Obama's Roots Have Irish Eyes Smiling

He’s as much Irish as he is Kenyan

-Stella O'Leary, president of Irish American Democrats

With St. Patrick's Day approaching, Irish-Americans are waiting for President Barack Obama to embrace an ancestor: his Irish great-great-great-grandfather.

An immigrant who came to America in 1850, Falmouth Kearney hailed from the tiny village of Moneygall, Ireland (2008 population: 296). This link makes President Obama about 3% Irish. The Irish — both in USA and in Ireland — have become fixated with turning Obama into O’bama.“He’s as much Irish as he is Kenyan,” said Stella O'Leary, president of Irish American Democrats. “He’s been very wrapped up in his African-American heritage.

But we will welcome him with open arms.” The group invited Henry Healy, a 24-year-old Moneygall resident who is President Obama’s living link to Falmouth Kearney, to do pro-Obama ads and attend its inaugural ball in D.C. However, he has not yet met his famous distant cousin.In Moneygall, there are plans to build an Obama exhibit near Kearney Gardens, ancestral land that officials say belonged to the Kearney family.Corrigan Brothers, an Irish band, has a song called “There’s No One As Irish As Barack Obama.”