This article appeared in The Southern Star in January 1968 and is about John F. Kennedy's County Cork 'Links'.
IN a book now ready for release by Dundalgan Press, Dundalk ('The Evolution of Everyman' by Rev. J. F. Brennan) It is indicated that the Fitzgerald 'great grandfather' of the late President Kennedy was from the Skibbereen area.
Ever since the rise of of the President's family to fame several counties have been claiming that Fitzgerald ancestor.
In Wexford many would like to believe that their county gave to the New World both great-grandparents of J.F.K.
Limerick feels even more secure in its claim in its claim; after all, did not John F. (Honey) Fitzgerald, one-time Mayor of Boston and grandfather of President Kennedy made a special trip to visit 'the old family homestead' reputed to be at Lough Gur?
The record of this visit was spread all over several pages and illustrated with exquisite colour photography by a prestigious publication, the widely circulated book 'Look' magazine of the U.S.A.
Certainly also no one in the vast throng at Limerick racecourse protested when Mayoress Condell welcomed J.F.K to the city and county with the words: 'We claim the Fitzgerald in you... These good people have come to show our Limerick claim on you...'
'The Findings'
An author, however, while appreciating the sentiment, is honour-bound to his readers to delve more deeply for the facts.
In preparation for the late President's visit in 1963 Government officials desired his correct ancestral data.
The Genealogical Office at Dublin compiled the findings.
The officer's notes on the Fitzgerald connection show that J.F.K. forebears of that name hailed from the neighbourhood of Skibbereen.
The genealogists found that 'a James Fitzgerald, son of John Fitzgerald, emigrated to the United States about the middle of the nineteenth century, married to Katherine Cadogan from Cape Clear in Co. Cork and was the father of John Francis Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston.
John F. Fitzgerald married Josephine Hannon of Co. Limerick stock. Their daughter, Rose, married Joseph P. Kennedy'
And as the world knows they were the parents of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
The book, 'The Evolution of Everyman' portrays the colourful cast of characters who were the ancestors of J.F.K. in their contemporary settings.
Among them were the zesty, vibrant Geraldines of Desmond who could trace their ancestry back to Florence in old Etruria (Tuscany).
Surprisingly, we find in this volume that the Fitzgeralds were not Normans by racial origin.
There are thousands of other interesting revelations, also, as history is fascinatingly retold to provide a frame for a full portrait of the extraordinary man who was 35th President of the United States.
In his ideals, his capabilities, his endowments J.F.K. in his lifetime gave ample proof of the influence of his ancestry upon his personality.
Even in physical traits he more a remarkable resemblance to the Fitzgeralds of old.
His likeness to James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald is commented on in his book.
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