When he came to Chicago from Ireland in 1998 and opened the Irish Oak Pub on Clark Street near Wrigley Field, Billy Lawless encountered something unexpected.
Dozens of his compatriots came to the bar and shared similar stories: They had overstayed their visas but wanted to stay in the United States.
Sympathy and other casting would be common responses from the average bar owner.
Mr. Lawless was no ordinary pub owner
He already had a reputation as a successful pub and restaurant owner in his native Galway.
One of the main reasons he came to the United States when he was 48 was to fulfill a dream he had when, as a boy, he caught a glimpse of President John F. Kennedy when Kennedy visited Ireland in 1963.
(The fact that one of his daughters was headed to an East Coast university for rowing also helped make his decision that it was time to make the move.)
Mr. Lawless became involved in immigration reform advocacy when he realized the scale of the problem for thousands of Irish people in Chicago and countless others from around the world who were part of the broader immigration crisis in the United States.
Billy Lawless at The Gage, one of his restaurants in Chicago, in 2017.
He was one of the founders of the Chicago Celts for immigration reform.
He became a leader in the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and successfully helped lobby for a bill in Illinois that would make driver's licenses available to immigrants living here without legal authorization.
He was also at the forefront of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, which successfully recruited business leaders to help persuade Republican politicians in particular to support immigration reform.
Mr. Lawless, 73, died Nov. 8 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital of cardiac amyloidosis and kidney failure. He was 73 years old.
His allies knew not to underestimate the impact of Lawless's ardent Irish style in getting the attention of lawmakers in both Springfield and Washington, where many saw the immigration issue as a Hispanic-only problem and therefore not theirs.
Family business
He also became a force in Chicago's hospitality industry with the help of his wife, Anne, and four children – Amy, Clodagh, Billy Jr., and John Paul.
In 2007, he opened The Gage on Michigan Avenue and later added Acanto Restaurant & Wine Bar, Coda Di Volpe and The Dawson to form The Gage Hospitality Group, now run by his son and namesake.
Amy and Clodagh own the Dearborn Restaurant in Building 37. Their brother, John Paul, works as a host there.
Billy Lawless (right) with two of his children – son Billy Jr. and daughter Clodagh – at Irish Oak in Wrigleyville in 2002.
Mr. Lawless introduced President Barack Obama in 2014 at the Copernicus Center on the Northwest Side before Obama spoke about immigration reform.
When he sent a request from a White House staffer asking him to introduce the president, Lawless initially thought it was a friend “having a good time” before realizing it was real.
Mr. Lawless was a regular guest at White House St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
In 2016, Enda Kenny, then Irish Prime Minister, appointed Mr Lawless to a four-year term in the Irish Senate, representing the Irish diaspora. He was the first senator to reside abroad.
Mr. Lawless came to the United States on a visa designated for entrepreneurs who promised to make an investment that would employ at least 10 people. But this does not allow you to become a citizen. Mr. Lawless achieved this goal only after his son married an American citizen, then became a citizen himself and cared for his mother and father.
“The whole system is crazy. It needs a complete renovation,” Lawless, who lived in an apartment in the South Loop, told the Sun-Times in 2014.
“He didn't accomplish immigration reform but he did a lot to impact the immigration story and stand up for all immigrants,” said Fiona McEntee, a friend and immigration lawyer who worked with Mr. Lawless.
Son of Galway
Mr Lawless, born on December 24, 1950, to Ellen and Thomas Lawless, grew up on a dairy farm in Galway.
An accomplished rower, Mr Lawless was due to represent Ireland at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal until the need to care for his ill father prevented him from competing.
He sold the family farm at the age of 27 to fund his entry into the hospitality industry.
“He instilled in us a very strong work ethic,” said his daughter Clodagh Lawless. “He would always tell us, 'When I was seven, I'd get up at six o'clock to milk the cows,' and then he'd tell the story again, and he'd get up at five o'clock in the morning. She said, 'It was like, Dad, if you keep telling this story, it's not going to go away.'” To bed at all.”
Condolences were shared from the highest level of Irish government, including current Prime Minister Taoiseach Simon Harris, who described him as “a gentleman to the core”.
He did his work with diligence and great pride; “He was great company, a very nice guy,” Harris added.
Billy Lawless, an Irish pub owner, appeared before the Chicago City Council in 2005 on a proposal to ban smoking in indoor public places. Ireland had passed a similar ban the previous year. Chicago's ban was eventually approved.
John H. White/Sun-Times file
In recent years, Mr Lawless spent much of his time at a house he maintained in Galway.
“He had the gift of gab, and he had all the stories to tell,” said Nuala Kavanagh, who worked with Mr. Lawless on the Chicago-Galway Sister Cities Committee.
“We are very sad about his passing. Billy will always be willing to say yes if anyone reaches out for help. He is leaving the world a better place behind him,” she said.
“He was larger than life and had the biggest heart of almost anyone I knew, and he made everyone feel as if they mattered,” said Gabrielle Buckley, a friend and attorney who heads the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership at Loyola University Chicago. .
In addition to his wife and four children, Mr. Lawless has eight grandchildren.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 4pm to 7pm and Thursday from 9:30am to 10:30am at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1107 N. Orleans Street. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Thursday.
