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From Sky news:::::
US President Barack Obama has been given a hero's welcome by thousands as he stepped foot in his ancestral home in Ireland.
Around 3,000 people lined the streets of Moneygall to welcome the American leader, whose great-great-great grandfather was raised there.
Falmouth Kearney, a shoemaker, was born in the village in Co Offaly in 1831 before emigrating to America in 1850.
The visit is expected to last just an hour but Mr Obama will have time to visit the Kearney ancestral home and meet the current family who live in the house.
They will also visit Ollie Hayes' pub to meet extended family members including representatives of the Healy, Donovan and Benn families.
Michelle Obama had changed out of her black and white dress and black jacket for the stop-off, wearing a more casual beige trench and red and white dress.
The couple met the village mayor and Mrs Obama hugged Henry Healy, 26, an accountant who has traced a family connection and is the president's eighth cousin.
Excited residents have been preparing for weeks, hanging American flags and portraits of Mr Obama and even painting their houses in the stars and stripes.
The thousands lining the streets were overwhelmed as the couple chatted to the crowds and shook their hands, flanked all the time by a gaggle of security officers.
Mr Obama is the 29th US President to claim Irish descent, which does American leaders no harm when the country goes to the polls.
Dennis Desmond, chairman of Democrats Abroad Ireland, said: "The Irish American vote is not insignificant. That's a vote that every candidate wants."
Mr Obama announced this visit when Ireland's prime minister, Enda Kenny, was in Washington.
Some 44 million Americans have Irish connections. On St Patrick's Day everyone in the US is Irish.
Irish novelist Colm Toibin said: "The idea that we as a nation moved from being barmen and domestic servants... to becoming presidents, with almost nothing in between, is a matter of enormous pride here."
Mr Obama's visit to his ancestral home in the southwest is likely to be the undoubted highlight of his trip for the Irish.
His ancestor left during the Irish potato famine and could never have imagined his great-great-great grandson would be the first black man to win the White House.
US President Barack Obama has been given a hero's welcome by thousands as he stepped foot in his ancestral home in Ireland.
Around 3,000 people lined the streets of Moneygall to welcome the American leader, whose great-great-great grandfather was raised there.
Falmouth Kearney, a shoemaker, was born in the village in Co Offaly in 1831 before emigrating to America in 1850.
The visit is expected to last just an hour but Mr Obama will have time to visit the Kearney ancestral home and meet the current family who live in the house.
They will also visit Ollie Hayes' pub to meet extended family members including representatives of the Healy, Donovan and Benn families.
Michelle Obama had changed out of her black and white dress and black jacket for the stop-off, wearing a more casual beige trench and red and white dress.
The couple met the village mayor and Mrs Obama hugged Henry Healy, 26, an accountant who has traced a family connection and is the president's eighth cousin.
Excited residents have been preparing for weeks, hanging American flags and portraits of Mr Obama and even painting their houses in the stars and stripes.
The thousands lining the streets were overwhelmed as the couple chatted to the crowds and shook their hands, flanked all the time by a gaggle of security officers.
Mr Obama is the 29th US President to claim Irish descent, which does American leaders no harm when the country goes to the polls.
Dennis Desmond, chairman of Democrats Abroad Ireland, said: "The Irish American vote is not insignificant. That's a vote that every candidate wants."
Mr Obama announced this visit when Ireland's prime minister, Enda Kenny, was in Washington.
Some 44 million Americans have Irish connections. On St Patrick's Day everyone in the US is Irish.
Irish novelist Colm Toibin said: "The idea that we as a nation moved from being barmen and domestic servants... to becoming presidents, with almost nothing in between, is a matter of enormous pride here."
Mr Obama's visit to his ancestral home in the southwest is likely to be the undoubted highlight of his trip for the Irish.
His ancestor left during the Irish potato famine and could never have imagined his great-great-great grandson would be the first black man to win the White House.
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