Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D. performed the “Lighting of the Homecoming Banner” during the Local Launch on Saturday 24th November, 2012, of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the visit of President John F. Kennedy.
Minister of State, Paul Kehoe, T.D, An Cathaoirleach, Cllr Paul Crowdle and Cllr Michael Sheehan, JFK50 Committee Chairman, also joined the Minister on the Quayside.
Further details of the launch can be found in our Homecoming Section.
New Ross is the ancestral home of US President John F Kennedy. It was on the Quay of New Ross that his Great Grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, boarded a Famine Ship bound for America.
President John F Kennedy received a rapturous welcome on an emotional visit to his ancestral home in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland on 27th June, 1963.
President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland in 1963 was a pivitol moment in Irish history and is commemorated by a statue on the Quayside which was commissioned by New Ross Town Council and unveiled in 2008.
President Kennedy embodied the ultimate success story of the Irish emigrant family, from famine emigrant to the most powerful man in the world in three generations.
More than that, his visit and the inspiring speeches he delivered were to change forever how the Irish perceived themselves, particularly in relation to the emigrant experience and the Diaspora.
In a speech at the quayside he said:
“When my great-grandfather left here to become a cooper in East Boston he carried nothing with him except two things – a strong religious faith and a strong desire for liberty. I am glad to say that all of his grandchildren have valued that inheritance.”
