Irish Home of Prez's Ancestor Has O'Bama Fever

President begins Europe tour

(NEWSER) - President Obama arrived in Ireland today, and said the nation shares a “blood link” with his country because of the millions of Irish-Americans who live in the US. The president, of course, has his own blood link with Ireland, and is planning a visit to the home of his great-great-great grandfather in Moneygall today, the AP reports. Obama, who has been affectionately nicknamed O’Bama by locals, is in Ireland to hold talks on trade, Reuters adds. More»

Obama gives uplifting speech about Irish-American friendship

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama let his Irish pride shine today in a speech before an exultant sea of people in Dublin, telling them he'd come to reaffirm the US' enduring friendship with Ireland, the AP reports. "There's always been a little green behind the red, white, and blue," he told the roughly 30,000 people crowding the streets of central Dublin to hear him, praising the many who had emigrated from Ireland to America, and reveling in his own Irish roots. More»

Moneygall readies for president's visit tomorrow

(NEWSER) - It's not often that drivers blink twice when passing the tiny Irish village of Moneygall, so one might imagine the frenzy that results when Barack Obama swings by for a visit tomorrow. Along with the country's trademark green and orange, locals have decked the County Offaly town out in red, white, and blue, opened an Obama Cafe, and started hawking Obama T-shirts in honor of the president's visit tomorrow, reports the Irish Times. The Offaly Independent has even been re-branded the Obama Independent. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s trip to Germany is a bit of a homecoming for him, according to a Utah-based genealogy group. Ancestry.com’s researchers traced his family tree back to his eighth great-grandfather on his mother’s side and found a German ancestor, after tracing , the Salt Lake Tribune reports. That antecedent was a politician, too—mayor of the town of Orsingen. More»

Roots can be traced to tiny village of Moneygall in County Offaly, Ireland

(NEWSER) - Add one more bit of heritage to Barack Obama’s rich texture of multi-ethnicity; it turns out he’s Irish, too. His great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side was Fulmuth Kearney, originally from the tiny village of Moneygall in Ireland. More»