Boston MA – Her Excellency Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today as part of her five-day presidential visit to Massachusetts.
President McAleese was welcomed by Jean Kennedy Smith, former Ambassador to Ireland and President Kennedy’s sister, who hosted a private luncheon at the Library in honor of the President. Included in President McAleese’s party were her husband, Dr. Martin McAleese, and Michael Collins, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States.
President McAleese’s visit helped mark the May 29, 1917 birthday of President John F. Kennedy, America’s first Irish-Catholic president, whose eight great-grandparents all migrated to Boston, Massachusetts from Ireland during the devastating Potato Famine of the late 1840s.
Mary McAleese is the eighth President of Ireland. She was first elected president in 1997 and was re-elected to another seven year term in 2004. Born in Belfast in Northern Ireland, she was a barrister, journalist and academic prior to becoming president.