The Green & White House: Ireland and the US Presidents

Spanning the centuries from covered wagons to the American Revolution, from Andrew Jackon to the birth of the Irish Republic, the relationship between US presidents and their Celtic lineage extends much further than JFK’s visit to his ancestral home. As more links to these political giants appear, from Woodrow Wilson in 1913 to Joe Biden in 2021, Irelands sway in the White House is hugely significant, earning remote villages presidential stays announced by armoured limousines and even Air Force One.

As these two worlds collide, they create bizarre tales of Aran cardigans compromising international security, ancient cemetery’s being wired for phone signal, Secret Service guns being recovered by crowds and a bumper catch of salmon in an Anti-personnel net. Each homecoming - always conducted with a twinkle in the eye - turns local people into international media darlings. But this trans-Atlantic courtship, forged over the unearthed mysteries of sprawling family trees, has also secured Ireland an annual invite to the White House - something no other nation can rival.