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When possibly the worlds most powerful leader stands up and mentions your home town in a speech to Dáil Éireann it's quite a feeling.
Unfortunately President Biden didn't make it to Newry this time round but at least we are constantly in his head. I sincerely hope he will be a friend to Newry especially Newry Ship Canal and add his name to the large list of people calling for the waterway to remain navigable, and insist that any bridge put there by the Department For Infrastructure as part of the Southern Relief Road project is an opening one. After all, many of the Irish people who travelled down that canal, changed the course of history not only in America but in many other parts of the world.
In his speech to the Dáil yesterday President Biden referred back to his trip to Carlingford on Wednesday "Yesterday, I returned to County Louth, where I toured Carlingford Castle, likely one of the last glimpses of Ireland my Finnegan ancestors held in their gaze as their ship, in those days often referred to as coffin ships, sailed away from Newry in 1850. I later learned from The Irish Times that my good friend Barack Obama's great-great grandfather was a shoemaker like mine and sailed five weeks earlier from the same port.
"The idea that they both sailed for a new life and thought their great-great grandsons would both be President is really a little bit of Irish malarkey. It is kind of interesting, is it not?"
In a court of law!
The jury is out on whether above is true or not. To date we haven't had conclusive proof as suggested that the ship in question, The Marchioness of Bute sailed instead from Warrenpoint (although it would have been under the auspices of Newry Port) instead an advertisement at the time said in February that "This ship is now at Warrenpoint, and parties intending to Emigrate are requested to Inspect her before engaging their Passage" Whether in March it left from the Point or from Newry is still unproven to us and anyway with Warrenpoint being a Satelite of Newry Port he would still have left from Newry Port.
The other matter of President Obama's Great Great Grandfather also taking a trip up to Newry to leave the country is an interesting one and certainly one we haven't heard before. One to investigate, but sure if President Biden said it ...
President Biden's Great Grandfather James Finnegan aged 7 (or Finigan as mentioned in the ships passenger list www.immigrantships.net) along with his mother Jane (27) and brother's Stephen (5) and Patrick (infant) left the Port of Newry in March 1850 bound for New York on the Marchioness of Bute.
The departure of the 1,500 ton ship was delayed until Monday 11th March 1850 due to "the very severe state of the weather" An advertisement in the Dundalk Democrat said "Her accommodations will be found not to be surpassed by any Emigrant Vessel". It's not known if it actually did depart on the 11th but we do know it arrived in America 15th of May 1850.
Check President Biden's speech at twitter.com
