US President Joe Biden bid farewell to the Emerald Isle on Friday with a visit to the pilgrimage site of Our Lady Knock and a speech in front of the cathedral in Ballina in western Ireland. Regular churchgoer Biden is only the second Catholic incumbent in the White House, after John F. Kennedy.
Aside from his faith, the Democratic politician also has a family connection to the County Mayo church that will be the setting for his closing speech tonight: An ancestor of Biden once delivered 27,000 bricks for the pillars of the nave of St. Muredach’s Cathedral. From the income he was able to finance the passage to America for himself and his family, as the White House announced.
Proud of Irish heritage
The US President has added a personal touch to his trip, which began with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. He is proud of his Irish origins and went in search of clues in his own family history. Today the 80-year-old wants to visit a culture and genealogy center. He also pays a visit to a hospice for the elderly.
For Father Kieran Holmes, one of three priests at St. Muredach Cathedral in Ballina, the US President’s visit is “a great moment”, as he said in an interview with the German Press Agency. “It shows what Ireland has given to the world,” said the cleric.
Father Kieran believes Biden will use his speech to point out that Ireland was once a country of emigration and is now taking in many in need instead. “We needed help, now others need help,” said the priest, who wants to present documents from his family history to the US President.
Biden swears by American-Irish friendship
At a dinner speech at a banquet in Dublin Castle yesterday evening, Biden made it clear that, in his eyes, Ireland and the USA have a deep appreciation of freedom and human dignity in common. Earlier in Parliament in Dublin, Biden invoked American-Irish friendship and highlighted the contribution of Irish immigrants to US society.
The Ballina speech is the only occasion on which the US President addresses the people of Ireland directly. Possibly, it was speculated, he also had the many voters with their roots in the United States in mind in his charm offensive on the Emerald Isle. About ten percent of all Americans have Irish ancestry.
