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.

Had he got a tip-off from the Man above? “No, no — I’m only in sales,” he insisted.

Canon Neill, of the 200-year-old Templeharry church, in the next village of Cloughjordan, was partly responsible for this outbreak of madness.

It was he who unearthed the dusty records stored in an elderly parishioner’s home that firmly tied America’s first black President to Moneygall.

“It’s hard to contemplate really, for a quiet little village on the main Dublin to Limerick road — soon to be bypassed — to get a visit from the most important citizen of the world, it’s very hard to put words on that.”

There was no sign of a credit crunch in Ollie’s Pub or any evidence outside of the economic gloom that has pervaded the rest of the country as it comes to terms with the dying cry of the Republic’s once mighty Celtic Tiger.

The talk was of optimism, new plans, perhaps a heritage centre on the field where Senator Obama’s third great-grandfather, the wonder-fully named Fulmuth Kearney grew up. There was also hope of change.

“This gives us that encouragement we need, particularly at a time when people are quite down about the economy. This gives us a little kick up the backside to get us motivated and moving,” said Canon O’Neill.

Eugene Ryan, 56, principal of St Joseph’s School, was born in the village and teaches just across the street from where he grew up.

“When John F Kennedy came to Ireland in 1963 I was still at school myself, I remember it,” he said.

“His Irish connections were well publicised at the time. We all thought he was a walking saint.

“Obama certainly has a strong similarity: He’s a young man, with new ideas and he has Irish connections — and thank God, they are Moneygall connections.”

The nearest the village has come to these scenes of jubilation before was after the rare and cherished victories of the Gaelic hurling team who play in red and black. They won a county junior title last weekend.

“Obama’s victory puts Moneygall on the map — on the world map,” said Mr Ryan.

Marian Ryan, 40, a housewife who has lived in Moneygall for 12 years has found further evidence of the village’s new found fame.

“I was talking to a doctor from Kilkenny on the phone yesterday and when I told him I was in Moneygall, he knew that Barack Obama’s people came from here,” she said.

“This is going to go down in history and we’re all part of that. For the first time ever I feel I’m part of the history books.”

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, also from Co Offaly, was swift to officially invite Senator Obama to Moneygall in his congratulations to him after the official result. But there is, perhaps, one man who is looking forward to it more than any other in the village.

Henry Healy, 24, who keeps the accounts for a local plumber and who has traced his own family tree to the Kearney-Obama dynasty, is the acknowledged driving force of a campaign promoting the famous connection.

As he walks along the village, neighbours hoot car horns and wave to him, as he talks to visitors about this recently-uncovered heritage.

“It’s fantastic for our little village in the south of Offaly to be associated with the most powerful man in the world. You would have to go back to JFK for something like this,” he said. “JFK had the charisma, the image, he was youthful, he had everything going for him, even the Irish roots, as does Barack Obama.

“It’s put Moneygall on the map. It’s put Offaly on the map. And we’re awfully proud of it too.”