Moneygall readies itself for visit of its most famous son

OFFALY is getting ready for an official visit from the most powerful man in the world.

So while Obama supporters in Chicago wore pained faces of anxiety throughout the election, their Irish cousins in this small Offaly village were already throwing a party like no other.

Even the Church of Ireland rector, Canon Stephen Neill, 39, was fighting for space on the small dance floor at the back of the bar — one of only two in Moneygall — well before John McCain conceded defeat.