Coming Soon: The O'Bama Heritage Center

/in /by

moneygall_page_2.jpg

For some rather fun Friday news while we’re all awaiting the pardons that Bush will sneak into today’s news dump, mr. emptywheel’s home County Council has set aside the chunk of land where Obama’s Irish ancestors lived so they can make it into a tourist site (h/t squirt).

THE HOMESTEAD of US president-elect Barack Obama’s Irish ancestors has been withdrawn from sale with a view to being developed as a heritage centre.

The one-acre site in the centre of Moneygall is owned by Offaly County Council and was on the market for social housing for the last two years.

Mr Obama’s great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side, Fulmouth Kearney, was born and grew up on the site before emigrating to the US in 1850.

Though Kearneys have not lived there for generations, the site was known until recently as “Kearney’s Gardens”.

[snip]

“I would strongly oppose anything else going on that site. I think Offaly County Council should do something pretty soon. I’d hate to think that if Obama did decide to come to Moneygall we would have nothing ready for him.” [my emphasis]

Some people put out a glass of wine just in case Elijah happens to show up. The Irish make sure they’ve got a "heritage centre" ready in case Obama drops by. The Irish–never missing an opportunity to cater to American tourists!

Canon Stephen Neill, who discovered Mr Obama’s Irish connections, said Moneygall residents will be forming a committee after the inauguration to exploit the connection between the new president and the village.

“It has given an injection of interest in Moneygall and put us on the map. It is an opportunity which would be silly to pass by and, if it brings tourist revenue into the area, it would be good for the whole region,” he said.

The picture above, btw, is me and mr. ew–we beat the American tourist stampede to Moneygall by visiting last May. The plot of land in question is probably within view of that picture–trust me, there’s not much "centre" to Moneygall.

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  3. TJ says:

    Marcy, I’m behind on your posts. This goes back to the missing emails. We know that all the telecommunications traffic was being diverted to be recorded by some national security agency. Can we subpeona that agency to provide the emails from the known addresses?

    • emptywheel says:

      Yup. It had been in the press and mr. ew’s family still lives in the county (in the county seat, actually). So mr. ew and his parents and I hopped in the car to go take a pic of us at Moneygall.

      I actually wanted it for this post–Obama basically sealed up the nomination on the same day as the TD (representative) from Offaly became Taoiseach (Prime Minister), so I was making some noise about how it was a big day for “BIFFOs” (the derogatory term they use for men from Offaly).

  5. bobschacht says:

    Speaking of heritage, here’s a nice piece on O’Bama’s Momma:
    Legacy of the President’s Mother. [I have been SO eager to find an excuse to write about “Obama’s Momma” in a comment, on grounds of euphony alone!]

    It turns out that Obama’s Momma and I have a few things in common:
    * We both got a degree in Math
    * We both got a Ph.D. in Anthropology
    * We both lived in Honolulu and were associated with the University of Hawaii

    Of course, there are many differences, but the similarities give me a bit of insight into Obama’s Momma that many people don’t know. And I like to think that Obama benefitted greatly from having such a mother. As did his sister Maya, who is a force to be reckoned with in her own right.

    Bob in HI

    • emptywheel says:

      An old colleague of mine actually met Obama and his Momma in the UH Anthro program back in the day. Obama was just a kid, but the friend says nothing he’s seen from Obama has surprised him since.

  6. skdadl says:

    I think the Irish are cannier about these things (luring back the tourists from teh colonies) than the Scots are, or maybe the Scots just take it more for granted that so many of us will be going over hunting clan roots. I have been asked whether there are still MacKenzies in Canada, which is one of the funniest questions I’ve ever had to hold a straight face for as I answered. Any MacDonalds would have been even funnier.

  7. bobschacht says:

    Several things about Obama’s Momma are instructive, I think:

    As a math major, she was capable of the kind of rigorous mental discipline and logic that are a mathematicians’ stock in trade. Furthermore, in order to solve the kinds of problems you are given as a math major, you also need patience, insight, and creativity in grappling with problems that most people would give up on (However, ending a sentence with two prepositions is something mathematicians may put up with. *g*)

    As an anthropologist, and as a woman who first married a Kenyan, and then an Indonesian, Obama’s momma was not only comfortable with cultural diversity, but she found it interesting– without any condescension whatsoever. Given her dissertation topic, she also valued culturally different ways of thinking and doing.

    Since she home-schooled Obama and his sister Maya for some of their elementary school years while they were living in Indonesia, you can bet that they had ample opportunity to learn from their mother.

    The contrast between Obama’s Momma and the attitudes of the Bush-Cheney government over the past 8 years is, I think, instructive. We are fortunate, I think, that our President-elect had such a mother.

    Bob in HI

    • tejanarusa says:

      The attributes of the current prez’s and the incoming prex’s mothers couldn’t be more different, either. And that probably explains some things, too.

  9. Mauimom says:

    The Irish–never missing an opportunity to cater to American tourists!

    Or an opportunity to lift a glass?