Consul General of Ireland in Chicago

I am delighted to have taken up duty as Ireland’s Consul General here in Chicago and welcome you to the website of the Consulate General. I hope you will find the information here to be useful and informative. In addition to providing information on the services provided by the Consulate such as applying for Irish passports and visas, it is also a source of information on Ireland and, of course, on the many links between Ireland and the United States.

With best wishes

Brian Cahalane

Consul General

Is onóir mór dom an post mar Ard-Chonsal na h-Éireann a thosú anseo i Chicago. Cuirim fáilte romhat chun suíomh an Ard-Chonslacht agus tá súil agam go mbainfidh tú tairbhe as an eolas atá ar fáil ann. Gheobhaidh tú eolas ann faoi na seirbhísí atá ar fáil ón Chonsalacht cosúil le conas cur isteach ar phas nó ar víosa. Is foinse eolais é freisin faoi Éire agus go h-áirithe ar na ceangail idir Éireann agus na Stáit Aontaithe.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Brian Cahalane

Ard-Chonsal

Brian Cahalane was appointed Consul General to the Midwestern United States in September 2024. He is delighted to be working and living in Chicago, the first US city he visited, even before he joined the Foreign Service. From his base in Chicago – a city with such a strong Irish heritage - Brian along with the Consulate team will be working to promote Ireland and Irish interests in the region and to further strengthen the links between Ireland and the Midwest.

He joined the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1992, serving in the Development Cooperation Division. Since then, Brian has served in numerous roles including at the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels; policy advisor to the Oireachtas (National Parliament) with the Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Committees (when he accompanied the then Ceann Comhairle/Speaker Seamus Pattison and his delegation to Chicago); United Nations work at HQ and at New York, including when Ireland was on the Security Council and Geneva, Northern Ireland political and justice issues at HQ and in Belfast; Embassy Washington DC (on Political and Immigration and briefly on Economic issues); and most recently in Human Resources Division at HQ.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Brian worked in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. He is a graduate of the National University of Ireland (B.Comm Banking & Finance – started at the University of Galway and completed at University College Dublin) and holds a Diploma in Public Administration from the Institute of Public Administration. The eldest of seven children, he was born in Dublin, and grew up there and in Galway, where his mother hailed from, while his father was a proud native of Rosscarbery in West Cork.