A remarkable collection of John F. Kennedy memorabilia has been donated to the Kennedy Homestead in Co Wexford. More than 1,600 books, numerous posters and the world's largest collection of stamps dedicated to the former US president are included in the collection accumulated by a Belgian woman, Ms Rita Schouppe.
Ms Schouppe has been compiling material related to Kennedy since she was 10, before he was elected to the presidency. The collection will be presented to the homestead in October and will eventually be housed in a purpose-built centre.
The homestead, at Dunganstown, near New Ross, is the birthplace of Kennedy's great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, who set sail for the United States in 1848.
It is still farmed by a member of the Kennedy clan, Mr Patrick Grennan, who opened a visitor centre there last year. "We used to get a lot of visitors knocking on the gate. It was a bit of a disappointment for people looking into the yard when they found there was nothing to look at," he says.
Visitors can currently view, among other things, an extensive collection of photographs from President Kennedy's visit to the homestead, with his wife Jacqueline and children John and Caroline, shortly before his assassination in 1963.
Mr Grennan says the Schouppe collection, as it is to be known, will be a valuable resource for students.
There were offers from Dublin and Paris to house the collection, but Ms Schouppe felt the Kennedy Homestead was a more appropriate location. Some of the collection will be on display from next summer.
The Kennedy Homestead website is at www.kennedyhomestead.com