Barack Obama - Will Tipperary try and claim him too

[Bord na Mona man]

Moneygall is Offaly pleased with Obama connection
Mark Rodden

The people of Offaly will have reason to keep a close eye on next year's US elections after it was confirmed yesterday that one of the leading candidates for the presidency has roots in the Faithful County. Research has revealed that Barack Obama, an Illinois senator and Democrat hopeful for the 2008 presidential elections, is descended from a shoemaker in Moneygall, Co Offaly.

Previous investigations had indicated that Obama's third great-grandfather on his mother's side, Fulmuth Kearney, had emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1850. Obama's father, Barack Obama snr, was a goat-herder from Kenya, while his mother, Ann Dunham, is from Kansas. The 45-year-old senator was born in Hawaii in 1961 and is battling Hillary Clinton, among others, to be the Democratic candidate for next year's elections.

It emerged yesterday that Stephen Neill, a Church of Ireland rector from Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, had uncovered details which confirm that the man hoping to be the first black president of the United States has roots in Offaly.

Canon Neill was able to scour the indexed records at the Templeharry Rectory, which go back as far as 1799, to find that Fulmuth's parents were Joseph and Phoebe. He also found baptismal records of a number of Fulmuth's siblings, which confirm that Joseph Kearney was a shoemaker from Moneygall.

Fulmuth Kearney (19) sailed from Ireland to New York in 1850.

He says the research is "categorical proof" that Obama has ties with the county. "The family would have been comfortable, I would have thought. There wouldn't have been many better jobs around."

The records reveal that Fulmuth's brother William was born in 1831, and his sister Mary Anne in 1837.

Evidence suggests the Kearney family also had links with nearby Shinrone and Canon Neill is hopeful that they might even discover the baptismal records of Fulmuth there. "There certainly is room for a little bit more detective work and hopefully the full details will come out in the fullness of time," he said.

Canon Neill made the discoveries after he was given charge of the records following the death recently of the parishioner who had dealt with them. He began investigating Obama's ancestry after being tipped off by an American genealogist in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"This research will once and for all put to rest any perceptions that Barack Obama is a first-generation American," said Megan Smolenyak of ancestry.co.uk, which facilitated the research. "Like most of us, he has an interesting mix of ancestry."

© 2007 The Irish Times

[Fido]

I wonder could somebody like the Offaly Association could provide him with an Offaly shirt and a hurl? If he's anything like the politicians here he'd go mad for the photo op. It'd be class to see him debating against Hillary with "Carroll Mates" written across his belly!

[Oskar]

Only thing is, he'll alienate the vegetarians if he wears a Carroll Meats jersey. I presume they changed to Carroll's Cuisine to sound less carnivorous.

[Bord na Mona man]

It's going to go to the wire whether our man can get the Democratic nod.
I'm not sure about the rest of ye, but I've never taken to Hillary Clinton.
I always found her frosty and lacking in personality.

It would be a great day for mankind if we had an Offaly Taoiseach and leader of the free world...and an Offaly US president too!

[Lone Shark]

I'd worry for our fellow county man now that Hilary is coming under a bit of pressure. The Clinton machine has a very deadly combination of political experience and moral vacuity that means that with herself under the cosh for the first time in the race, God knows what dirty tricks will be coming out. I hope himself and the missus are on a good footing, because if he ever so much as looked at a waitress sideways in a restaurant it'll be broadcast at some stage.

I don't necessarily think O'Bama is a hugely innovative guy with a load of fresh insights, but having said that he looks to have a bit of charisma about him, which in likely hard times could go a long way. Americans might be in for a rough ride with the state of their economy right now, but their patriotism still energises them, and he could harness it in a good way. John McCain could too, but if he got in it would probably be no length of time till he was bombing the Corrib gas field looking to seize our meagre natural resources, while Hilary's crying stunt in New Hampshire said all that needed to be said about the level of ethics she'd bring to the office, so county loyalty aside I would be cheering the Biffo on from here on in.

Seriously, we have to arrange that photo op. No idea how, but it has to be done.

[Oskar]

Where would they land Air Force One though? Would a local farmer have to give up his field and have it turned into a runway?

[Plain of the Herbs]

See the front cover of the current issue of Phoenix!

Seriously, we have to arrange that photo op. No idea how, but it has to be done.

[Oskar]

[durra1]

Black Intelligent Fellow From Offaly