Saturday, January 5, 2013

An American Profile in Ireland

The portrait-profile of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is unmistakable and easy to spot on the Eyre Square monument in Galway, Ireland.  The dedication on top of the monument is in the Irish language and English.

JFK Monument in Galway
The translation commemorates President Kennedy as a “Freeman of Galway Borough at this place on 29th June 1963.”  Unfortunately, it was in this same year of 1963 that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22 in Dallas, Texas. 

One of Kennedy’s most memorable statements, given during his 1961 inaugural address, was "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."  The legacy of JFK is archived in the:

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum http://www.jfklibrary.org

It is noted in the Kennedy Museum archives that the ancestral heritage of JFK traces to Ireland. In 1848, his great grandfather Patrick who lived in Wexford County, Ireland emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. Today, millions of Americans can also trace some (or maybe all) of their family ancestors to Ireland.

No comments:

Post a Comment