Little did Dan Rooney know when he established The American Ireland Fund in 1976 that it would grow to an internationally renowned organization of such magnitude.

The $89 million which has been secured So far in the ambitious 'Hope & History' Campaign "Would be unthinkable twenty five years ago when Dan Rooney and I staggered through that first dinner in New York," said co-founder Sir Anthony O'Reilly. And yet, this dream has been realized.

Dan was born July 20, 1932 on Pittsburgh's North Side. He is the oldest of the late and great Art Rooney's five sons. After attending North Catholic High School, where he quarterbacked the Varsity Football team, Dan enrolled at Duquesne University. The career as an NFL executive which started with Rooney negotiating player contracts before he was even 21 years of age reached a spectacular crescendo a mere nine days after his 68th birthday, with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Hall is historic and nostalgic to Rooney particularly because his late father preceded him into NFL immortality. Rooney and his father Art will be only the second father and son in the NFL Hall of Fame.

"It's a special feeling and honor to join him", Rooney said of 'The Chief', Steelers Founder Art Rooney Sr. "But to go in there with so many of the people I was fortunate enough to meet…"

"I really say that I got here through the fans, the players, the coaches, and my father. That really makes it special. I really feel that I, hopefully, represent them in this whole thing" he said.

Dan Rooney is in his 45th year with the Pittsburgh Steeler organization. During this period he has emerged as one of the most active executives in the National Football League as well as one of Pittsburgh's most involved executives in civic affairs.

Rooney remains a hands-on leader and one of the NFL's most influential owners. Among his many civic activities, Dan finds the time to promote The American Ireland Fund and attends the annual events, including the Pittsburgh, Boston and New York Dinners and also the June Conference in Dublin with his wife Pat.

A Tribute to Dan
- written by Sir Anthony O'Reilly

Dan Rooney is a singular man. The level gaze, the humorous yet watchful eyes, the quiet authority that he exudes are products of many tough battles, many triumphs and some failures.

In a curious way, he is a symbol of the modern American dream; the poor family that came from Newry in County Down, who made their way through the tough North Side of Pittsburgh to the pinnacle of American football in their ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

America is a curious country in that it is no respecter of reputation even betimes of antecedent history. You are what you are and are judged by what you do and achieve. The Mellons made themselves and Pittsburgh starting in 1852. They were Protestants from County Tyrone and through their banking skills, forged some of the true giants of the American business world: U.S. Steel, Alcoa, PPG, Gulf Oil, the Mellon Bank itself, and a host of other nascent industries that made Pittsburgh the gritty heartbeat of the American revolution.

In World War II, you could change your shirt four times a day because of the belching smoke and industry of 28 steel mills grinding out a winning war effort. Pittsburgh became the second largest capital city for major corporations in America, and had an image that belied the beauty of the countryside around it and the potential, now delivered, of a truly extraordinary Greek city-state.

The Rooneys were on the other side of the tracks in those days, and in 1936 Art Rooney bought the Pittsburgh Steelers as a birthday present for young Dan, the eldest of his six children and his wife, a Miss O'Rourke also hailing from Ireland, for the princely sum of $2,500.

Judging from the values placed on other NFL football franchises nowadays, that's probably worth $600-$700 million; a not unreasonable return on your money. But in those days, the Rooneys and the Mellons had never met. These two strands of the Irish Diaspora, who had built this great city, met for the first time at an unexpected concelebration.

The Exhibition of Irish Artworks, including the Book of Kells, arrived in Pittsburgh while on its tour of America. It revealed the unexpected, and the unexpected was that in the 4th, 5th and 6th Centuries A.D., after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Ireland, because of its isolation and Christianity, was the most sophisticated country in a Europe ruled by tumult and barbarian excess. The Book of Kells is possibly the most glorious example of the calligraphy and creative skills of the monasteries of Ireland, and the Ardagh Chalice and the Torc brooches displayed a style and elegance in gold-work and jewelry and design that was unique for its time in Ireland, and indeed in the Western World.

So to their surprise, the Irish had discovered that they had this elegant, shared past and the celebration of this fact brought the many strands of Irish life in Pittsburgh together, and I might say, gave me an extraordinary sense of referred pride at the many facets in our small island that had contributed to this great nation. And so at this amazing Exhibition, the Rooneys and the Mellons shared for the first time the knowledge of their Irish past.

Dan in the late 1970's was at the end of four Super Bowl wins, and although we have not won the Super Bowl since those days, the Steelers have won their league and have been to the Super Bowl, and are always the doughtiest opponents. In all of this, Dan has maintained the same equanimity, magnanimity and dignity. In Rudyard Kipling's words,

"He has learned to meet with triumph and disaster and treat these two imposters just the same."

So after 30 years of living in America and watching and savoring and learning and admiring the extraordinary capacity of this country to regenerate itself, there are probably five people who have left a truly lasting impression on me. One would be Henry Kissinger. Others could include Ronald Reagan and, surprisingly, Bill Clinton, but of all the figures that identify to me what it is to be an American - to be fair, to be honest, to be good humored, to be wise, to be a fine parent to both your family and the wider family of your team and your fans and the American public; the best man would be Dan Rooney. And in saying that, I am conscious that behind him is the extraordinary figure of his wife, Pat, the mother of his nine children, a dedicated and tireless worker for education and the poor and the underprivileged.

This, I suppose, is the American dream, and it could not have happened to a nicer family.

This article first appeared in Connections Winter 2001 issue