Obama’s ancestral Irish home

This item appears on page 64 of the October 2016 issue.

The town of Moneygall in County Offaly, Ireland, has commemorated its distinction of being the home of President Barack Obama’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearny, with the Barack Obama Plaza (Junction 23 M7, Moneygall, Co. Offaly, E53 F342, Ireland; phone +353 505 45810, barackobamaplaza.ie)

The anchor of the modest plaza is the President Barack Obama Visitor Centre, with an exhibit on Irish culture and on the Irish roots of several American presidents. Obama-geared items in Gaelic, such as shirts and mugs extolling “Is Féidir Linn” (“Yes We Can”), are sold at the plaza.