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kilkenny has president obama's most famous direct relative
 
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kilkenny has president obama's most famous direct relative Sceala Irish Craic Forum Irish Message |
loveofireland
Sceala Clann Counsellor
Location: NZ
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| Sceala Irish Craic Forum Discussion:
kilkenny has president obama's most famous direct relative
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everyone back home is trying to claim president obama.
it will be a great tourism boost for kilkenny.
cats claim obama
kilkenny link to us president will intensify rivalry with tipperary ahead of final
by fergus black and sean keane
hurling champions kilkenny have dug up another gem to intensify inter-county rivalries, in the form of a claimed ancestral link to us president barack obama.
a tomb which lay undetected for over 100 years in st canice's cathedral, kilkenny, has been discovered to be that of obama's most famous direct relative.
the discovery is set to test the mettle of the small co offaly village of moneygall, which was first to lay claim to a strong link with the us president.
sitting on the tipperary/offaly border, and a strong supporter of tipperary hurlers in sunday's all-ireland clash, moneygall claims that obama's great-great-great grandfather, fulmouth kearney, was reared in the tiny village before he left for new york almost 160 years ago.
but now comes the news that the discovery of the kilkenny tomb is the only burial place in ireland of mr obama's direct relatives, and the only tangible link between ireland and the most powerful man in the world. according to kilkenny historian and film maker, gabriel murray, president obama's great, great, great, great grand uncle is buried in a vault located under st canice's cathedral.
john kearney was the bishop of ossory at the time of his death in 1813 and also held the position of provost of trinity college.
his son, john kearney, was rector of castleinch and became chancellor of st canice's. he died in 1838 at the age of 68, and his only son, james, died 14 years later of cholera in 1824, which explains why the kilkenny line to mr obama died out.
the latest link to mr obama came as nothing new to the president's eighth cousin, henry healy, whose family has been in moneygall since 1750.
rivalry
he insists that no other county can claim that a direct ancestor of mr obama left their home village for the us in 1851.
"they can't take that away from us. maybe they (kilkenny) are trying to raise a bit of rivalry. moneygall plays its hurling in tipperary and maybe they are trying to snatch some of our glory in advance of the all- ireland," said mr healy yesterday.
"but we are confident we can not only retain obama as one of our own but that we'll also bring home the mccarthy cup as well," he added.
earlier this year, taoiseach brian cowen presented baptismal records to mr obama proving his offaly connections, and there is speculation that the new us ambassador to ireland, dan rooney, is planning to visit the village before the end of the year.
but the significance of the kilkenny find has not been lost on the city.
the mayor, cllr malcolm noonan, has dispatched an official invitation to the white house, asking mr obama to come and see the vault of his long-lost relative for himself.
the discovery was made "by accident" while mr murray was carrying out research in trinity library's ancient manuscript department for a documentary that he has scripted titled 'obama's irish roots', and centring on dublin and moneygall, co offaly.
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