If You Love American History, Visit Ireland

Specifically, the little village of Bruff in County Limerick. I recently spent several days there as a  guest of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Autumn School. Each fall, for the last four years, the town has celebrated the mother of President John F. Kennedy and his grandfather/namesake, John F. (Honey Fitz) Fitzgerald. Rose’s grandfather, Thomas Fitzgerald, hailed from the hamlet, and now the town’s community center, once a court building, is named for him.

Outside is a bronze statue of JFK, swearing the presidential oath on the Fitzgerald family Bible, brought to the States from Bruff by the president’s great-grandfather. Above flies an American flag, along with the Irish tricolor.

The center’s main meeting room, large enough to accommodate about 100 attendees, has a warm intimacy. On each wall, from floor to rafters, are portraits, news photos, and memorabilia celebrating the Fitzgerald and Kennedy clans. One of Jacqueline Kennedy’s dresses is exhibited in a glass case.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, JFK’s niece and daughter of his brother Robert, and I spoke about Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy to a rapt audience. Afterward they approached us to exchange stories about their Bruff ancestors who had left County Limerick during the devastating potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century, seeking a better life in America. A number of Fitzgerald descendants still live in the area, and a handful recalled the excitement of seeing President Kennedy speak to 50,000 admirers in Limerick City during his nostalgic visit in June 1963.

Bruff and its annual Autumn School in honor of Rose Kennedy are the custodians of emigrant stories, especially focusing on women’s achievements. In so doing, the school’s creative organizers help Americans of Irish descent understand their heritage. In this era of U.S. immigration controversies, such a goal is indeed noble. The local Catholic church maintains handwritten registers of Fitzgerald baptisms and weddings.

Some attendees asked about the current state of American politics, wondering how a country they so admire has become increasingly polarized. But they also provided hope for bridging political/religious divides, offering their lessons from the Northern Ireland peace process. They named President Bill Clinton, Senators George Mitchell and Edward Kennedy, and Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith as their American heroes for contributing to the 1998 Good Friday Accords that ended the murderous “Troubles” among their northern neighbors. They reminded us that warring factions must first “agree on the problem” before they can find solutions. And each side must unite around its goals to produce fruitful dialogue with adversaries.

I dined with human rights advocate Monica McWilliams, who led the Northern Irish women’s peace initiative and won the JFK Presidential Library’s Profile in Courage Award. She spoke highly of her subsequent work with President Jimmy Carter as they traveled the world to monitor elections, risking their lives in Gaza and other war-torn territories.

From Bruff, I headed east to County Wexford for a pilgrimage to the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown, another stop on President Kennedy’s 1963 visit. One of his cousins toured me through the farm house and museum, where he proudly noted that JFK’s maternal grandfather became the first U.S.-born, Irish-American mayor of Boston. Even more remarkable, “Honey Fitz,” as he was called for his mellifluous singing voice, was elected to Congress and the mayor’s office before the Irish could even vote in the Emerald Isle, under Britain’s harsh and discriminatory rule.

Between the restructured farm buildings and museum stands a bust of Edward Kennedy, Law, ’59, who supported the restoration and preservation of his family’s homestead. Leaving the property, visitors catch a glimpse of a picturesque mountain, where the Irish government established a vast arboretum in JFK’s memory.

A short drive from Dunganstown lies Waterford, where my hotel, the Granville, proclaims its fame as the birthplace of Thomas Francis Meagher, with plaques and paintings of him adorning its walls. Meagher came to New York City in 1852 and fought for the Union in the American Civil War, recruiting fellow Irish immigrants to the “Fighting 69^th” regiment, named for its fierce determination in battling Confederates. He rose to the rank of general and founded the Irish Brigade that fought at Fredericksburg, Antietam, and Chancellorsville.

To this day, the Irish are proud to have contributed to saving the United States, a half-century before they achieved independence from Britain in 1921. One of the Republic of Ireland’s military leaders in its war against the United Kingdom was New York-born Éamon de Valera, who as Irish president welcomed JFK in 1963.

Undoubtedly, my own fascination with all things Irish derives from my great-great-grandmother, who fled the famine from County Cork, settled in Cincinnati, and married Benjamin Perry, a year after the Civil War veteran mustered out of the Union Army in 1865.

As President Kennedy observed upon his departure from Shannon Airport, “Although this is not the land of my birth, it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.”  He vowed to “come back in the springtime,” citing a sentimental Irish ballad. Fate would not allow JFK to do so, but “please, God,” as the Irish say, I’ll return to meet again with America’s admirers in Éire.

Barbara A. Perry is J. Wilson Newman Professor in Presidential Studies and Co-Chair of Presidential Oral History at UVA’s Miller Center. She directs the Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Project and is the author of Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch.

Barbara Perry and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, after their presentations on Rose Kennedy, in Bruff, Ireland. Photo courtesy of Debra DeCamillis