Offaly village has party to celebrate 'Biffo' Obama win
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A small village in Co Offaly is today celebrating the success of Barack "Biffo" Obama.
Moneygall in Co Offaly is laying claim to the ancestral roots of the next US president and dozens of locals packed into Ollie's bar to watch proceedings last night. It has been revealed that Obama's grandfather emigrated from the country village. Canon Stephen Neil of the Templeharry Church in nearby Cloughjordan, who unearthed the connection, said Senator Obama was regarded as a son of Moneygall.
"The villagers have a real concrete link with history in the making and they feel very proud very privileged and very excited," he said.
The relevant branch of the tree begins with Joseph Kearney from the village of Shinroan between Moneygall and Birr in south Offaly. He was born around 1740 and married Sarah Healy, born around 1744.
Their son William Kearney married Margaret Reeves and had a son Joseph Kearney -- who was a famous Moneygall shoemaker.
Joseph married Phoebe Donovan and their son Fulmuth (born 1830) is Obama's ancestor, who went to America in 1850.
As part of last night's celebrations, Limerick band Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys performed their cult song 'There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama'. The catchy tune, which has almost 60,000 hits on You Tube, begins: "O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara, there's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama."
Excitement has been building for months in Taoiseach Brian Cowen's home county, according to accountant Henry Healy, who has traced his own family tree to the Kearney-Obama dynasty.
"We've put up signs around the village saying 'Welcome to the ancestral home of Barack Obama'," he noted.
And he added that the association with the Democrat candidate has been a major tourism boost for the area.
"I've people knocking on my door asking for a guided tour of one of the smallest villages in Ireland," he laughed.
Among the main attractions are the old schoolhouse where Barack's ancestors would have been educated and the site of the Kearney family home.
Barack Obama has publicly acknowledged his link to the region and has stated that he would like to visit it some day.
- Kevin Doyle
