A painting of President John F. Kennedy departing Ireland bought for $600 eight years ago is now being offered for $100,000 in a gallery in New Orleans.

'Farewell to Ireland' by Patrick Hennessy shows Kennedy mounting the steps to his plane leaving Shannon in 1963.

Hennessy painted it from a photograph later that year.

The painting was sold to America and went through various owners before a Dublin art dealer brought it back to Ireland, having paid just $600 for it.

It was sold to a London dealer for $20,000 in 2004 and was then resold back across the Atlantic.

Now it has an asking price of $100,000 and may well make more.

In Dublin, Whyte’s art house managing director Ian Whyte told the Irish Times the real value of the painting lay in JFK’s enduring appeal.

Hennessy was born in 1915 in Cork and became one of Ireland’s leading 20th century artists

His paintings are still sought out by many private collectors.