A Message from Henry Healy

by @HenryHealy

Hello to all my friends at The Obama Diary!

I hope you are keeping well.

We have great news in Moneygall! A visitor centre named after President Obama, which will focus on his ancestry, will open in two weeks’ time.

It will serve as a welcoming point into the ancestral home of the President and will tell the story of his Irish Ancestry and of that historic trip to Moneygall on 05/23/11 (3 years this Friday).

We will also highlight the other 21 American Presidents with Irish ancestry and many more famous Irish Americans. It will be an Oasis on the M7 Motorway, only 1.5 hours from Dublin.

This centre will be free to visit and I have been tasked with getting memorabilia for the area.

I was wondering if any of The Obama Diary’s followers would like to send us anything connected with President Obama, his 1st election, inauguration and the subsequent election and inauguration, that we could put on display in the centre?

If people are willing to share badges, bumper stickers, newspapers, election posters, etc, we would be delighted.

We understand people would like to keep these items, but maybe if they had duplicates – eg two copies of the same newspaper or magazine – they might consider sending them to me.

(Note from Chips: Anyone who would like to send items to Henry, just email me at TheObamaDiary@gmail.com and I will give you his address)

We want this to be an exciting location with lots for people to see, so hopefully the dedicated The Obama Diary contributors and followers can send something to us for our exhibitions – and when you visit Moneygall, we will ensure you all receive the warmest of welcomes!

Kind Regards to everyone at The Obama Diary, and many thanks,

Henry

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet Henry Healy, the President’s distant cousin, after arriving in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

evening all

…… looking out the window of Marine One as he departs the White House South Lawn en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Vermont, March 30

…… working on his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) with Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, in the Oval Office, Saturday, March 3

….. signing the prosthetic arm of Sgt. Carlos Evans, USMC, after greeting wounded warriors in the East Room during their tour of the White House, March 6

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host a Passover Seder Dinner for family, staff and friends, in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House, April 6

….. visiting the Dubliner bar with Henry Healy and Ollie Hayes from Moneygall on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17

….. meeting with, from left: John Prendergast, activist and Enough Project co-founder; Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman, the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan; and George Clooney, in the Oval Office, March 15

….. with Prime Minister David Cameron and Samantha Cameron during a State Dinner reception on the Truman Balcony of the White House, March 14

….. listening as PM David Cameron offers a toast during the State Dinner on the South Lawn of the White House, March 14. Samantha Cameron is seated at right

…… with Clark Kellogg before an interview for the CBS “Final Four Show”, March 29

…… reflected in sunglasses as he greets people on the tarmac following his arrival at Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine, March 30

….. boarding Air Force One in Roswell, N.M., March 21

All photos by Pete Souza

More photos here

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o’bama! henry! ollie! (say hello to henry & stephen neill in the comments)

President Barack Obama visits the Dubliner, an Irish pub in Washington, D.C., with his Irish cousin, Henry Healy, center, and Ollie Hayes, a pub owner in Moneygall, Ireland, on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama celebrates St. Patrick’s Day at the Dubliner Irish pub in Washington, March 17

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pete souza, genius (say hello in the comments to the father of the lovely irish girl)

** See comment #6 **

President Obama greets a little girl following his remarks during the Irish celebration at College Green in Dublin, Ireland, May 23

President Obama greets Hugh Hills, 85, in front of his home in Joplin, Mo., May 29. Hills hid in a closet during the tornado, which destroyed the second floor and half the first floor of his house

President Obama consoles a woman at the Joplin Community Memorial Service at Missouri Southern University, May 29.

President Obama and British PM David Cameron play table tennis with students at Globe Academy in London, May 24

President Barack Obama walks around the grounds of Buckingham Palace in London, England, May 24

President Barack Obama talks with pub-goers as First Lady Michelle Obama draws a pint at Ollie Hayes pub in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23

Please don’t let Bo ever see this photo: David Cameron introduces President Obama to Larry the cat at 10 Downing Street in London, May 25

First Lady Michelle Obama greets soccer star David Beckham at a dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth II at Winfield House in London, May 25

Lots of new White House photos released today – see here

re-post: moneygall memories (say hello to stephen neill & henry healy in the comments)

The quality of the video is woeful but I’m not sure how long the original will stay on the RTE site, so I thought I better record it – see the much better version here

an unforgettable call to arms

Irish Independent: His voice, that velvet-rich, immense voice, rose and soared and his words were carried by the wind down Dame Street, around College Green, up towards Christchurch, over the sea of people who had come to hear him.

“Is féidir linn. Yes we can. Yes we can. Is féidir linn,” Barack Obama called into the late afternoon as the electric air crackled around him … A massive cheer rumbled and rolled down the carpet of humanity crammed into the city centre.

They were still so powerful, those three small words that swept him into the White House on a wave of hope and a desire for change … And they lost none of their magic as they tumbled in Irish from the lips of one of the most extraordinary orators of our times.

It’s hard to see where all that power and poetry is contained in the slender frame of the 44th President of America, but on a blustery night in Dublin city, his charisma warmed the chilliest soul.

….Enda was only half way through his speech when a bone-rattling roar erupted in front of him. And out on to the stage, hand-in-hand, strode Barack and Michelle Obama, waving and smiling as a chant of “Obama, Obama” echoed around the buildings.

….Slowly and gracefully, the speech built momentum and Obama wove together the shared experiences of Ireland and America and paid tribute to the generations of immigrants who travelled from this country – as did his own great-great-great grandfather from Moneygall in 1850 – to put down roots in his land.

…Waves of emotion poured from the crowd, many of them young people who have suddenly found themselves facing bleak options at a time when their dreams are shattered.

Before the final cheers had quite subsided, he was down in front of the stage, shaking hands, cuddling babies, signing autographs, shooting the breeze.

…Obama didn’t let us down, and he left us with his unforgettable call to arms. “Ireland, if anyone ever says otherwise, if anybody ever tells you that your problems are too big, your challenges are too great and we can’t do something, that we shouldn’t even try, think about all that we’ve done together, remember that whenever hardships the winter may bring, springtime is always just around the corner.

“And if they keep on arguing with you, just respond with a simple creed – Is feidir linn. Yes we can.”

….he touched us all.

Full article here

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night everyone

Too many blissful moments to choose from today, but go on then …. I’ll pick these three minutes … just listen to the crowd from 0:18 and watch the President and First Lady’s reaction:

And these five photos….

1 Because the President visiting Ireland meant so, so much to Dan Rooney – just look at his face at Dublin airport this morning, and the way he’s holding the President’s hands:

2 Because the sight of President Obama with a hurley in his hands just cracked me up …. especially when he threatened to use it against Congress:

3 Because the Obamas’ visit to Moneygall gave the village’s people a day they will never, ever forget:

4 Because this photo just showed how fun and utterly lovely the first couple are:

5 Because, for me, this photo is iconic. The sight of President Obama pointing towards the skies, in the general direction of the Irish flag, will hardly make Ireland’s economic disaster go away …. but his speech today made more than a few Irish folk believe that Ireland can come back again: Is Féidir Linn … Yes We Can.

Can I have a sixth? Please? Thanks!

Because they said President Obama couldn’t possibly attract as big a crowd in Dublin as Bill Clinton did 15 years ago.

He did 😉

Thank you for your company on a beautiful day – I won’t be able to post as frequently tomorrow, but I’ll do my best 😉

the perfect pint!

President Barack Obama watches as First Lady Michelle Obama draws a pint at Ollie Hayes Pub in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

moneygall

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are seen caught in a rainstorm in Moneygall