For Immediate Release: February 27, 2003
Further information: Ann Scanlon 617-514-1662
Boston, MA– For visitors to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on St. Patrick’s Day and throughout the year, items treasured by President Kennedy take on a larger meaning. Poignant mementos on permanent display in the Museum represent a unique Irish connection and celebrate our nation’s rich immigrant tradition.
A descendant of the Fitzgeralds of Bruff, County Limerick, Ireland and the Kennedys of New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland, John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office as the 35th President of the United States on January 20, 1961, on the Fitzgerald family bible. The bible, on display in the Museum’s Inaugural Day exhibit, is an 1850 edition of the Douay English translation and contains a handwritten chronicle of generations of the Fitzgerald family from 1857, including the birth of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on May 29, 1917. Like so many immigrant families before and after them, the Fitzgeralds brought the family bible with them as they left their homeland for a new life in America.
In the Museum exhibit that highlights President Kennedy’s 1963 trip to Ireland, visitors listen and watch as the president shares his family’s story, not unlike stories told by generations of Americans of diverse backgrounds:
“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 great grandchildren have valued that inheritance.”
During the 1963 visit to Ireland, the people of New Ross, Country Wexford, Ireland, presented President Kennedy with an antique sterling-silver goblet made in Dublin in 1805. The goblet found a home in the president’s Oval Office, and Mrs. Kennedy made sure the White House gardener placed a fresh flower in it each morning. The goblet is on display in the Museum’s Oval Office exhibit.
A fragment of a pennant that flew over the Raleigh, the ship commanded by the Irish-born Revolutionary War hero John Barry, also had a home in the president’s office and is now on display in the Museum. Like President Kennedy’s great-grandfather, Barry hailed from County Wexford, Ireland.
Other items from the 1963 trip on display in the Museum include the Irish blackthorn walking stick presented to President Kennedy by his cousin Jimmy Kennedy; a Waterford crystal pedestal vase, depicting an Irish homestead, an immigrant ship, and the White House, presented to the president by the New Ross Harbor Commissioners; and a Carrickmacross lace napkin, one of a set of 36, presented to the president by Irish Prime Minister Sean LeMass.
The original Treaty of Ormonde, dated March 5, 1336, and signed by the Earle of Ormonde and John O. Kennedy, hangs in the Museum. Given as a gift to the president by the people of Ireland, it is the first known mention of the Kennedy name in recorded Irish history.
The stories of the Fitzgeralds and Kennedys in Boston add to the city’s rich history. They worked as peddlers, coopers, and common laborers, and became clerks, tavern owners, and retailers. By the end of the 19th century, President Kennedy’s grandfathers, Patrick “P.J.” Kennedy and John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, had become successful Boston politicians and began the family tradition of public service.
Today, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum joins with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to sponsor and celebrate naturalization oath ceremonies for new American citizens, whose roots are from all corners of the globe. Slated for every other month at the Kennedy Library, the next ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16.
The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is open daily 9 am-5 pm. The Museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. General admission to the Museum’s permanent exhibition on John F. Kennedy is $8 for adults; $6 for seniors and students; $4 for children ages 13-17; and free admission for children ages 12 and under. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is located off Morrissey Blvd., next to UMass Boston’s campus. There is free shuttle service to the Kennedy Library and Museum from the JFK/UMass T Stop on the Red Line. Parking is free. The Museum is fully handicapped accessible. For more information, call 1-(877) 616-4599 or visit the Library’s web page at www.jfklibrary.org .
The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.