Skip to main content

Irish Officials Debate Where in Ireland the American President Will Visit: 1963


The Kennedys in New Ross (courtesy of JFK Library

A month before President John F. Kennedy's famous visit to Ireland in June 1963, a dispute broke out between the people of New Ross, County Wexford, and Dublin government officials over where President Kennedy would visit, according to a UPI story that ran in the Boston Globe on May 27, 1963.

"Townspeople in President Kennedy's ancestral birthplace Sunday charged civil servants with 'hijacking' their famous guest away from his Irish relatives," the UPI reported. 

"We feel the President is being hijacked all over the country," a town spokesman said...."President Kennedy would prefer to stay longer with his kith and kin in the New Ross area instead of attending banquets and garden parties in Dublin."

The story continued, "New Ross is the home of President Kennedy's forefathers and should be accorded precedence over any other part of Ireland, including Dublin, (said a town spokesman)...We will demand that he stay longer than a mere 45 minutes."

A full month later, on June 27, 1963, President Kennedy arrived in New Ross and had a reunion with his relatives before addressing a crowd of 10,000 people.

The John F. Kennedy Library & Museum has extensive materials on President Kennedy's trip to Ireland in June 1963 and on his Irish ancestry.  To read a copy of President Kennedy's speech at New Ross, click here.

For information on Boston Irish history, visit IrishHeritageTrail.com.  For Irish cultural events, visit IrishBoston.org


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Boston Celtics : The Story Behind Their Irish Green Theme

Many people wonder why the Boston Celtics wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why the team mascot is a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtic’s official web site, the name came about in 1946 when owner Walter Brown started the team. He and his public relations guy, Howie McHugh, were throwing out potential nicknames, including the Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics. It was Brown who had the epiphany, saying, “Wait, I’ve got it – the Celtics. The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York (1920s). And Boston is full of Irishman. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.” Red Auerbach , the now legendary coach of the early Celtics, then commissioned his brother Zang, a graphic designer in the newspaper business, to come up with the famous Celtics logo in the early 1950s. The logo m

Boston's Airport Named for Edward L. Logan, South Boston Leader with Galway Roots

Statue of General Edward L. Logan Boston ’s Logan InternationalAirport was named for General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), a first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in Galway and South Boston .  Logan was the son of Lawrence Logan and Catherine O'Connor from Ballygar, County Galway, according to historian Michael J. Cummings .  The Logan family lived on East Broadway in South Boston.   Read a full profile of Edward L. Logan on IrishMassachusetts.com . The Logan statue is part of Boston's Irish Heritage Trail , a collection of public landmarks, memorials, buildings and statues that tell the story of the Boston Irish from the 1700s to the present.  Find year round information on Boston's Irish community at IrishBoston.org . 

Boston Mayors of Irish Descent, 1885-2021

(Originally published in 2013, this post was updated in 2021) Here are the Mayors of Boston Claiming Irish Heritage:  Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh   2014- 2021 The lineage of Boston mayors with Irish ancestry dates back to 1885, when Irish immigrant Hugh O'Brien of County Cork assumed office and became the first Irish-born mayor elected in Boston, serving four one-year terms (1885-88).   O'Brien was followed by Irish-born Patrick Collins (1902-05), also of County Cork, who died in office in 1905. He was replaced by John F. Fitzgerald, who became the first American-born mayor of Irish descent, serving two terms.  A noteworthy mayor was James