BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Brendan P. McCarthy Chairman and President
Brendan was born and raised in Chatham, New Jersey. His family has deep Irish roots, with all of his great-grandparents emigrating from counties Mayo and Cork. Like many other Irish emigrants at that time, his family moved west to work in the mines in Butte, Montana. Brendan attended the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in liberal studies, and later attended Notre Dame Law School, graduating in 2004. After graduating from Notre Dame Law School, Brendan served as a law clerk in the Law Division-Civil Part in Middlesex County. Brendan is currently an Assistant Prosecutor with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in Newark, www.njecpo.org.
Brendan is the founding President of the Irish American Bar Association of New Jersey. He is also a member of the Irish American Bar Association of New York.
Anthony P. Callaghan Vice President
Anthony Callaghan is from Co. Donegal, Ireland. Anthony grew up in Donegal and later moved to Dublin to attend Carysfort College, graduating as a Primary School teacher. In 1989, Anthony emigrated to the United States and changed his career, attending Seton Hall Law School in Newark. After graduating, Anthony served for two years as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Nicholas H. Politan, U.S.D.J. in Newark. After completing his clerkship, Anthony joined Gibbons, P.C. in Newark, where he is currently counsel, practicing in the business and commercial litigation departments, www.gibbonslaw.com. Anthony has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in both New Jersey and New York, and was listed by the Irish Voice in its inaugural Legal 100.
Anthony is active in numerous Irish American causes, primarily with the American Ireland Fund, www.irlfunds.org. Anthony has served on the annual AIF New York Dinner Committee, which has raised millions of dollars to support community programs in Ireland. In New Jersey, Anthony is the Chairman of the AIF’s Annual Golf Classic at Baltusrol Golf Club. Over the past six years, the Golf Classic has raised $600,000 for worthy projects in the North of Ireland.
Anthony lives in Madison, New Jersey, with his wife, Anne, and their four young children.
Francesca M. O'Cathain Treasurer
Francesca grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. While her heritage is French, Italian, Polish, and Belarusian, she is a member of a new wave of Irish-Americans that travel to Ireland frequently to visit her many friends and family there that she has made by marrying an Irish spouse. Francesca attended Claremont McKenna College in California, where she majored in Government and Psychology. While at college, Francesca spent her junior year studying at the University of Sussex, England, where her studies focused on the institutions of the European Union. Francesca received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut, School of Law in 2004.
Since graduating, Francesca has been associated with the law firm of Lesnevich & Marzano-Lesnevich, LLC, www.lmllawyers.com. She practices exclusively in the area of family law, specifically, divorce, custody, visitation, civil unions, and support.
Francesca has received the Award of Merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for her work assisting children, and has completed The Institute for Family Law Associates training course offered by the prestigious American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Francesca is a member of the Young Lawyers Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Family Law Section, the Irish American Bar Association of New York, and the Brehon Law Society.
Francesca lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with her husband, Domhnall.
Robert C. Rowbotham Secretary
Rob was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, one of five children. He is third generation Irish-American, his great grandfather a native of Co. Roscommon. In 1999, Rob received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montclair State University. In 2003, he received his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. After graduating, Rob served as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul J. Vichness, J.S.C.
In 2004, following his clerkship, Rob joined the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, where he first served as an Assistant Prosecutor, and later was assigned to the Trial Squad as a Senior Trial Partner. In 2008, Rob joined the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office – Division of Justice, where he was assigned to the Corruption Bureau, investigating and prosecuting public corruption.
In 2009, Rob joined the law firm of Bramnick, Rodriguez, Mitterhoff, Grabas & Woodruff, where he now focuses on personal injury and criminal defense. www.jonbramnick.com.
Rob lives in Verona, New Jersey, with his wife, Jessica, and their two children, Brigid and Bobby.
Steve Lenox Assistant Secretary
Steve was born and raised in East Hanover, New Jersey. He is dual citizen of Ireland and the United States of America, gaining his Irish citizenship through his wife Aoife, a native of Cork. Steve earned his Master’s Degree in Public Affairs and Politics from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University in 2002.
Prior to launching Lenox Consulting (www.lenoxconsulting.com), Steve served as State Director to New Jersey’s senior U.S. Senator, Frank R. Lautenberg, where he was responsible for managing all aspects of the Senator’s offices in New Jersey. As State Director, Steve worked extensively in the federal legislative and appropriations processes.
Steve has extensive experience in local, state, and federal government. He served as Legislative Affairs Coordinator for the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, involving many responsibilities, including testifying before the New Jersey Legislature on bills of importance to the AFL-CIO. Steve served as Chief of Staff to Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein and in a variety of positions with New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill. For six years, Steve led Democrats 2000, New Jersey’s largest organization for young professional Democrats.
Steve is a founding member of the Irish American Bar Association of New Jersey, a charter member of Hudson County Jaycees, a member of the American Ireland Fund’s New York Young Leaders, and the Cork Chamber of Commerce (www.corkchamber.ie) in Ireland. His experience and talents have been recognized by PolitickerNJ as one of the most politically influential personalities and by the Irish Echo as one of the “very best Irish America has to offer”.
Steve and his wife, Aoife, have two young boys, Conor and Cian. They have homes in Hoboken, New Jersey and Cork, Ireland.