JFK in Ireland: The early visits of a future US president

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of his first stay in Ireland, Ryle Dwyer examines the early visits of the iconic John F Kennedy, and his thoughts on the likes of Eamon de Valera

A future president to be, John F Kennedy’s first stay in Ireland began on July 24, 1945. He came as a journalist writing articles for the Hearst newspaper chain in order to raise his public profile for a run at Congress the following year.

His father, Joseph P Kennedy, was not renowned for his diplomacy, but it was as a diplomat that he had made an invaluable contribution to allowing Ireland stay out of the Second World War. Ireland had been engaged in the Economic War and Anglo-Irish negotiations, at the time, were deadlocked prior to Kennedy’s appointment as US ambassador to Britain in 1938.