Festival atmosphere as Ballina welcomes 'Uncle Joe' Biden
US president Joe Biden visiting Knock Shrine and Basilica in Mayo with Fr Richard Gibbons, on the last day of his visit to the island of Ireland. Picture: Andrew Downes/Julien Behal Photography/PA Wire
Ballina came alive in a way never seen before to give US president, ‘Uncle Joe’ Biden, both the biggest homecoming and the biggest send-off of his four-day visit to Ireland.
The US president was left in no doubt as to the adoration when his helicopter hovered low over the town last night to the delight of thousands of onlookers.
They cheered a thunderous roar for the long-lost son of Ballina.
It meant so much, to both.
Mr Biden had spent an afternoon touring Knock Shrine, Mayo Roscommon Hospice, and the North Mayo Heritage Centre in Crossmolina before finally reaching the homeland of his Blewitt ancestors.
The locals queued 10 deep down the streets from lunchtime for a chance to see the most powerful man in America speak in front of St Muredach’s Cathedral on the banks of the River Moy.
All day long, a festival atmosphere pervaded the streets, with buskers and candy floss vans entertaining and feeding families looking to be a part of history.
The thousands of flag-wavers were almost matched by as many gardaí who were bused in from all over the country.
Hundreds of Secret Service agents, snipers hidden among the rooftops, and airport-style security screening for public and media alike formed a ring of steel around the centre of Ballina.
Not your average Joe coming to town.
The crowds were entertained by rock groups, The Academic and The Coronas, the men’s and women’s Mayo GAA teams arrived, and The Chieftains joined the party.
Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson appeared on stage at 8.30pm to read poem poem by Eavan Boland.
“The world is looking at Ballina,” she said under a shower of rain.
“Just across from where I’m looking is my former family home. I told President Biden last night: ‘I’m going to bring the light that shone in the Áras for seven years when I was president back to Ballina.’”
Mr Biden touched down in Knock Airport at 2.10pm where he was met by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.
He then made the short trip by motorcade to Knock Shrine where he was welcomed by Fr Richard Gibbons, parish priest of Knock.
Fr Gibbons escorted Mr Biden under an umbrella to the papal Basilica, gave him a tour inside of the apparition mural, and shared a chuckle on the altar.
It was just a short stroll then over to the apparition wall and on into the chapel for a moment of silent prayer.
Ten of the president’s 16 great-great-grandparents are believed to hail from Ireland, and while he has links in Co Louth, those with Co Mayo are believed to be the strongest through the Blewitt family.
Patrick Blewitt, from Ballina, left the country during the Irish famine in 1850 to sail to America, like many others, for a new life.
Mr Biden keeps in close contact with the Blewitts, who attended the White House St Patrick’s Day receptions in 2022 and 2023.
The president was presented with a brick from the former Blewitt family home in Ballina enclosed in a case by Ernie Caffrey, who owns a store near the site.
Mr Biden said: “It’s a 200-year-old brick” as he read an inscription on the case, adding: “That’s incredible.”
The president was flown by helicopter to Castlebar where he made a private visit to Mayo-Roscommon Hospice to honour the memory of his late son, Beau Biden, and met his third cousin Laurita Blewitt, a fundraiser with the Hospice Foundation.
He flew also to Enniscoe House in Crossmolina, home to the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre, where he and his sister Valerie Biden Owens and son Hunter Biden researched the Mayo branch of the family tree.
Later, the floodlit skies over St Muredach’s Cathedral suddenly thrummed with the sound of Marine Force One’s rotor blades, alerting the thousands to the imminent arrival of the leader of the free world.
The very bricks that provided to the cathedral by his great, great, great grandfather, Edward Blewitt, vibrated.
Uncle Joe was finally home.
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