If the residents of Moneygall need any advice on how best to welcome an American president, they might turn to theircounterparts in another small Irish village, Ballyporeen, which, in 1984 played host to the great grandson of a local man who emigrated to the US, President Ronald Reagan.
President Obama is following in the footsteps, not just of President Reagan, but also of a wave of presidents dating back to John F Kennedy. President Kennedy paid the first visit of a serving US president to Ireland in 1963, a four day trip which saw huge crowds turning out to greet him as he toured the country and visited his ancestral home. He was followed in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, whose family history was traced to County Kildare.President Bill Clinton made three visits to the island of Ireland during his two terms in office. His Irish legacy though resides in the crucial part he played in the Northern Ireland peace process, although he too can trace ancestry here, to County Fermanagh.President George W Bush is thought to have Irish roots as well, in County Down. Like President Clinton, his visits were aimed atconsolidating the Northern Ireland peace process.
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