Joe O’Biden? In Ireland, president wonders why anyone leaves
DUNDALK, Ireland (AP) — President Joe Biden returned Wednesday to his ancestral home of Ireland, where he was greeted by thousands of cheering people who lined up four and five deep and endured an hourslong wait in the cold rain in hopes of getting a glimpse, a photo or even the slightest touch from him.
In the town of Dundalk, County Louth’s most famous descendant declared, “I don’t know why the hell my ancestors left here. It’s beautiful.”
Biden’s mother’s family comes from this corner of Ireland, and he appeared overjoyed to take a break from Washington’s grind to dive into his Irish heritage, which he often cites as a driving force in his public and private life. The buoyant president popped into several shops and restaurants in Dundalk’s town square, and he stretched over barricades to shake hands, make small talk and pose for pictures.
Children were perched on the shoulders of adults, and some people stretched their hands as far as they could, hoping for the slightest bit of contact with Biden. He toured a food hall and later met up with some of his cousins at a pub.
A large “Welcome Joe” sign perched on a rooftop seemed to sum up the town sentiment.
“It feels like home,” Biden said in remarks at Windsor Bar and Restaurant, where he reminisced about the values he said he learned from his parents. His sister Valerie and son Hunter sat in the front row of the small audience.
He acknowledged that his ancestors emigrated to the United States to escape the Great Famine of the mid-19th century, but he added, “When you’re here, you wonder why anyone would ever want to leave.”
The experience was replicated earlier Wednesday a short distance away in Carlingford, a seaside village where the cry of bagpipes welcomed him on a cold, wet and windy afternoon.
Biden gazed out at the water from the stone balcony of Carlingford Castle, which would have been the last Irish landmark that Owen Finnegan, Biden’s maternal great-great-grandfather, saw before sailing for New York in 1849. A wooden sign on the road heading to the castle welcomed “Cousin Joe.”
“It feels like I’m coming home,” Biden said as he was led on a tour and looked out over Carlingford Lough, a bay that empties into the Irish Sea.
As for the soggy weather, “It’s fine! It’s Ireland!” Biden said.
County Louth is the home of Biden’s mother’s family, the Finnegans. According to a genealogy released by the White House, the president’s great-great-great-grandparents lived in Templetown and were married in 1813.
Their grandson, James Finnegan, born in 1840, emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 9 years old. The Finnegans settled in Seneca County, New York. James married Catherine Roche in 1846; they were Biden’s great-grandparents. Biden’s mother was Catherine Eugenia Finnegan.
In Dundalk, Jerome McAteer, who owns the Food House with his husband Bobby Wain, said Biden bought lemon meringue, chocolate eclairs, bread and butter pudding, pear and almond cake, as well as a mug with an image of a dog on it.
Biden paid with a 50 euro note and gave a 10 euro tip to some of the workers who have special needs, McAteer said, adding that the president talked a lot about his Irish background.
Asked if Biden was how he expected, McAteer said: “He was taller, he was younger looking, he had amazing teeth. He has just a really easy manner and he was absolutely brilliant with the special needs kids.”
Biden arrived in the Irish Republic after an appearance in Northern Ireland. He was supposed to visit a cemetery in County Louth, but that trip was scrapped because of the bad weather. As a result, he had to be driven 90 minutes to and from Dublin.
Biden is spending three days in Ireland on his first visit back as president, with plans to meet with Ireland’s leaders, address the parliament in Dublin and attend a gala dinner on Thursday, and visit County Mayo, another ancestral area on the west coast of Ireland, on Friday before he flies back to Washington.
He had visited in 2016, near the end of his term as U.S. vice president, with a much larger contingent of his family, including all of his grandchildren.
Ireland’s prime minister greeted Biden on Wednesday after he landed at the airport in Dublin. The president then went to a nearby fire station, where children of U.S. Embassy employees held American and Irish flags and signs that said “welcome home.”
According to the Irish Family History Centre, Biden “is among the most ‘Irish’ of all U.S. Presidents.” Ten of his 16 great-great grandparents were from the Emerald Isle. Biden is particularly fond of quoting Irish poetry, especially Seamus Heaney.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. The U.S.-brokered deal brought peace to an area of the United Kingdom where years of sectarian violence known as “the Troubles” left some 3,600 people killed in bombings and other attacks.
But recent political turmoil has left Northern Ireland without a functioning government, rattling the foundations of the Good Friday Agreement. In addition, a top police official was shot and injured in February, an attack that authorities have blamed on Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to the peace process.
“The enemies of peace will not prevail,” Biden said. “Northern Ireland will not go back, pray God.”