Joseph E. Irish (August 7, 1833 – May 2, 1899) was a member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

. Irish was born on August 7, 1833, in

Paris, New York Paris is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The town is in the southeast part of the county and is south of Utica. The population was 4,332 at the 2020 census. The town was named after an early benefactor, Colonel Isaac Paris. Hi ...

. He attended the Oneida Conference Seminary. In 1859, Irish became a preacher of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

. He was later chaplain to the 19th Infantry Regiment and the

8th Cavalry Regiment The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except Wor ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1892 to 1896. That year, Irish suffered a paralyzing

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

that he never fully recovered from. He died on May 2, 1899.

Political career

Irish represented the 24th District from 1872 to 1873. He was the first clergyman to serve in the Senate. Other positions Irish held include County Surveyor of

Richland County, Wisconsin Richland County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,304. Its county seat is Richland Center. The county was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1842 and organized in 1850. It is named f ...

, Register of the U.S. Land Office in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire ( ; lit. "clear water") is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Eau Claire and Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Chippewa counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat, seat of Eau Claire County. It is the List of citie ...

, and U.S. Consul in

Cognac, France Cognac (; Saintongese dialect, Saintongese: ''Cougnat''; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Charente departments of France, department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefectures in France, subprefec ...

. He was a Republican.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish, Joseph People from Paris, New York Politicians from Richland County, Wisconsin Politicians from Eau Claire, Wisconsin Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Consuls for the United States American surveyors Religious leaders from Wisconsin 19th-century American Methodist ministers Methodist chaplains 1833 births 1899 deaths United States Army chaplains Military personnel from Wisconsin 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature