Paddy McGuinness discovers Irish ancestry and link to Joe Biden

The former Top Gear presenter said he always felt 'ignorant' when visiting due to lack of knowledge around his ancestry.

Tue, 13 Aug, 2024 - 07:37

Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

TV presenter Paddy McGuinness has discovered he has Irish ancestors who were neighbours with a forebearer of US President Joe Biden.

During an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?, a BBC programme in which celebrities discover their family history, McGuinness visited Ireland and said he felt “a connection” to the country.

However, the former Top Gear presenter, who has a popular Irish surname, said he always felt “ignorant” when visiting due to lack of knowledge around his ancestry.

On the show the TV star from Lancashire learned that his great-grandmother, Bridget McGuinness, had been baptised in a parish in County Mayo to parents (McGuinness’s great-great-grandmother and grandfather) Mark McGuinness and Winifred Molloy, who lived near Mr Biden’s ancestor Edward Blewitt in Ballina.

My dad would have loved to find more out about our Irish ancestors, and it had been nice to bring him out to Ballina and what have you, but I'll have a pint of the black stuff for him

Mr Biden visited Co Mayo last year and was presented with a 200-year-old brick recovered from the site of his family’s ancestral home in the town.

The president said during one of his engagements in the county that he saw a record from 1828 that said Mr Blewitt was paid 21 pounds and 12 shillings to help supply 27,000 bricks for St Muredach’s Cathedral.

At the end of the programme, McGuinness, while stood on a beach, said: “I do feel a real spiritual connection, even on this beach today, it’s absolutely beautiful here on the west coast of Ireland they could have been playing on here as kids walking up and down here, who knows.

“It’s quite a romantic thought, but I like it. It’s just been one of them where there’s so many lovely little surprises, my grandad on my mum’s side with the Spitfire connection.

“My ancestors over here in Ballina who lived on the same street as Joe Biden’s ancestors.

“I think the biggest highlight for me was actually seeing my granddad’s war medal.

“That for me was a real moment where I felt like I was holding a piece of history in my hand.

“My dad would have loved to find more out about our Irish ancestors, and it had been nice to bring him out to Ballina and what have you, but I’ll have a pint of the black stuff for him.”