MONEYGALL:MR OBAMA'S visit to Moneygall has left an enduring sense of positivity in the Co Offaly village.
As the US president began his visit to Britain yesterday, American and Irish flags were still flying high in Moneygall.
Irish-American tourist Kathy Klugman from Denver, Colorado, was delighted to be in the village.
“I was on my way from Glenstal Abbey to Dublin and after seeing the visit I had to stop. It’s been an amazing week to be here, between the Queen’s visit last week and this.”
In Donovan’s shop, Clodagh Donovan was amazed at the continued level of interest in the village. Ms Donovan and her husband John own Mr Obama’s ancestral home in Moneygall. The couple and their children met the president and first lady and showed them around the house on Monday. “He just said ‘I can’t believe I am standing on the floor my ancestors left in 1851’,” she said.
Ms Donovan was thrilled at the visit’s success. “Up to now it would have been mostly Irish [visitors] but they say after he has been here you get the Americans.”
“We are living the dream,” publican Ollie Hayes told assembled tourists as he posed for pictures outside his bar on Main Street. His establishment was almost packed to capacity yesterday.
Shortly after 5pm, Mr Hayes was greeted by Guinness representative Valerie Leyden, who arrived to take away the keg which was used during the presidential visit. Ms Leyden remained tightlipped about plans for the keg. “There’s something along the lines of a hall of fame,” she said.
Business was also brisk in An Siopa Beag where the owner, Mary Fanning, spoke about meeting the president who she said was a “normal individual”.
Elsewhere, orders for Obama T-shirts were coming in thick and fast in Hayes’s T-shirt shop. The shop had a steady stream of customers all day with extra orders coming from Dublin.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama’s eighth cousin Henry Healy was on hand to talk to tourists and discuss the visit. “It’s still very busy, there’s a hive of activity, people are travelling from all around to come and see his home place.”
Such was the interest, Mr Healy said, “someone called my house today asking to buy my tie off me, they were going to drive from Athlone. I hope that it continues; like every rural village we could do with every bit.
“It’s good to see people coming, and for a good reason,” he added.