Boasting eight Irish great-grandparents, it’s no wonder that John F. Kennedy’s presidential visit to Ireland in 1963 forged deep emotional connections with relatives and places that continue to resonate to this day.
Each one of John F. Kennedy’s eight great-grandparents was born in Ireland and moved to Massachusetts in search of a better life around the time of the Great Famine. The 35th President of the United States cherished his Irish heritage. Yet, it appears he may not have been fully aware of the exact nature of all of his genealogical connections to Ireland.
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JFK’s Wexford roots
One of JFK’s paternal great-grandfathers was Patrick Kennedy from Dunganstown, south of New Ross town in Co. Wexford. Patrick left for the US during the height of the Famine in 1848. There, he worked as a cooper and married Bridget Murphy from the civil parish of Owenduff, also in Co. Wexford. She probably came from the townland of Cloonagh, just a few kilometres from Dunganstown.
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The couple had five children but, sadly, Bridget was widowed in her early 30s when her husband died of TB. She worked hard as a domestic servant to support her children. Later, she became a hairdresser and later still, she owned a small grocery store and rented apartments to fellow Irish immigrants.
In 1963, America’s first Irish-Catholic president visited Ireland as part of a wider European tour. He had actually been to the country previously in 1945 as a journalist and in 1947 to see his sister, Kathleen, who was staying at Lismore Castle in Co. Waterford. The castle was owned by her late husband’s family, the Cavendishes.
As Kennedy’s connections with Co. Wexford were well known, it had been decided that the US president should make the trip to Dunganstown, the ancestral home of the Kennedys. There, he bonded with Mary Ryan, his closest living cousin in Ireland, as well as other relatives and the local parish priest. Images of Kennedy sharing a cosy cup of tea and a chat with cousin Mary soon made headlines globally.
The homestead of Patrick Kennedy in Dunganstown is now a visitor centre and is still maintained by the local Kennedys.
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JFK’s Limerick roots
Three of Kennedy’s great-grandparents, all on his mother’s side, came from the Bruff area of east Co. Limerick. This includes Mary Ann Fitzgerald from Palatine Road in Bruff and her husband, Michael Hannon, from Lough Gur, a few kilometres north of the town.
JFK’s other Limerick great-grandparent was Thomas Fitzgerald, a first cousin and neighbour of Mary Ann Fitzgerald. After fleeing to the US during the Famine, Thomas eventually settled in Boston, where he married fellow Irish native Rosanna Cox.
Their son, John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, married his second cousin Mary Josephine Hannon, the daughter of Michael Hannon and Mary Ann Fitzgerald. The first-born daughter of Honey Fitz and Mary Josephine was Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald – John F. Kennedy’s mother. As we all know, the “F” in the president’s name stands for “Fitzgerald”.
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Honey Fitz held the position of Boston’s mayor for a couple of terms and served as a member of the United States Congress during his political career. He visited Limerick twice and met relatives in Lough Gur. In part prompted by his grandfather’s visits to Limerick, it was decided that President Kennedy should visit Limerick city during his 1963 tour of Ireland. There, Frances Condell, Limerick’s first female mayor, conferred the freedom of the city upon him.
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Interestingly, the family Bible that Kennedy used for his presidential inauguration ceremony came from Bruff and was brought to America by Thomas Fitzgerald. Now in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, it contains several handwritten pages recording details of family births and marriages.
The Thomas Fitzgerald Centre in Bruff houses an exhibition showcasing the president’s 1963 visit to Ireland, his daughter Caroline Kennedy’s 2013 visit to Bruff and a collection of photos featuring members of the Fitzgerald-Kennedy family. Outside the centre, a life-size bronze statue of JFK can be found.
JFK’s Fermanagh roots
Fr Ultan McGoohan’s recent research indicates that Rosanna Cox, one of JFK’s maternal grandmothers, originated from Tonymore in Co. Fermanagh, where the ruins of the Cox family cottage can still be seen. This challenges the previous notion that Rosanna came from the neighbouring county of Cavan.
>>> READ MORE: How Irish is Kamala Harris? US vice president’s Irish roots explained
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JFK’s West Cork roots
Margaret M. Field, one of JFK’s paternal great-grandmothers, lived in Coorleigh North, a townland approximately 5km northwest of Clonakilty town in West Cork. After immigrating to Boston, she married James F. Hickey. His origins remain a matter of debate. While some contend that he was also born in the Clonakilty area, others argue for his roots in Newcastle-upon-Fergus in Co. Clare.
Whatever the case, their daughter Mary Augusta Hickey married Patrick Joseph “P.J.” Kennedy, the youngest child of Wexford couple Patrick Kennedy and Bridget Murphy. P.J. and Mary had a son named Joseph “Joe” Kennedy – the president’s father.
During President Kennedy’s “visit home” in 1963, he was awarded the freedom of Cork city by the lord mayor, Seán Casey. His connections with West Cork, however, were not then widely known.
More recently, it has been argued that JFK could potentially be distantly related to Ireland’s most famous revolutionary, Michael Collins. One of the townlands bordering Coorleigh North is Woodfield; this is where both Michael Collins and Margaret Field’s mother, Mary Sheehy, were born. Tim Crowley of the Michael Collins Centre has highlighted a piece of Collins family lore from a recording featuring Johnny Collins, Michael Collins’ brother. In this recording, Johnny noted that the first member of the Collins family to settle in Woodfield married into a Sheehy farm.
It’s sometimes claimed that JFK’s great-grandmother Mary Ann Fitzgerald also came from West Cork, specifically the Skibbereen area, but the current evidence is weak and her connection with Bruff seems more likely.
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Sixtieth anniversary
John F. Kennedy’s momentous visit to Ireland in June 1963, just five months before his tragic death, is still spoken about fondly today. His assassination on 22 November 1963 was especially devastating for the Irish people, who held him in such deep affection. Today marks the 60th anniversary of his death, and special events have been planned at various locations throughout Ireland to commemorate this occasion.
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