Buoyed by the news of the US president’s visit, locals in the Co Offaly village begin to dust down for the event
THERE’S ALREADY an American flag flying on the main – and only – street in Moneygall, Co Offaly. This is where president Barack Obama’s great, great, great grandfather on his mother’s side, Falmouth Kearney, emigrated from in 1850, aged 19. He was a shoemaker.
One of those hoping to meet Obama when he visits in May is Henry Healy, a book-keeper for a local plumbing contractor. Healy is Barack Obama’s eighth cousin, and lives in Moneygall. “I’d never claim to be anything other than a distant relative,” he admits. “But it is surreal to say you share the same lineage with the president of the United States.”
No 123 Main Street, a modest street-front house with dormers, built on the site of the Kearney home, is now owned by John Donovan. Donovan is also the fourth generation of his family to run a hardware shop in the village. The premises was bought by his grandfather John Tierney.
Donovan points to piles of dislodged moss on the pavement. “I was out this morning already, clearing it off the roof,” he says. “The next thing I have to do is powerhose the front, and do a bit of painting. There was supposed to be a plaque on the wall, but it hasn’t gone up yet.”
The house has a tenant, and even if Obama comes calling, Donovan won’t be asking his tenant to leave. “Obama might only be here for 10 minutes, but my tenant will be here far longer. And she’s the one who’ll be paying the rent, not Obama.”
One of Canon Stephen Neill’s five churches is the Church of Ireland at Templeharry, just outside Moneygall. Records found in this church proved that Falmouth Kearney’s brother and sister, William and Mary Anne, had been baptised here. “The church is very damp, and currently covered in sheets to keep the bats off, so I have the records in my own house for safe-keeping,” the canon reveals.
The village post office is run by Pat and Mary Bergin, and it also functions as a newsagent and small grocery. They sell stamps, but no postcards as yet.
“I’ll have to go out with my camera and take a few shots,” Pat Bergin declares. “We’ve been bypassed since December, and maybe this visit will bring us a few more tourists. We did have people coming in during the American elections asking for us to stamp the Moneygall post office mark on envelopes for them. I would say we’ll have a few more now after this.”
“Up to now, when you say where you’re from, people say ‘Oh, Don-e-gal’?” says Mary Bergin. “They won’t be asking that any more, because they’ll know Moneygall from now on.”
Local Noel Costello drops in to buy milk. Like everyone else, he’s abuzz with the news of the visit. “Moneygall could do with a good clean up and paint job,” he confesses. “Maybe those secret service people might give us a hand with it.”
At Ollie Hayes’s bar, one of two pubs in Moneygall, Hayes has brought out a cardboard cutout of Obama that an American tourist gave him about 18 months ago. Locals are queuing up to get their picture taken with it.
“We had a visit from Enda Kenny the week before the election,” Hayes reveals. When Hayes heard the news on St Patrick’s Day, he ran up and down the street, telling everyone. “The thing is, not alone is it a State visit, but it’s also a personal visit to the home of his ancestors.”
As for the long-term effect on the village, he’s sanguine. “I think it’ll be fantastic for us, but there won’t be much in it for us afterwards. Ballyporeen kept it going for a while, but we’re in a different world now.”