Meet the Board
Mike Ryan
Trustee
Joined 2020
Michael Heinrichs
Trustee
Jeffrey Bernstein
Secretary
Membership
Pat McCarthy
President-
Ryan Dunn
Ryan grew up in Hartford, Wis., graduated from Marquette University and lived in Milwaukee for 12 years before moving to Florida for 8 years. Currently, he lives in Sun Prairie with his wife, Natalie and their son, Patrick. He is FIERCELY proud of his Irish heritage and is happy to talk about it: married on St. Patrick's Day, honeymoon in Ireland, and his son's name. His highlights since joining the club are the picnic and marching in the St. Patrick's Day parade. As president, his main goal is increasing membership and our main source is our current members helping to spread the word.
Vice President & Website -Amanda Conway
Amanda works for the Department of Health. She attended the University of Minnesota. After living in Minneapolis and Seattle, she moved back to Wisconsin to be closer to her family. Amanda has been blessed to travel to Ireland and spend extensive time touring the island. Her favorite places to visit are Ennis, Sligo, Galway, Dublin, Derry, and Belfast. Her father’s family is from Westport, County Mayo, and her mother’s side is from Counties Donegal and Monaghan. Amanda is also the Vice President for the State Shamrock Club Board.
Facebook Admin-
Dee Martin
Upon moving to the Madison area in 2015, Dee immediately joined the Dane County Shamrock Club and what a warm welcome it was! Previously, Dee lived and worked in La Crosse for 20 years, and was an active member of the La Crosse Shamrock Club for over 10 years. Dee works as a professional American Sign Language / English interpreter for Purple Communications in Madison, providing interpreting services both over video and out in the community. She grew up in rural west-central Wisconsin and attended college in St. Paul and La Crosse. Dee has visited Ireland 3 times, and her favorite places are the Cliffs of Moher, Bantry in Co. Cork, and anywhere the locals are! Dee's ancestors hail from Derry and around Ulster Province.
Treasurer-
Larry Lowden
Larry has been the treasurer of the Shamrock Club since 2013. He is a retired IT employee with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. He was born in Chicago but escaped at age 10 to live in Wichita, Kansas City, Tulsa, Baltimore, and finally Menomonee Falls by age 15. He attended UW Madison for undergrad and UI Champaign-Urbana for grad. Larry is married and has a daughter, a son and two granddaughters. My ancestry is American, that is to say, a “mutt”. I am fifty percent Scot, with Irish, Norwegian and some English mixed together. A picture of my Irish great grandfather in his blue civil war uniform hangs on our wall. I conjecture that his parents emigrated sometime in the early 1800s, possibly from the North in Ireland. I love Celtic music and look forward to Milwaukee Irish Fest every year.
Newsletter Editor- Barney Gallagher
Barney has an interest in all things Irish (history, music, culture, sports, craic, etc.) since having the good fortune of spending a study abroad semester there some decades ago and completing a master’s degree largely focused on modern Irish History. He’s traveled to Ireland a couple of times since and presented "Traveling to Ireland: 7 Types of Trips" in October 2021 with UW-Platteville Continuing Ed. He lives in Madison with his wife and two college-age kids.
Trustee-
Mike Ryan
Mike Grew up in Waunakee WI, gradated UW Oshkosh with a BA in Political Science and International Relations. Currently resides in Madison WI with his Wife Margaret, son Oscar Patrick, and dog Chucho. He enjoys all things out-of-doors, including but not limited to snowboarding, hunting, and playing squash(although this is an indoor activity). He is looking forward to making connections through the club, and exploring more of my Irish heritage in 2020.
Trustee-Michael Heinrichs
Michael Heinrichs and his wife Judy just recently moved back to Michael’s hometown of Stoughton, WI. Together they are enjoying their empty nest as their daughter Jenna and her husband Mike and son Carter live in Illinois. Their son Jackson is engaged to Zulma Morales and lives in Milton, WI. Michael’s Irish heritage has been strongly influenced by his mother Eileen Heinrichs. He had the pleasure of escorting her to several “Irish” events and when he wasn’t available, Jackson would step in. The three of them attended Irish fest together for at least the last 10 years and attended family reunions in both Ireland and Wisconsin. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Michael is an avid sports enthusiast, following the Badgers, Packers and Brewers. Michael is really looking forward to meeting other members and share his Irish roots.
Membership- Pat McCarthy
Pat has been a member of the Dane County Shamrock Club since 2000 and has held several board positions over the years and is currently the Membership Chair. She also served on the State Shamrock Club Board and held the positions of Co-Secretary/Treasurer along with her late husband Harry for several years. During this time, they had the opportunity to meet many Irish members of the Shamrock Clubs throughout the state. Pat’s father was born in Switzerland and her mother was half Swiss. Harry was working on Pat’s ancestry and that is when she found out that her maternal grandfather, who died a young man, had ancestors that came from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Harry and Pat traveled to Switzerland with her dad to visit relatives and she and Harry have traveled to Ireland four times. No matter where in Ireland you travel, it leads to a new adventure of history, beauty, and meeting the Irish people, but her favorite place is the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim! One of the rooms in their house is called the Irish Room which is filled with numerous treasures that came from their travels to Ireland! Pat has been retired from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue since 2007. She enjoys golfing, gardening, traveling, visiting with family and friends and she volunteers at SSM St Mary’s Hospital Madison and the Henry Vilas Zoo.