A SECOND Irish village has discovered a parish register with records of the ancestors of US President Barack Obama.
Moneygall, Co Offaly, was catapulted into the limelight when Mr Obama's Irish connection to the tiny village was first discovered in 2007.
However,
genealogists are also homing in on the nearby parish of Shinrone, Co
Offaly, where a book contains details of more than 40 of Mr Obama's
ancestors, the Kearneys.
Although Shinrone is not on Mr Obama's itinerary for his May 23 visit, a group of children there have written to the White House inviting the US president to visit their national school.
Earliest
The earliest record of Barack Obama's Irish ancestry has been traced back to a seventh great-grandfather, Joseph Kearney, who was born around 1698.
His
death was recorded in Shinrone where he was buried on January 20, 1791.
Joseph Kearney is Falmouth Kearney's great-great-grandfather.
Falmouth
Kearney is perhaps the most famous of Mr Obama's Irish ancestors -- as
he is the US president's third great-grandfather who emigrated from
Moneygall to America in 1850 after his family had lost much of their
wealth.
Fifth and sixth class pupils of Shinrone NS pupils have
researched Mr Obama's links to their parish -- and they have even
written to his children, Malia and Sasha.
Yesterday, the youngsters expressed excitement ahead of Mr Obama's visit as they peered
over parish records.
School
principal Joe Cleary said that at least 15 members of the Kearney
family -- including eight children -- were buried in unmarked graves in
the Shinrone Church of Ireland graveyard.
"Joseph and Cicely Kearney, the seventh great-grandparents of President Obama,
had four sons, Thomas born 1725, Joseph born 1730, and John and
Patrick, who were baptised in Shinrone in 1741. One of the sons, Joseph,
married Sarah Healy from Moneygall in Shinrone Church."
A headstone was erected in the Church of Ireland graveyard in Shinrone earlier this month in memory of Mr Obama's ancestors.
Mr
Cleary describes the Kearneys' roots in Shinrone in a commemorative
booklet being put together by Moneygall residents ahead of the visit.
In
it he writes about how Mr Obama's ancestors were Church of Ireland and
lived in a place where Protestant and Catholic tensions existed.
"We must not forget the contribution that people like the Kearneys made to the parish of Shinrone," he writes.
"If there is a lesson to be learned it surely must be that things can and do improve.
"Today, despite our economic woes, we live in more prosperous times and Catholics and Protestants live in peace and harmony.
"This was, perhaps, best exemplified in 1978 when, during a period of renovation of the Roman Catholic Church,
the Church of Ireland parishioners offered their Catholic neighbours
the use of their church -- an offer which was gratefully accepted."