Obama to visit Ireland in May
Barack Obama has said he intends to visit Ireland in May.
The US President made the statement while hosting Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the White House for St Patrick's Day.
There is no official date for the visit yet but Mr Obama is due to travel to the UK in late May ahead of a G8 summit of world leaders in France.
Mr Kenny spent his first St Patrick’s Day in office meeting Mr Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Congressional leaders just over a week after being appointed Taoiseach.
Before meeting the President, he attended the Speaker’s Lunch on Capitol Hill, hosted by the new Speaker, Republican John Boehner.
The Taoiseach said President Obama could expect a 'rapturous' welcome from the Irish people, and that his visit is a great vote of confidence in our country at a difficult time.
Records have revealed that President Obama has roots in Ireland as an ancestor was a shoemaker in the village of Moneygall in Co Offaly, whose son Fulmuth Kearney left for the US in 1850.
The president said he was looking forward to seeing where his ancestors had come from.
The Queen is also expected to make an historic visit here in May - the first state visit by a British monarch.
Mr Obama’s great-great-great grandfather, Mr Kearney, emigrated to the US in the mid 19th century.
But researchers at Trinity College, Dublin, delved further into Mr Obama’s past during the presidential campaign to find an ancestral grand uncle was a prominent Dublin businessman in the 1700s.
Wig-maker Michael Kearney brushed shoulders with Ireland’s aristocracy on a daily basis and bought and sold property throughout the country.
Mr Obama’s political dynasty can also be traced to Kearney, who was heavily involved in the trade politics of Dublin.
A White House spokesman said the President deliberately chose St Patrick's Day to make the announcement.
“He (Mr Obama) mentioned he would be seeking the roots of his great-great-great-great grandfather,” he said.
“He recognises his ties to Ireland.”
The spokesman confirmed that no date had yet been set.
“I think it’s really appropriate that he chose St Patrick’s Day and that was deliberate – obviously it’s out of respect to the (Irish) Prime Minister,” he said.
