EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin is hosting a wide-ranging new exhibition, ‘Homecoming: JFK in Ireland’, which has been created in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in the USA.

John F Kennedy

2023 marks 60 years since the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, visited Irish shores. The fascinating exhibition delves into the cultural and political significance of Kennedy's four-day trip in 1963, utilising original documents, photography, and oral history interviews to convey what the visit meant to Irish politicians, diplomats, and onlookers, the purpose it served during a time of national transition, and how international observers perceived the event.  

The visit itself was filled with fanfare and joyous scenes as Kennedy was welcomed by large crowds in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and in New Ross and Wexford town, his family’s ancestral county.  

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum was created to honour the Irish diaspora abroad and recognise the vital contributions and monumental impact Irish people have made worldwide. Running until September 2023, the richly illustrated exhibition will highlight the pivotal role Kennedy's visit played in strengthening Irish American relations and shaping a new era of optimism for the country.  

Nathan Mannion, Head of Exhibitions and Programmes at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, said, “Although there are many US Presidents who can lay claim to Irish roots, JFK is probably the most well-known of them all.

“When he visited Ireland in 1963, the entire nation was won over by his charm, charisma and genuine affection for the Irish people. Of course, the visit also had a significant impact on Irish and US politics, with President Kennedy delivering the first official address by a foreign Head of State to the joint houses of the Oireachtas [Ireland’s national parliament] on 28th June.”  

The JFK Memorial Plaque in Galway City, Ireland

The themes of the exhibition will range from Ireland's rapid modernisation in 1963 to the pomp and ceremony surrounding JFK's visit, the political and diplomatic aspects of the trip, and the lasting legacy of his visit on Irish society. 'Homecoming' also explores JFK's Irish heritage and the history of his famine emigrant ancestors, tracing the Kennedys' rise to power and influence. 
 
Rachel Flor, Executive Director, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, said, “President Kennedy relished his Irish heritage. From the time he was a young boy, he loved to hear stories of his eight great-grandparents who all migrated to Boston, Massachusetts, during the devastating Potato Famine of the late 1840s.

“As President, his return to Ireland was a homecoming he later described as one of the most moving experiences of his life. We’re grateful to partner with EPIC and the Department of Foreign Affairs to tell the story of this seminal moment in President Kennedy’s life and in Irish history.” 

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a non-profit organisation that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is one of 15 presidential libraries in the USA and is dedicated to the memory of the United States’ thirty-fifth president and to all those who through the art of politics seek a new and better world.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum (photo courtesy EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum)

If you or your group would like to enjoy a visit to the ‘Homecoming: JFK in Ireland’ exhibition at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum as part of a tailor-made tour of Ireland this summer, please do contact our friendly team.

The Kennedy Homestead, in County Wexford in Ireland, which is dedicated to John F Kennedy, is open all year round and traces five generations of Kennedy family history – well worth a visit for all those interested in the life of the 35th US President and those with an interest in Irish American history and emigration in general.