Previously Unseen Video of JFK In Ireland; 1963 Trip, Wexford Ancestral Home, 5 Mos. Before Death

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Wed Aug 4, 2021, 07:26 PM - Edit history (3)

- The Guardian, Aug. 4, 2021. Footage captures then US president’s pilgrimage – 5 months before his death – to Wexford hometown of his great-grandfather.

The grainy footage shows John F Kennedy riding in an open sedan car, waving to cheering crowds, escorted by police motorcycles. The scene was filmed in 1963, and in some ways eerily recalls the famous footage of his killing just months later.

Previously unseen film has emerged, taken five months before his assassination, and in New Ross, a town in County Wexford in south-east Ireland, where Kennedy made a pilgrimage to the family homestead of his great-grandfather.

Peggy Walsh, an amateur videographer and local resident, recorded the 27 June visit in a 20-minute colour film. The footage remained in a drawer, largely forgotten, for more than four decades.

.. Kennedy described his visit in 1963 as an emigrant homecoming. “It took 115 years to make this trip, and 6,000 miles, and three generations,” he said in a quayside speech...

- More + *WATCH VIDEO*
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/04/previously-unseen-1963-video-of-john-f-kennedy-emerges-in-ireland
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- Official British Pathe Newsreel of JFK Visit To Ireland, June 1963.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It's great that this was found.

And it's unfortunate that it's so jerky. I wonder if anything can be done to alleviate that.

[mopinko]

3. no doubt.

image stabilization is part of any film editor these days.
not even hard.

[appalachiablue]

7. That's a problem I hope experts are working

to resolve. There's a lot of material online regarding JFK's 4- day visit to Ireland in June, 1963-- videos of official appearances, one book on the subject and exhibits like this one at the JFK Presidential Library, 'A Journey Home, John F. Kennedy In Ireland' (2006-07). Note JFK's remarks about his Wexford great grandfather, a cooper- barrel maker who came to America in 1848, below.



- JFK Presidential Library -

This special exhibit explored President Kennedy’s relationship to his ancestral homeland, and featured a large selection of documents, photographs and film footage relating to his Irish heritage and his June 26-29, 1963 state visit to the country of his forbears as well as tokens presented to the president by the people of Ireland.

President Kennedy relished his Irish heritage, and during his historic visit to Ireland remarked to the people of Limerick, “This is not the land of my birth but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.” The President’s eight great-grandparents all migrated to Boston, Massachusetts during the devastating Potato Famine of the late 1840’s. By the end of the century, both of President Kennedy’s grandfathers had become successful Boston politicians. Patrick J. Kennedy was a tavern owner and later a banker who served in both Houses of the Massachusetts Legislature and was the political "boss” of a ward in Boston. John F. ('Honey Fitz') Fitz­gerald, a colorful politician who served in the Massachusetts State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, was also mayor of Boston for three terms.

In remarks to the people of New Ross, County Wexford on June 27, 1963, President Kennedy spoke of his treasured ancestry:

- "When my great grandfather left here [in 1848] to become a cooper in East Boston, he carried nothing with him except two things: a strong religious faith and a strong desire for liberty. I am glad to say that all of his great-grandchildren have valued that inheritance." -

So effusive was his reception by the people of Ireland that President Kennedy remarked before departing Galway, “You send us home covered with gifts, which we can barely carry, but most of all you send us home with the warmest memories of you and your country.”

The exhibit displayed many of the items bestowed on the President by the people of Ireland and also some of the President's personal items that reflect his Irish heritage.



- Exhibit Highlights:
Kennedy Commemorative Cup with LidKennedy Commemorative crystal cup on tall foot made by Waterford. The body of the cup has four etched panels depicting the Kennedy homestead, the White House, an immigrant ship, and the New Ross coat of arms. The lid is a three tiered cone shape with a knob finial. Given to President Kennedy by the New Ross Harbor Commissioners.
A 1850 edition of the Douay English translation of the Holy Bible brought to America from Ireland by John F. Kennedy’s forebears. It contains a handwritten chronicle of the Fitzgerald family from 1857, including a record of the birth of John F. Kennedy on May 29, 1917. John F. Kennedy took the presidential oath of office on the Fitzgerald Family Bible on January 20, 1961...

More,
https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/past-exhibits/a-journey-home-john-f-kennedy-in-ireland

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Thank you for your wonderful post, my dear appalachiablue!

It's certainly worth posting in its own right. A wealth of info is contained here.

[appalachiablue]

11. For sure Peggy, check out the Newsreel Film

above of his Ireland visit, I just posted. Well done, 5 mins.

Love this stuff, democracy and history, esp. as a museum educator. I also worked for a while at the National Archives which operates the Pres. libraries.

[BeckyDem]

2. I cried watching that. Maybe its just that we're so far off from where we

could be, if it was not for many good people that America has assassinated.

RIP

[mopinko]

4. when he ran in '60 he came to my small town, and drove down my street.

my mom shook his hand. he stopped a couple blocks down the street at the catholic military school. i dont remember, but i've seen the press clippings.

the day he died, my mom kept saying- he shook my hand.

[bahboo]

10. he came to our town too in Illinois...

we had a brand spanking new shopping center and he spoke there. It was a BIG deal...also a very conservative area, so good for him.

[mopinko]

13. are you from aurora?

[bahboo]

14. grew up in Carpentersville....so yep, close.

Shopping center was called Meadowdale.

[mopinko]

15. thought you might be talking about northgate.

[bpj62]

5. Kennedy Memorial

Wexford is home to the Kennedy Memorial. It is a lovely park about an hour south of Dublin. I am first generation and my Irish family still has great affection for the Kennedys and the recognition that his visit in 63 brought to them.

[appalachiablue]

12. Good for you & thanks for the info. I visited

Dublin and environs for a few days and would like to have seen that, no time.

[UpInArms]

6. This made tears fall

The spot is marked by a statue and an “emigrant flame”, which flickers inside a metal sculpture, dedicated to the diaspora. It was lit by a torch taken from the eternal flame by his grave in Arlington, Virginia.

[appalachiablue]

8. There was so much promise and optimism,

but then his tragic loss. Now this country is in real trouble with strengthening anti democratic forces. A bittersweet memory.

[electric_blue68]

16. Wow. Sigh 😔 and thank you

Sone of my relatives were living in Arlington, VA and we visited them in '64. I was 11.

When I remember our visit one of the things we did was to visit JFK's original grave with the Eternal Flame, and that iconic White Picket Fence.

It's only occured to me in the last few years (both my folks along with that uncle and aunt later on are gone) in a ?larger sense (hard to pin down) - their impetus to go pay respects to him, a lot of what he represented, what he had done, the hopes for the future etc - just about all of that still being quite over my head at that point.