(as seen in the august edition of Irish American News)
By Emmett Fitzpatrick
When 18-year-old Nora Walsh moved from Ireland to the United States to serve as an au pair in Chicago, she had few expectations of staying here for more than a year. Little did she know that she would end up making this country her new home, marrying, starting a family, and embarking on a remarkable career that continues to this day.
Nora’s story began in Baldoyle in the northern part of Dublin, where she and her six siblings grew up with a “military upbringing, Irish style,” as she describes it; her father served in the Irish Army. Her uncle Brian Coll was a well-known singer in Ireland, and her great-uncle was notable Irish author Benedict Kiely. She fondly recalls her ten years of taking Irish dance, and after attending St. Mary’s Grade School and Secondary School, she found herself unsure of what she wanted to do.
“This was the mid-1980s in Ireland,” Nora recalls, “and way before the Celtic Tiger.”
Facing this uncertain job market, she relied on the connections of her friends in Dublin who had family in Chicago to make the move to the Windy City to serve as an au pair. Soon enough, she would meet her husband Dan and enroll at Loyola University, laying the foundation for what would turn out to be a much longer stay in her adopted homeland.
“Of course I was homesick for the first year. But I felt at home at Loyola, and I loved going to school there. It felt like a continuation of the education I received in Ireland,” Nora remembers, crediting the strong education she received in Dublin to prepare for her studies in computer science.
After marrying Dan, the couple moved to Oak Forest and then Tinley Park, where they now live, and welcomed two children – Charles and Clodagh – who are now adults.
Upon earning her degree in computer science, Nora joined Rush University Medical Center as a computer programmer, but quickly pivoted from technology to finance, taking a job at Morgan Stanley, where she had worked during college and got “bit by the finance bug.” She spent several years working in the wealth management
division before moving to CastleArk Management, an investment management firm focusing on retirement assets for corporate and public pensions, where she would stay for over twenty years, rising to become Head of Trading and Partner.
In 2022, Nora took on a new professional challenge by joining Gas N Wash, a privately owned business with over 30 locations, where she serves as Vice President of Investor Relations.
“I was looking to move out of the investment management world and into an operating business, and I couldn’t be happier at Gas N Wash,” Nora happily acknowledges.
Outside of her impressive career, Nora has found time to give back throughout her adult life. For over a decade, she has been involved with the Andrew Weishar Foundation, a volunteer-led organization in Chicago that provides direct and immediate financial assistance to families with adolescents or young adults battling cancer. She serves as the sponsorship coordinator for “WeishFest,” the organization’s main annual fundraiser, which counts the Chicago White Sox Charities as one of its primary benefactors and partners.
Within the Irish community, Nora has volunteered her time on the committee of the Ireland Network-Chicago, bringing her financial acumen and business eye to her role as treasurer of the organization before transitioning to her current role on its advisory board.
“It took me too long to find the Ireland Network,” Nora says. “Even though I’m from Ireland, ever since I’ve been here, I was always busy going to college, working, and raising a family, so I didn’t get involved until my kids were older, when I just happened to see an email that it was looking for new committee members. It’s been great to make connections with other Irish people, and I’ve always said that the best way to get to know people is to volunteer with them.”
Reflecting on her noteworthy personal and professional journey, Nora admits that while she still gets homesick and misses her siblings who live in Ireland and England, she is proud of what she’s accomplished in her adopted homeland.
“Ireland will always be my first home, and it’s been important for me to bring our kids back to get to know their family, explore the country, and understand where they came from. I’m appreciative of the opportunities here and I’ve been inspired to take advantage of them. The work ethic that was instilled in me in Ireland definitely helped me get to where I am. I’m hugely appreciative, and my story is not necessarily different than other immigrant stories.”
While her story may be familiar as that of other immigrants who have come before her, Nora has added her own chapter to that ever-expanding tapestry that is the Irish experience in Chicago.
Nora Walsh Adds Her Chapter to the Irish Immigrant Story
