This column was first to predict Obama would visit Ireland this May and now I predict Barack Obama will visit Dublin, Moneygall and likely Kilkenny City where the 'lost tomb' of his long ago relative was recently discovered.

Obama is due in Ireland on May 23rd.

St.Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny is where the remains of Bishop John Kearney , Obama's sixth generation granduncle, is buried.
The story of the discovery of his tomb reads like a Dan Brown plot.

John Kearney was the Bishop of Ossory and a former provost of Trinity College who died in Kilkenny city at the Bishop's Palace in 1813. It is now the headquarters of the Heritage Council.

Film maker Gabriel Murray, who has made a documentary on Obama's Irish roots, finally found “Obama’s Lost Tomb” inside the 13th century St. Canice’s Cathedral.

Murray, along with Cathedral assistant Frances Moore, used a centuries-old map to identify a hidden vault under the floor of St. Canice’s.

They deciphered the Latin on the hundreds of tombs inside the vault, when they came across Bishop John Kearney’s resting place, number 19 on the map, just 20 yards from the main entrance.

Kilkenny's relative proximity to Moneygall --it is about 60 miles would make it a obvious choice for a major address by Obama after Moneygall.

It is also the only known physical family connection.
Moneygall is where his sixth generation ancestor Fulmuth Kearney left from to move to America.

A trip to Northern Ireland has been specifically ruled out according to sources who say that British Prime Minister Cameron would have to be there to greet him and the two men are due to meet in London a day later.

White House sources say they have been swamped with offers for Obama to speak in Ireland but the advance team is only just being put in place now.


Now the exciting prospect of a visit by the 44th president of the United States is on the horizon.