MEMORIAL THURSDAY 12-5 FOR THE GREAT BILLY LAWLESS
4PM IRISH TIME, 10AM CHICAGO TIME FYI
A Memorial Service will be held Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. at Galway Cathedral, Gaol Rd, Galway, H91 A780, Ireland. The Memorial Service will be livestreamed on www.galwaycathedral.ie/webcam.
In lieu of flowers, please make your kind donation to a cause close to Billy’s heart, The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), www.ICIRR.org.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John F. Kennedy
For further information please call 312-421-0936.
Statement by President Higgins on the death of former Senator Billy Lawless
8 November 2024
“I have learned with great sadness of the passing of former Senator Billy Lawless, a neighbour of many years in Galway. Sabina joins me in offering our profound sympathy to Billy’s wife Anne on her great loss and to all the family.
At this time, we recall also Billy’s deep commitment to his community in Galway and later in his adopted home of Chicago where he has left a real and lasting legacy. Billy was a stalwart of the Irish community there, and his tireless efforts on behalf of the undocumented Irish were widely acknowledged.
Billy’s role in fostering the sister city relationship between Galway and Chicago was rightly recognised by Galway City Council in his being made a Freeman of Galway in 2015.
Sabina and I recall also the generous and warm welcome that Billy extended to us when we visited Chicago in 2014.
In 2021 he was among those to whom I presented a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for Irish Community Support, which was so richly deserved.
Billy Lawless will be greatly missed. I hope that the deep affection in which he was held by the Irish community in the Chicago area, and across the US as well as in Galway, will be some consolation to his family and to all who knew him.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.”
Visitation commemorating the life of Billy Lawless will be held at St. Joseph Church, 1107 N. Orleans Street, Chicago, IL 60610 from 4pm-7pm Wednesday November 13th 2024 and on Thursday November 14th at 9.30am followed by a mass at 11am.The funeral will be on Facebook live on Thursday. It will be on The Dearborn Restaurant Facebook page.We Lost a Great One: Billy Lawless Passes While in Chicago With Family
By Cliff Carlson, and some of Billy's friends,
Billy Lawless Sr. died early this morning. He was a kind and courageous man who made the most of his abilities.
Becoming American citizens: John, Ami, Billy, Ann, Clodagh and Billy Jr.
He made the "Second City" his second home and was with his family in his final days.Billy was involved in everything Irish right up until the end. I talked to him at the exchange of Irish Consul Generals event October, 17th and I'm so glad I did. He was in great spirits, and looked great - reminding me of Sean Connery.
Billy and Cliff Carlson at Billy and Ann's home in Galway
According to Martin Lynch of the Irish Times Pub/Restaurant, "about 10 days ago Billy fell and broke his pelvis."
Martin remembered that when Billy came here in the 90's he visited his cousin, Martin Cosgrove, who owned the Irish Times back then. "Billy eventually bought a property for himself, and began the Irish Oak in Wrigleyville.
Trinity Irish Dancers, Senator Dick Durban, and Billy being inducted into the Irish-American Hall of Fame
After his humble beginnings here in the states, he rolled the dice on a spot downtown and went all in to not only open the Gage Restaurant on Michigan Avenue, but to buy the space in the building where he was.
The rest is history. The Dawson, The Encanto, and the Dearborn followed, and with the full involvement of his family in all of them, they all survived the pandemic and are thriving today in downtown Chicago.
Billy discussing the undocumented and immigration reform at a forum he held at The Gage
He fought for the undocumented and immigration rights, and became an Irish Senator while living in America - the only one to do that as of this date. Former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny made that happen.
To his family and many friends I say, 'we were lucky to meet him, to know him and to call him our friend.'
For those of you reading this who would like to say something about Billy, please send it toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Billy, former Irish Consul General Aidan Cronin, former President of the Irish American Heritage Center; John Gorski, the great Maureen O'Looney and an unidentified gentleman.
tá sé fillte i n-arm Dé anois
(He is wrapped in God's Arms Now)By Thomas J. O’Gorman
Long ago on the soft earth of Athenry, in County Galway, I beheld the Irish sun as it touched down for the night. In the darkness it brought to life some words uttered, in antiquity, by Patrick, Ireland’s great companion on the journey of faith when confronted with the loss of a long-time friend. Tá sé fillte i n-arm Dé anois, he announced to all. “He is wrapped in God’s arms now.”
Words that in so many ways have reflected the life and journey of the mighty Billy Lawless. His sudden death and departure leaves us in silent loss.
The landscapes on both sides of the Atlantic are mute with his sudden departure. But his has been a journey ripe with the confidence of faith and the certainty that comes from enabling the living of others.
Billy Lawless was no stranger to that. It made the Senator such a noble man, his willingness to help connect others to fuller and more meaningful life. Back in Ireland or on the streets of the U.S.A. His life never left the needs of his children and the children of others who learned the power he placed in the decent act, the soft, sustain word, the timeless potency of friendship, and the heavy lifting that such leadership begets.
For Billy that was true whether pulling pints for neighbors in one of his respite pubs in Ireland or for Chicagoans on the Wrigley Field footpath, or in the hallowed chambers of the Irish Seanad (Senate) attempting to add timeless wisdom and common sense to the political endeavors affecting immigrants and workers just struggling to survive.
It was also true on the tables he set with a delicious hospitality in his Chicago restaurants that displayed his unique and sophisticated etiquette and cuisine. Hospitality that never waned. With ever expanding space for all who needed to be nourished.
No one has renewed our confidence in the value and integrity of new Irish immigrants more than Billy and the Lawless tribe. They have “wet our whistles,” quenched our thirsts, sweetened our pies, refined our taste buds and expanded our horizons about service, loyalty and human kindness. Not easy achievements in Chicago these days or America of late. Billy carries a piece of all of us with him to Heaven. Interceding, once more, to the God who first gifted him with the timelessness of hospitality and the eternity he found in faith.
The poet William Butler Yeats, a fellow Irish Senator to Billy in the 1920s, set it all in context for those, like Billy, who dared sought to improve the living and destinies of others.
“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends,
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
Billy on October 17, 2024, Paula Svetlana of Aer Lingus, and Patrick Fitzgibbons of Milwaukee Irish Fest fame
Michelle Obama, Billy Lawless Sr., and former President Barack Obama
by Fiona McEnteeI’m heartbroken to share the passing of former Irish Senator Billy Lawless – my longtime friend, mentor, and one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever known.
Billy taught me so much, in so many ways. He was honest, compassionate, and determined. He listened, he cared, and he left the world better than he found it.
More than anything, Billy treated everyone with equal respect. Whether it was a U.S. Senator, the Taoiseach of Ireland, or the undocumented patrons he first met in his bar, the Irish Oak in Chicago, Billy’s approach was the same. He treated me as his equal, as his peer, and he deeply respected women.
Billy had such grá (love) for America. He knew she was not without her flaws, especially in the immigration system. But his belief in this country propelled him to tirelessly advocate for immigrants and champion comprehensive immigration reform.
His advocacy was immense, and always bipartisan. Billy had a gift for uniting people across political divides to work toward humane, practical immigration solutions.
Billy Lawless will leave a lasting legacy on Chicago, on Ireland, and on me.
I'm honored to have worked alongside him for so many years. My heart goes out to Billy's wife Ann, their four kids (Clodagh Lawless, Amy Lawless, Billy Lawless, John Paul, and spouses), and all their grandchildren.
Thank you, Billy. May your gentle soul Rest in Peace.
We will take it from here...
by Cyril ReganIt is with great regret I write my thoughts on my great friend Billy Lawless who passed away this morning.
I met Billy shortly after he arrived in Chicago and soon found he was a Fine Gael supporter and myself a Fianna Fail supporter—hence, we had many "heated discussions" on politics in Ireland, which our wives, Anne and Josephine, could attest to!However, there is something that we did agree upon, and that was the Irish undocumented, immigration, and immigration reform in America.
We, with some supporters, saw the need to organize the Irish with an organization; hence, the Celts for Immigration Reform was launched. We traveled the country, from DC to Springfield, New York, Boston, San Francisco to Ireland, etc., to rallies, marches, meetings, introducing President Obama on stage in Chicago, etc., and getting our message out.We were recognized by a lot of immigration organizations as being the guys who got stuff done, and soon Billy was the face of immigration in the Midwest, if not the country.
We helped to organize the biggest March and rally in Chicago Grant Park with hundreds of thousands attending.
We had huge momentum, and then the political tide turned, and to this day, immigration suddenly became a political issue.However, with Billy in the wheelhouse for those short years, we achieved a lot, the driver's license for the undocumented in Illinois was one of those great achievements.
Illinois was the first state in the nation to get this done, and several other states followed in our footsteps.
On a personal note, Billy was a very good friend of mine for years. I will miss the late nights, meetings with the undocumented, political leaders, etc. In those meetings, Billy was always well-prepared. Not like me going off script in the middle of a meeting (that's why I always sat a few seats from him!) I would glance at him "the big red face and the chin getting larger with every bomb shell that would come out of my mouth.
We would walk out together, and I would normally say, "How did you think we did Billy, it's easier to look for forgiveness than get permission."
Billy would just shake his head and say, "You're some f×××ing bollix," then we would retreat to a local establishment to strategize on our next move.
There are many more stories about our Escapades. Most of them are unprintable.
l miss you already my great friend Billy.On behalf of myself and David, my deepest condolences. Ann, Billy Jr., Clodagh, Amy, and John Paul, on the passing of our great hero and friend, Billy.
Billy Lawless Memorial in Ireland Thurs 12-5 , 4pm Irish Time 10am Chicago
