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President Obama Celebrates His Irish Roots

By Marcella Glenn

President Obama landed in Dublin today as the sixth United States president to visit Ireland and celebrate his Irish roots.

"It is heartwarming to be here," Obama stated. "People even arranged for the sun to come out shortly after I arrived."

Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited the small island home of 4.5 million people.

His visit will include an hour-long visit to Moneygall, in County Offaly, where his great-great-great grandfather was born in 1830, and a speech in Dublin at an outdoor concert to tens of thousands of people.

Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton are the most celebrated presidents to have visited. Kennedy came first, in 1963, just months before his assassination, and spent three days. Reagan visited another tiny village south of Moneygall called Ballyporeen to celebrate his family's ancestry there.

Clinton helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland in 1998 through the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Obama's visit is being celebrated culturally too. There's a new 90-minute film, Barack Obama's Irish Roots, which just premiered at Cannes. There's a painting by former Miss Ireland Nuala Holloway, Famine Ship, depicting the type of vessel that would have brought Falmouth Kearney, Obama's ancestor, to America.

Marcella Glenn is a freelance writer, blogger, novelist, and former business editor. She looks forward to hearing from you. Scribble a note to her through NewsBlaze, or her blog at critiqueandwrite.blogspot.com