Tea party stirs Kennedy memories

The country’s ongoing fascination with the Kennedys shows no signs of abating and this weekend, two more scions of the most famous of all Irish-American families are in Ireland for this year’s Kennedy Summer School.

Yesterday, both Ted Kennedy jr — son of the late senator Edward Kennedy — and Rory Kennedy — daughter of the late Bobby Kennedy — landed in the family’s ancestral home at Dunganstown in Co Wexford for a tea party and the summer school’s official opening.

It stirred memories of a famous tea party hosted for the late president John F Kennedy during his visit to Ireland 50 years ago, just months before his assassination and which his niece Rory said were “the happiest four days of his life”.

She was speaking on board the Dunbrody famine ship in New Ross, where “emigrant Mrs White” (actress Anna-Marie Kennedy, no relation) told Rory and Ted a bit about life on such a vessel back in the days when their ancestor, Patrick Kennedy, left Ireland for America.

One of the events of this year’s Kennedy Summer School was a special screening of Ethel — a movie made by documentary-maker Rory about her mother and the wife of the late Bobby Kennedy who was assassinated in 1968.

The film has been nominated for five Emmy awards and Rory and the rest of the team will know tomorrow night if they’ve landed any gongs. “I’m excited about it,” she told reporters yesterday. “I’m not really thinking about it because I’m here, but no matter what happens, it’s nice to get that nod.”

A screening of Ethel was held last night in New Ross, followed by an interview with Rory and her husband, writer Mark Bailey.

Meanwhile, the Dunbrody brought back memories for Ted jr — here with his wife Kiki — of a cruise on the Shannon he took with his father back in 1974. “I was here for about four or five weeks and my father came over for a week and joined me.”

Mr Kennedy, a prominent lawyer and campaigner for people with disabilities, will today deliver the first Edward M Kennedy lecture in St Michael’s Theatre, New Ross. Other events include an audio-visual presentation by Leo Enright on the Kennedys’ ‘space and science legacy’ and a debate on ‘The Legacy of JFK’s Presidency’.