The Medal of Honor is sometimes called the Congressional Medal of Honor because it is usually given personally by the President of the United States and in the name of the Congress of the U.S. It is the highest award given to members of the military personnel for acts of heroism performed in the midst of mortal danger and without expectation of any reward for the act performed.
The first Medal of Honor was presented in 1863 and since then 3,412 such medals have been issued. Of this number 728 were awarded to men of foreign birth. At the present time, a recipient is entitled to a pension of $200 a month for life.
These foreign recipients came from 43 different countries around the world but more Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients have come from Ireland than any other single country – almost two times more. Of the 3,412 Congressional Medal of Honor winners in American history, 257 were Irish-born, and 2,018 have Irish surnames. Of the 3,412 recipients of the Medal of Honor, eight men each got two citations. Of these three were born in Ireland, they were John Cooper, Henry Hogan and Patrick Leonard.
Of the three branches of the service in which the foreign-born Irishmen served and were awarded the Medal of Honor, we find the following distribution:
- 173 were in the Army
- 69 were in the Navy,
- 15 were in the Marine Corps.
Among the foreign-born Irish recipients of the Medal of Honor, we find that Murphy stands alone at the top of the list. Of the thirteen men of that name we find in the 728 winners, all but two were born in Ireland. One was born in Canada and one in England.
- Ahem, William
- Allen, James
- Anderson, Robert
- Barrett, Richard
- Barry, Augustus
- Bass, David L.
- Begley, Terence
- Bell, James
- Blackwood, William
- Bradley, Charles
- Brady, George
- Brannagan, Edward
- Brannagan, Felix
- Brennan, Chris
- Brogan, James
- Brophy, James
- Brosnan, John
- Brown, Edward
- Brown, James
- Burke, Michael
- Burke, Patrick
- Burke, Richard
- Burke, Thomas
- Burke, Thomas
- Butler, Edmond
- Byrne, Denis
- Byrnes, James
- Cahey, Thomas
- Callen, Thomas
- Campbell, William
- Carey, Hugh
- Carney, James
- Carroll, Thomas
- Carter, George
- Casey, David
- Cassidy, Michael
- Cavanagh, Thomas
- Colbert, Patrick
- Coleman, John
- Collis, Charles
- Connor, John
- Connor, Thomas
Connor, James- Cooney, James
- Cooper, John
- Corcoran, Thomas
- Cosgrove, Thomas
- Cramen, Thomas
- Creed, John
- Cullen, Thomas
- Curren, Richard
- Daily, Charles
- Delaney, John
- Dempsey, John
- Dickens, Charles
- Doherty, Thomas
- Donavan, Corneliu
- Donelly, John
- Donoghue, Timoth
- Doody, Patrick
- Doolen, William
- Dougherty, James
- Dougherty, Micha
- Dougherty, Patrick
- Dowling, James
- Downey, Wilham
- Drury, James
- Dunphy, Richard
- English, Edmund
- Evans, William
- Fallon, Thomas
- Farren, Daniel
- Fegan, James
- Fitzgerald, John
- Flannagan, John
- Flood, Thomas
- Floyd, Edward
- Flynn, Chris
- Foley, John H.
- Foran, Nicholas
- Ford, George
- Gardner, William
- Gasson, Richard
- Gaughan, Philip
- Gibbins, Michael
- Ginley, Patrick
- Glynn, Patrick
- Golden, Patrick
- Grace, Patrick
- Gribbin, James
- Haley, James
- Hamilton, Frank
- Harrington, Daniel
- Hauron, John H.
- Heartery, Richard
- Higgins, Thomas P.
- Highland, Patrick
- Hinnegan, William
- Hogan, Henry
- Horne, Samuel
- Howard, Martin
- Hudson, Michael
- Hunt, Martin
- Hyland, John
- Irwin, Bernard
- Irwin, Patrick
- Jones, Andrew
- Jones, William
- Kane, John
- Kearney, Michael
- Keating, Daniel
- Keele, Joseph
- Keenan, John
- Kelley, Charles
- Kelley, John
- Kelly, Thomas
- Kelly, Thomas
- Kelly, Thomas
- Kennedy, John
- Kennedy, Philip
- Keough, John
- Kerr, Thomas
- Kerrigan, Thomas
- Killackey, Joseph
- King, Hugh
- King, John
- Kyle, Patrick
- Laffey, Bartlett
- Larkin, David
- Laverty, John
- Leahy, Cornelius
- Lenihen, James
- Leonard, Patrick
- Leonard, Patrick
- Logan, Hugh
- Lonergan, John
- Loyd, George
- Madden, Michael
- Mangan, Richard
- Martin, Edward
- Martin, James
- Martin, Patrick
- Martin, William
- Maxwell, John
- McAdams, Peter
- McAllister, Samuel
- McAnally, Charles
- McCabe, William
- McCann, Bernard
- McCarran, Bemard
- McCormick, Michael
- McEnroe, Patrick
- McGann, Michael
- McGough, Owen
- McGowan, John
- McGraw, Thomas
- McGuire, Patrick
- McHale, Alexander
- McKee, George
- McKeever, Michael
- McLoughlin, Michael
- McNally, James
- McNamara, Michael
- McNamara, William
- McPhelan, Robert
- Mitchell, John
- Mitchell, John J.
- Molloy, Hugh
- Monaghan, Patrick
- Montague, Daniel
- Montgomery, Robert
- Moore, Charles
- Moran, John
- Morris, James
- Morrison, John G.
- Morton, Charles
- Moylan, Myles
- Mulholland, St. Clair
- Murphy, Denis
- Murphy, Edward
- Murphy, Jeremiah
- Murphy, John
- Murphy, John P.
- Murphy, Michael
- Murphy, Patrick
- Murphy, Philip
- Murphy, Thomas
- Murphy, Thomas C.
- Murphy, Thomas J.
- Murray, Thomas
- Nihill, John
- Nolan, John J.
- Nolan, Richard J.
- Nugent, Chris
- O’Beirne, James R.
- O’Brien, Peter
- O’Connell. Thomas
- O’Connor. Timothy
- O’Dea, John
- O’Donnell, Menomen
- O’Neal, John
- Orr, Moses
- O’Sullivan, John
- Parnell, William R.
- Platt, George
- Platten, Frederick
- Plunkett, Thomas
- Prendergast, Thomas
- Preston, John
- Quinlan, James
- Rafferty, Peter
- Rannahan, John
- Reed, Janes C.
- Regan, Patrick
- Reid, Patrick
- Reynolds, George
- Riley, Thomas
- Roantree, James S.
- Robinson, Joseph H.
- Robinson, Joseph
- Robinson, Thomas
- Roche, David
- Rogan, Patrick
- Ryan, David
- Ryan, Denis
- Ryan, Peter
- Scanlan, Patrick
- Schutt, George
- Sewell, William J.
- Shanahan, Patrick
- Shields, Bemard
- Smith, Thomas
- Smith, William
- Spillane, Timothy
- Stanton, Thomas
- Stewart, Joseph
- Sullivan, Edward
- Sullivan, Thomas
- Sullivan Timothy
- Thayer, James
- Thompson, Joseph
- Thornton, Joseph
- Tobin, John M.
- Toomer, William
- Tracy, John
- Tyrrell, George Win.
- Urell, M. Emmet
- Wallace, William
- Walsh, John
- Welch, Richard
- Wells, Thomas
- Weish, Edward
- Welsh, James
- White, Patrick
- Williams, William
- Wilson, Christoper
- Wright, Robert
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