The digital archive of the JFK era that has just gone online is a treasure trove of information on Irish relationships that President Kennedy maintained.
The new archive (www.jfklibrary.org) gives the public access to new material researchers have amassed on the life and work of the 35th president of the United States.
Among the Irish-related materials is a witty letter from the Irish playwright Brendan Behan, informing President Kennedy that the 15th century head of his maternal clan, the Fitzgeralds, was once summoned to Rome to explain why he had burned down a local cathedral.
"The Pope asked the Gaelic lord why he had committed this enormous sacrilege," writes Behan. "To which his lordship replied: "I declare to Jesus, your holiness, I never would have done but I thought the archbishop was inside!"
It's not hard to imagine JFK roaring with laughter at Behan's letter.
There is lenghty correspondence between Grant Stockdale, Kennedy's first ambassador to Ireland, and JFK. Stockdale was especially agitated about the dreadful state of the then US Embassy in Dublin and pleaded for funds to build a new one.
"I never witnessed a more deplorable sight that the interior of our Dublin Embassy," he wrote to Kennedy in 1961. "The general situation is nothing short of disastrous."
Soon after JFK found the funds to build the new embassy, still used in Ballsbridge.
Stockdale invited Kennedy to Ireland in 1962 and the presdient replied," I would like very much to come to Ireland if I can think of a reason whch would be sufficiently substantial to warrant a visit."
Stockdale also told of walking down O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, and seeing a "group of eight to ten females of all ages" staring at a newstand. Dispayed there was a cover shot of Jackie Kennedy in the Saturday Evening Post.
Also included in the new archive are details of the many gifts presented to the president by the Irish, who clearly idolized him. These gifts included gifts as various as a piece of the Giant's Causeway, a silver christening cup for John F. Kennedy Jr., and a freedom of the city casket containing a proclamation from the city of Limerick.
Podcasts on the new website include recordings of Jacqueline Kennedy describing how she entertained at the White House, and her reflections on hosting state dinners.
The website's video section includes signature moments in Kennedy's presidency, including his famous 1963 televised speech to the nation about the Nuclear Ban Test Treaty, when America and the entire world hung on the president's every word.
The new website launch has been timed to coincide with the anniversary of the 35th president's inauguration.
In Washington this week, Caroline Kennedy, who is president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, officially announced the archive's unveiling.
The amount of material posted to the new digital archive is considerable: 200,000 pages of text, 1,500 photos, 1,250 files of audio recordings and moving images, and 340 phone conversations totaling 17 1/2 hours.
Among the most popular documents is a draft, in JFK’s handwriting, of his inaugural address which included the famous line: "Ask not what your country can do for you..."
The website also catalogues notes, tapes, and maps made during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Oval Office phone conversations between Kennedy and other important historical figures.
To view the new archive visit www.jfklibrary.org
5 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.conchobhar | Sep 05, 2011, 05:15 PM EDT
Funny, that story of Behan's seems to have made the rounds. I'd heard that it was said by a Lord Roche, after burning the Rock of Cashel. (I don't know whether it was ever actually burned; I don't remember any of it looking charred.)
Laura Wilson | Jan 16, 2011, 09:49 PM EST
god people let this shrinking family rest in peace,
rosegojda | Jan 16, 2011, 05:11 PM EST
carrickcourt - have you uploaded or posted that speech anywhere i would love to heart it rosegojda@aol.com i am on FB too as carolyn rose goyda
carrickcourt | Jan 16, 2011, 11:05 AM EST
During 1960 West Virginia Presidential Primary JFK spoke at Bethany College in Bethany, W VA. My dad was then the head of Speech/Drama at Bethany College and he recorded JFK's speech at Bethany College. For a long time we were not able to listen to this speech as my dad had recorded JFK's speech on a reel to reel tape. A neighbor of ours had a fellow he knows put this tape on a CD for us a few years ago. The CD is something we greatly value in our family archives. My mom remembers wishing JFK all the best luck in his political endeavors and said he was more handsome in person then she had anticipated.
seamusmoore | Jan 15, 2011, 10:30 AM EST
Greatest Brendan Behan quote ever (it describes the irish in a nutshell): "Whenever the Irish get together, the first order of business is to decide how they will split later on".