Biden's a hit with the locals during fleeting, and almost floating, visit to Carlingford

US president Joe Biden with Tánaiste Micheál Martin at Carlingford Castle, Co Louth. Picture: PA 

Joe Biden has ancestry in Louth, in case you haven't noticed.

They have definitely heard of their most famous (great-great-grand) son in Dundalk and Carlingford, which each rolled out the red, white, and blue carpet for him.

But they had to wait, the schedule of the most powerful man on the planet not caring for the wants of hungry journalists or the waiting public. Mr Biden's arrival on the Cooley peninsula was delayed due to bad weather, meaning that Marine One would stay grounded at Dublin Airport and a motorcade was sent up the M1, buzzing under bridges, which at least gave the gardaí stationed on the bridges a chance to wave to the visitor.

After being greeted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Dublin Airport, Mr Biden climbed into The Beast for the hour-long drive. Given that the 5.5m limo has Bond-level gadgets such as oil slicks and a 120-volt electric charge and can be sealed in the event of a chemical attack, a few guards on the Ardee flyover felt like overkill.

But Cadillac One, as it is officially known, is part and parcel of the largesse of a US presidential visit and Mr Biden's arrival into this small town felt both outsized and fitting. Set opposite the Mourne mountains, Carlingford is a stunning spot in which to welcome the world's most powerful man.

Tour of the castle

While the weather robbed Cooley Kickhams of the chance of welcoming Mr Biden, the rest of Carlingford turned out in force to see him take a tour of the town's castle. Hundreds braved the rain along the lough, some for hours, just to catch a glimpse of the 46th president of the US. However, the driving rain, which drenched the waiting Irish press on the Castle's east side, meant that a walkabout by the 80-year-old president was never likely. Disappointment, perhaps, for the waiting Carlingforders, but if they felt deflated they did not show it.

When the motorcade, featuring the aforementioned Beast and at least 20 other vehicles including three ambulances, finally came into sight, there was rapturous applause from the cold and windswept masses, a warning to the frozen hacks that the man himself was here.

Members of the public gather in Carlingford ahead of Joe Biden's visit to Carlingford Castle. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Played in by the Carlingford Pipe Band to the strains of 'Raglan Road', Mr Biden was shown around the castle which would have been the last landmark that his maternal great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan would have seen before he left Ireland for the US. Mr Biden looked across the water to Warrenpoint, near Newry, where his ancestor departed.

Asked from the lower balcony how it felt to be here, Mr Biden said it is "wonderful" to be "back home" in Ireland.

Mr Biden, wearing a blue cap with an American flag, took in the view of the water from a landing in Carlingford Castle while speaking with his tour guides from the Carlingford Heritage Centre, Gerry Hoey and Yvonne Keenan Russ. 

Mr Hoey had Mr Biden sign a photo of his grandson Thomas and later said the president was "an absolute gentleman". Ms Keenan Russ said that he was engaged in the family history.

'Feels like I’m coming home'

Asked how it feels to be here, Mr Biden said: “It feels wonderful. Feels like I’m coming home.”

Asked what he thinks of the weather which had alternated between heavy rain and heavier rain, the president was unperturbed. “It’s fine. It’s Ireland,” Mr Biden said.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who accompanied the president having been denied a bilateral with him as taoiseach in 2022 by a positive covid test, also wore a cap given to him by Team Biden, though the question posed to him by one waiting Irish hack upgraded him to his former office of taoiseach, prompting laughter from the Corkman and some bemusement from the president.

As the men left to the strains of the pipe band's specially written tune by one of its members David McCluskey, called 'A Biden Return', the locals who hung from windows and doors to catch a view of the motorcade waved US flags and cheered for 'Cousin Joe'.

Mr Biden is open about how deep his connection to this part of the world is and, even in the lashing rain, it's clear the feeling is mutual.