The Irish Kennedys

The Kennedy family's Irish roots

Of course, JFK never did make that return trip. But over the years, plenty of other Kennedys did, each time reinforcing their Irish heritage.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver had traveled to Ireland with JFK in 1963 and she returned in 2003 to attend the Special Olympics. Shriver, 82, who was a founder of the Special Olympics, said her brother had been proud to be the first American president to visit Ireland. "Of all the countries he visited none equaled Ireland."

Another sister, Jean Kennedy Smith, also went on the 1963 trip. In 1993 she was appointed U.S Ambassador to Ireland by Bill Clinton 1993 and played a crucial role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

She visited Ireland last year, to attend the unveiling of a bronze statute commemorating her brother at New Ross. "It brings back wonderful memories for me,"  she said, speaking about that famous trip. "It was a time I have cherished ever since, and I know that my brother felt the same way."

Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, who this year pulled out of the running for the New York Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, is reportedly being considered as a possible U.S Ambassador to Ireland.

It seems that the Kennedy family has lost little of its Irish touch, even though the patriarch, Patrick Kennedy, left Ireland more than 160 years ago.

Wexford has done its best to honor its most famous family. Patrick Grennan, a member of the Kennedy clan, opened a visitors' center at the Kennedy home in Dunganstown in 1999. The center houses an extensive collection of photographs from President Kennedy's Irish trip, with his wife Jacqueline and children John and Caroline.

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Nster.com