On this day – June 27, 1963 – President John F. Kennedy, son of Massachusetts and son of County Wexford – arrived in Ireland. Celebrating the Irish roots of this American President, warm and welcoming crowds greeted President Kennedy in his ancestral home in Dunganstown and in Dublin. He described this visit – where he had tea with relatives, shook hands with crowds of school children, visited New Ross where his great-grandfather set sail for America in 1848, toured Galway, Limerick and spoke to the Irish Parliament – as “the best four days of his life.” These memorable “four days” happened just months before his November 1963 assassination.

At quayside in New Ross he noted:

“When my great-grandfather left here 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 grandchildren have valued that inheritance.”

Read more about this visit here at history.com and here at BBChome and here at the JFK Library site where you can hear his address to the Irish Parliament.