In Ireland, A Homecoming (Of Sorts) For Obama

Moneygall, County Offaly, Ireland.Image via Wikipedia"President Obama is in Ireland on Monday kicking off a six-day European trip during which he will visit Buckingham Palace, address British Parliament, attend the Group of Eight summit in France and meet with Central European leaders in Poland.

First though, the president has some family business to attend to: As Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny explained on St. Patrick's Day, the land of O'Connells, O'Neills, and O'Donnells is also the land of O'Bamas.

'I can tell you that in the history of the English language, never has a single apostrophe meant so much to so many,' he said to applause.

Obama's personal connection to Ireland is on his mother's side. It was discovered four years ago, when researchers traced Falmouth Kearney, his great-great-great grandfather, to the village of Moneygall in County Offaly. Kearney was a shoemaker's son who sailed to America in 1850.

Canon Stephen Neill found Kearney's family records at Templeharry Church, just outside Moneygall. He's been fielding questions about Falmouth's most famous descendent ever since.

'It's good fun, but it's pretty tiring,' he says, chuckling."
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