Thomas A. Lambert is the current President of the New York State Ancient Order of Hibernians, having been elected at the New York State AOH/LAOH Convention in July 2019. He has been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians since 1986. Tom is currently the Vice President of Thomas W. Carroll AOH Division 1 in Buffalo, Past President of the same Division, and was Past President of Kevin Barry AOH Division 3 in Kings Park, New York before he and his family moved to Buffalo in 2007. In 2019 Tom was named the Knights of Equity Irishman of the Year, having been an active member of the Knights of Equity, Court 5 since 2015. He was also a 2010 recipient of the Hibernian of the Year award. Tom also proudly served on the Tara Court Major Degree Team before moving to Buffalo.
A member of the Erie County Bar Association, the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Injured Workers Bar Association, Tom is also the managing partner for the Buffalo office of Fusco, Brandenstein & Rada, PC, a law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of injured workers. Tom was elected to two terms as a Trustee for the Village of the Branch on Long Island and was a candidate for the New York State Senate in 2002. He also served as Chairman of the Smithtown Democratic Committee for almost seven years. Tom was honored as Smithtown’s Democrat of the year in 2008.
Tom is a very proud Irishman. He has been married to Andrea Ludeman Lambert for thirty-six years. He is also the proud father of three; Ryan, Brenna and Ciara and is the loving Grandpa to Jayden and Brielle. Tom and his family are parishioners at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in North Buffalo, where his grandson attends St. Mark’s School.
Promoting Buffalo and the preserving the Irish Culture have been important parts of Tom’s life since moving to Western New York. His current focus as President of the NYS AOH is directed to promoting efforts to secure Freedom for All Ireland. Tom was co-chairman of the 2017 New York State AOH/LAOH Convention, which took place in Buffalo. He also continues to promote both the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Equity as both organizations work to preserve our common Irish Heritage.
National Director Tom Lambert Report May 2025
I hope everyone had an enjoyable and productive St. Patrick’s Day season. As always, St. Patrick’s Day is the time when we show our pride as descendants of those who trace their lineage back to the Island of Saints and Scholars. Hopefully, our public participation in events associated with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations helped tremendously with recruitment to our noble Order. Our efforts at on-line recruitment also continue. The backlog of on-line applications has been addressed. This is a valuable tool in ongoing recruitment. If an officer requests that you follow up on one or more applications, please do so as soon as possible, and be sure to report the results to those in leadership positions as soon as possible. I would like to give a shout out to NYS AOH Organizer Tim Weklar who has been coordinating the contact of these possible new members!
While recruitment issues have taken up most of the time of the National Board, other events are occurring. National President Sean Pender and our National Historian Dan Taylor led a group of Hibernians on a trip to Ireland, which boasted an itinerary that included stops at historical sites in Kilkenny, Kinsale, Killarney and Dublin. It sounds like quite the trip! If a similar trip is planned in the future, make plans to travel!
Speaking of Ireland. Kudos to FFAI Chairman Martin Galvin and Deputy FFAI Director Bob Bollbach for again doing an outstanding job in raising more than $150,000, a new record for the Christmas Appeal! These Grant donations were presented in a ceremony held at the Houben Centre in Belfast on April 5, by AOH and LAOH members. Please make plans to donate to the Christmas Appeal next year if you have not previously done so! Having been a part of this very worthwhile effort and presentation in the past, I have seen firsthand how much the groups who benefit from these grants rely on these AOH donations as they work for peace in Ireland.
I also look forward to continuing collaboration with my fellow Directors: Ryan Curry, Ed Dougherty, Keith Reynolds, Patrick Ryan, and Rory Schulte. There is a lot of energy within this group. We make an effective team!
If any AOH Brother needs to reach me to discuss any AOH issue, I can be reached at TomLambert12@aol.com or on my cell phone at 716-796-7687.