From Ireland to America, Part 2: The Kennedy Homestead

On my last day in Ireland, before taking an early flight out of Dublin, fellow Wild Geese member and Irish-American Wexford farmer Oisin O'Connell offered to complete my Irish Tour by taking me to experience New Ross.  As usual, I had no idea of where I was going until I got there and the only preparation I had was my charged phone with lots of storage as it was also my video and photo cam -- this was the quintessential no-frills journalistic tour.

Our first stop was the new multimedia visitor center at the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown, and we were both amazed at how much emotion this exhibit evoked in both of us. At one point, deep in thought and emotion, I found that I had missed what our tour guide was saying to me -- until I heard the words "... when John met my Grandmother,"  or words like it. I then realized I was talking to Patrick Grennan, Mary Ryan's grandson.  It was Patrick's determination, through all these years, to keep the homestead, which is also his home, open to visitors.

All I can say is I can now testify to the vaunted 'Kennedy charm' first hand. ... I believe something in their DNA really is magical.

Here is a short video of Oisin during his own Kennedy 'moment.
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Part 3 - From Ireland to America: Dunbrody Museum & Irish Ameri...

Part 1:  From Ireland to America:  Bonded Through Time and Famine

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Tags: , Leinster, New, Ross, Travel, , 20th Century Ireland, An Gorta Mor, Dunganstown, Genealogy, Genealogy", Leinster, New, Ross, States", More…Travel, United, United States, Wexford

Comment by James McNamara on October 26, 2013 at 11:11pm

Hi Alannah, the Kennedy charm was way more than that.  It was rather a huge amount of charisma and nothing less.  It even came across the even the poor little B&W TV sets.  I had heard Clinton also had charisma, but many people with very different political leanings did not feel his charisma until they met in person.  I remember seeing the first presidential debate ever televised (Nixon v. Kennedy) and that was the moment so many here became great fans of John Kennedy.

Comment by Alannah Ryane on October 27, 2013 at 12:55pm

All I remember is that I thought he was just a guide there to show us around then when he started talking it was like I was transported somewhere.  I had no thoughts going through my mind,  then like a flash I was back in the present.  Just before Oisin took the pictures I told Patrick what I experienced and that it was like I was "feeling" DNA ...I saw his eyes kind of twinkle when I said that as if it wasn't the first time.

Comment by James Richard Johnson on November 7, 2013 at 7:23pm
:)

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