now, but they love to do projects or talk about Ireland and being Irish in school any chance they get.”

Dawn Farley, Portland, Oregon

Born and raised in Tallaght, Dublin 24, Dawn Farley began her culinary career at just 17 years old. A full culinary scholarship to Dublin College of Catering in1992 opened the door to training opportunities in France, Italy and Spain and laying the foundations for a career that would eventually take her across the Atlantic.

“Looking back, every move taught me something,” she says. “Whether it was Dublin, France, Wicklow or Oregon, I always tried to learn from the local food culture while staying true to the values I grew up with in Ireland.”

Before her move to America, Dawn and her husband Kevin (who hails from Texas) ran their restaurant from the stunning location of Russborough House in Co Wicklow, where the couple developed a farm-to-table operation centred around a 3ac kitchen garden that supplied fresh produce directly to The Kitchen Garden Café every day.

“We were growing vegetables, herbs and fruit that would be picked in the morning and served that afternoon. That experience really shaped how I think about food – respecting ingredients and working with the seasons.”

In 2014, Dawn settled in Oregon, a state she had visited through family connections. She immediately recognised similarities between the Pacific Northwest and Ireland.

“The landscape reminded me of home. There is the same appreciation for agriculture, for local producers and for quality ingredients. It felt like somewhere I could put down roots.”

Soon after arriving, Dawn joined Kells Irish Restaurant in Portland, where she was tasked with modernising the menu.

“People often have an outdated idea of Irish food,” she says. “The Ireland I know has incredible producers, world-class dairy, fantastic seafood and amazing meat. I’ve always felt proud to share that story and challenge perceptions through food.”

Today, Dawn serves as executive chef at Mirabella Portland, where she continues to champion Irish food and hospitality.

“Even after all these years in America, being Irish is still at the centre of who I am. Food is my way of keeping that connection alive. Every time I put an Irish dish on the menu or tell someone about an Irish producer, I’m sharing a little piece of home.”

The couple are already counting down the days until a family trip back to Ireland in September. “No matter how long you’ve lived away, Ireland is always home,” she says. “I can’t wait to catch up with family in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare before heading down to Cork, where my niece Shauna and nephew Tadhg have both put down roots.”

And how will Dawn and Kevin celebrate Independence Day? “For us, it usually revolves around cooking and spending time outdoors. It’s a chance to gather with friends, enjoy good food and appreciate the community we’re part of.”

Philip Duff, Manhattan, New York

Originally from Skerries, Co Dublin, Philip Duff has spent most of his adult life living outside of Ireland – from London, to the Cayman Islands, then Amsterdam for two decades, before landing in New York 14 years ago. A well-known presence in the cocktail community, Philip’s career has seen him teach bar professionals best practices. He founded his own company, Liquid Solutions Ltd, and lead the creation of Old Duff Genever, a traditional Dutch maltwine.

He made a permanent move to America after meeting his now-wife Elayne, a native New Yorker, and set up a home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her and his stepdaughter, Dylan. As he primarily works for himself, working from New York was easy enough, and Philip says that the transition felt quite comfortable for him.

“New Yorkers are so self-sufficient and have such a ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude. When I moved here, I would do all my work with Europe quite early in the morning, then spend my days getting to know New York, which was great. There was a learning curve though,” says Philip.

“I do so much work with American liquor brands, and the laws around spirits here are quite intense, mostly due to Prohibition only being 100 years ago, so I quickly learned that the lawyer is the most important person in a liquor company here.”

Situated in the Upper East Side – which most might consider quite swanky, thanks to the likes of Gossip Girl, Sex and the City and Succession – Philip says that the area is actually very mixed economically, as well as in terms of nationalities. In fact, most of his friends are local healthcare workers that he met in a nearby bar during the pandemic, not all Irish, as you might think of an immigrant based in New York.

The Irish community, he says, are lucky enough to be generally well-accepted in America; he describes it as akin to having a golden ticket.

“In New York, and America as a whole, Irish and Irish-American people are very popular and, to be honest, have huge power, especially when it comes to politics. I’m a green card holder, so I can’t vote, but it’s incredible to see the impact of the Irish community here,” says Philip.

“My wife and my stepdaughter are here, my family, so this is home to me now. To celebrate the Fourth, we’ll be up on a friend’s rooftop somewhere watching fireworks and probably eating hot dogs. I’ve lived away from Ireland for most of my adult life, and it will always be where I’m from, but I’m well settled here now.”

See america250.org