Today, 10 August, is Connecticut Day in the USA but did you know that John N. Dempsey, born in Cahir in 1915, was governor of Connecticut for 10 years between 1961 and 1971?
Dempsey’s family moved to Putnam, Connecticut in 1925 when he was 10 years old. He was elected Mayor of Putnam in 1949 and served a remarkable six consecutive terms. In 1961, when the sitting Governor resigned to join JFK’s cabinet, Dempsey, Lieutenant-Governor at the time, became Governor and was elected to the position in 1962 and re-elected in 1966. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He was the first Irish-born man to become Governor of an American state since John G. Downey from Roscommon had been Governor of California in the 1860s.
As Governor, Dempsey (along with four other State Governors) visited Cahir in 1970, where he was given a reception in the stately hall of Cahir Castle. In his retirement, Dempsey was honoured with the University of Connecticut’s University Medal, recognising outstanding achievement and leadership. In his later years, Dempsey once more made the trip home to Cahir in 1987 where he was welcomed in Cahir House Hotel by his old school friend John J. Brooks and members of Cahir Community Council.
After his death in 1989, The Los Angeles Times wrote that Dempsey had been only the second person in Connecticut history to serve a full decade in office. Throughout his political career, which began in the 1940s, Dempsey said he lived by a simple credo: “You’ve got to help people. I love people.”
Sources:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-19-mn-3855-story.html
The Nationalist, 7 November 1987, p9.
The Nationalist, 4 June 1983, p12
The Nationalist, 12 September 1970, p17
