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Tenyears on from his historic visit, would Barack Obama still recognise the village where his ancestor Falmouth Kearney left for a fresh start in the New World?

wind farm swishes the air on the approach to Moneygall in Co Offaly and the motorway pitstop that bears his name is now an established feature on the road to Limerick.

A cardboard cut-out of the first couple still stands to greet customers just inside the door, but the focus now is less upon the illustrious connections of the place and more on its ability to soothe the pressing need for its facilities as well as a decent cup of coffee or an ice-cream cone to break the journey.

The Visit for truly it deserves a capital letter has passed into the annals and yet, only last year did a fresh coat of white paint obliterate the dazzling stars and stripes which had decked out a local bungalow in its entirety for the best part of a decade.

A certain glamour and a decided confidence still lingers from that charmed day when the eyes of the world were fixed on Moneygall.

Everybody knows us. Its not that little village anymore that people ask where? says Henry Healy, Mr Obamas famous eighth cousin, who has a job with Teagasc in Dublin but is currently working from home.

Just months ago, Michelle Obama appeared on the US chatshow, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and waxed lyrical about Moneygall and the welcome they had received there even mentioning Obama Plaza, saying: That is real people. That is not photoshopped. Thats in Moneygall.

You cant get a house to rent here, says Henry with some satisfaction, as he stands in the main street and looks around him.

Weve embraced the opportunities the visit gave us.

With the Plaza getting all the business, all the shops in Moneygall are gone. But the village itself is looking trim and polished.

Almost 1m in funding, largely from Offaly Local Development, has helped transform wasteland into a playground that attracts parents with children from miles around, a community garden, outdoor gym equipment and facilities for a soccer club that caters for 200 members all of which came about after locals set up the Moneygall Development Association in the wake of the visit, Mr Healy explains.

Here, he quotes Christian evangelist writer, Leonard Ravenhill: The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of that opportunity.

But he thinks Bord Filte is missing a trick by failing to pick up the work started by the people of Moneygall themselves to market it properly for tourism.

A 39km cycle route called the Kearney Loop taking in Moneygall, Templeharry and Shinrone, where more Obama relatives originated has yet to attract a single tourist, though it is popular with local wheeler groups.

Mr Healy has spied an opportunity for the village to act as a stopover on the way to the Cliffs of Moher, given that the attraction in Co Clare is operating at limited capacity due to Covid and coaches have to stagger their visits.

You can still see the thick iron supports, long rusted now, that were put into the walls of Falmouth Kearneys old thatched cottage, to transform it into a two-storey house. The community had tried to run it as an attraction for a while after the Obamas came to town, but it was shut down shortly after and has long been rented out as a residence.

I can still hear the echo of his feet, pounding on the timber boards and saying: My grandfathers grandfather came from here.

To my mind, it would be the easiest thing in the world to market this as a place to come to, says Mr Healy.

For him, Obamas tour of the ancestral home was the most memorable moment of the entire visit.

But Moneygalls connection with the Obamas did not end that day. In fact, it was only the beginning.

Mr Healy and his uncle, Ollie Hayes, both travelled over to the White House for St Patricks Day the following March and faithfully each year until the end of Mr Obamas term in 2016.

A glass case in Mr Hayess bar contains the proof with formal tickets to prestigious Washington events, an envelope addressed in copperplate flourishes.

Another glass case contains the 50 used to pay for the first couples drinks in Moneygall along with their two unwashed glasses. Secret Service men had wiped the fingerprints from them before handing them back, revealed Mr Hayes.

On one of their visits to Washington, in March 2013, they met up with President Obama at a local bar.

We spent a couple of hours with him. He was quite nervy because he was in a packed pub, says Mr Hayes. But he was absolutely mighty craic. Hes hilarious and we had a great old laugh.

Passing through the streets of Washington, Mr Obama had pointed out a homeless man on a bench, saying: You see a lot of homeless here.

He seemed moved, says Mr Hayes.

He asked them what they thought of the controversial household charge, introduced here in 2011, commenting: You cant run a town without money.

He also spoke about some environmental issues, referring to five million new drivers in China last year and the impact it would have on the environment and on oil prices.

Telling them to keep in touch,in the following days MrObama had organised for them to be invited to a ballet in Washington in his stead.

We declined the invitation, laughs Mr Hayes. Afterwards, President Obama had mischievously asked staff: How did the boys enjoy the ballet?

Another outcome from the connection is that former US ambassador Dan Rooney would call to Mr Hayes and his wife on his way to Kerry, enjoying homemade apple tart and brown bread at the kitchen table.

Mr Hayes had given the White House permission to use his house as a command post on that visit 10 years ago.

It meant that if anything happened that day, the president would be making a decision from our kitchen.

In the run-up to the visit, the advance team had come in with suitcases, installing 16 phone lines. And once the president had left Moneygall, the whole operation was stripped out.

Moving on to the next place, says Mr Hayes, shaking his head in wonder.

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Obama visit has passed into the annals of Moneygall history but its impact lives on - Independent.ie