Looking around at the best and brightest Irish Americans on Wall Street, it is hard to imagine a time when "No Irish Need Apply" signs dotted the New York City landscape.
Since the beginning of the century, Irish Americans have gone from building the skyscrapers to running the corporations within them, said New York's mayor, Mr Rudy Giuliani, on Wednesday night at the inaugural Annual Wall Street 50 Awards Event.
More than 150 guests paid tribute to 50 Irish American business people who have been successful on Wall Street, notorious for being one of the toughest places to succeed.
Mr Bernie Cahill, executive chairman of Aer Lingus, flew in from Dublin to give an address and Mr Sean O hUiginn, Irish Ambassador to the United States, came up from Washington to present the awards.
The event was organised by Irish America, a magazine published every two months in New York and sold to the Irish American community. "We wanted to target Wall Street which is saturated with Irish," said Ms Patricia Daly, vice-president of marketing. "We wanted to recognise their accomplishments. When we looked into it, most of them were higher up than we had thought."
And higher up some of them can't go when you include Mr David Komansky, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co, Mr Joseph O'Neill, president and chief executive officer of the New York Cotton Exchange, Mr Tom Ryan, president of the American Stock Exchange and the four Quick brothers of Quick & Reilly, the discount brokerage firm.
Thirty-two of the 50 honoured recipients were on hand to receive a Waterford Crystal harp, a complimentary business class flight on Aer Lingus and an overnight stay at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin for their achievements.
The criteria for qualification in the Top 50 list, explained Ms Patricia Harty, editor-in-chief, "were to be interested in their heritage and also working on Wall Street".
Irish America also annually organises the Top 100 Irish Americans and the Top 100 Business People lists.
One man who has made it on to all three lists is Mr Donald Keough, former president of the Coca-Cola Co and on Wall Street for the past five years as chairman of Allen & Co, an investment banking firm. At the private Sky Club in the MetLife building which dominates mid-town Manhattan, Mr Keough remembered the significance of two symbols visible from the 56th floor windows.
"All our history is embedded in those two symbols - the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - they're what we're all about," he said.
The Irish, like the Jews, didn't have a natural progression through corporate America, yet, Mr Keough pointed out, when many of them succeeded on Wall Street they gave a helping hand to those in need.
Similarities between being Irish and being Jewish were also voiced by the keynote speaker, Mr O hUiginn. "Both remain close to their homelands and both are fated to be nomadic," he said.
One man who caused most heads to turn was Mr James O'Donnell (36), the former manager of two divisions within the HSBC Financial Group. Twelve days ago he relinquished the millions of dollars on Wall Street to study for the priesthood.
And just as Mr O'Donnell leaves behind the trading post of the world, another joins it. Mr Michael Finnegan became managing director of J.P. Morgan Securities eight months ago after spending three years as chief counsel to Governor Pataki of New York.
Aer Lingus was the lead sponsor of the evening along with Mutual of America, Waterford Crystal, the Merrion Hotel, MCI Communications and the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the United States.
