#BidenInIreland: Follow Along with the Vice President's Trip to Ireland

Today, the Vice President touched down in Ireland -- the home of his ancestors.

 

Over the course of his trip, he'll participate in bilateral meetings with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Michael Higgins. He'll deliver remarks on the Irish-American experience, the shared heritage of our two nations, and our shared values of tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness. And he'll travel to the counties from which his ancestors hail. Over the course of the trip, he'll also be taking questions from the Ancestry.com community and Americans around the country. Tweet your questions at @VP using hashtag #BidenInIreland.

Read a note from the Vice President ahead of his trip, and keep following along for updates.

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I'm heading out on a very special trip today.

 

I'm going back to Ireland -- the country from which my ancestors hailed, and a country whose independence the Easter Rising set in motion, 100 years ago this year. It is my first dedicated trip to this nation as Vice President -- during which I'll meet with the country's leaders, discuss issues of trade, economic recovery, migration and refugee policy, and other national security challenges, and celebrate our shared heritage. Our shared values of tolerance. Diversity. Inclusiveness.

And it's a trip I'm so deeply grateful to be taking alongside my children and grandchildren. 

Over the course of my life, I've been a lot of places. I've traveled all around the world -- more than a million miles on Air Force Two alone. I've been honored to have held a lot of titles. But I have always been and will always be the son of Kitty Finnegan.

 

The grandson of Geraldine Finnegan from St. Paul's Parish in Scranton; a proud descendant of the Finnegans of Ireland’s County Louth. The great-grandson of a man named Edward Francis Blewitt, whose roots stem from Ballina, a small town in Ireland’s County Mayo -- sister city to my hometown in Scranton, Pennsylvania. An engineer with a poet’s heart. Months after my mother passed away, I found an old box of his poems in my attic.

In his poetry, my great-grandfather spoke of both continents, and how his heart and his soul drew from the old and the new. And most of all, he was proud. He was proud of his ancestors. He was proud of his blood. He was proud of his city. He was proud of his state, his country. But most of all -- he was proud of his family.

And that is America: This notion that home is where your character is etched. As Americans, we all hail from many homes. Somewhere along the line, someone in our lineage arrived on our shores, filled with hope. We are blessed to experience that simultaneous pride in where we've found ourselves, while never forgetting our roots.

 

James Joyce wrote, "When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart." 

Well, Northeast Pennsylvania will be written on my heart. But Ireland will be written on my soul. And as we join the world in celebrating everything that Ireland has become, and indeed everything that she is always been, I could not be more honored to be returning.

You can see what I see right here. 

I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.

-Joe

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Day One: Arriving in Dublin

• The Vice President, family, and staff arrive at Dublin International Airport in the evening.
• The Vice President greets with Taoiseach Enda Kenny before heading into a bilateral meeting at the Government Building.
• The Vice President remains in Dublin overnight.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the places my forefathers came from." See a recap of the @VP's first day in Ireland:https://t.co/UNiabpvaHT

— VP Biden Live (@VPLive) June 22, 2016

Wheels down: The @VP has landed in Dublin! Here, he's greeted on the tarmac by @CharlieFlanagan. #BidenInIreland pic.twitter.com/zAdr0vSdPu

— VP Biden Live (@VPLive) June 21, 2016

 

Get the official readout from the Vice President's bilateral meeting with Taoiseach Kenny.

 

Day Two: From Dublin to Ballina, County Mayo

• The Vice President greets with President Michael Higgins at the President's Residence.
• The Vice Presidents Holds a bilateral meeting with President Higgins.
• The Vice President departs Dublin for County Mayo, Ireland.
• The Vice President and Taoiseach Kenny make stops in several towns in County Mayo, visiting various points of significance to the Vice President and Taoiseach along the way.

 

Get the official readout from the Vice President's bilateral meeting with President Higgins.

 

 

Vice President Joe Biden quoted JFK in the Áras an Uachtaráin visitors book: pic.twitter.com/YSjWhMSTEl

— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) June 22, 2016

The town of Ballina is out in force to welcome home the @VP #bideninireland pic.twitter.com/Cmg0C5cwUT

— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) June 22, 2016

 

 Day Three: Back to Dublin

• The Vice President plays a round of golf with Taoiseach Kenny in County Mayo.
• Afterwards, he departs County Mayo, en route to Dublin.
• The Vice President remains in Dublin overnight.

Day Four: Remarks in Dublin

• The Vice President delivers remarks at Trinity College Public Theatre.
• Next, he tours the Trinity College Library with his family.
• Later in the day, the Vice President delivers remarks at Dublin Castle on the Irish-American experience, the shared heritage of the two nations, and the values of tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness.
• Finally, the Vice President will speak at the American Ireland Fund's 40th Anniversary Gala at Trinity College Library Square Courtyard.

"I am proud to join the ranks of American political leaders who have drawn inspiration at Trinity, and there have been many. President John Kennedy and his brother Ted Kennedy both spoke here while in office. Woodrow Wilson spent a day wandering around Trinity before he became President, his thoughts full of Edmund Burke. Even Benjamin Franklin was drawn to this beautiful campus when he visited Ireland in 1771 and found, in his words, 'all Ireland is strongly in favor of the American cause.'"

Vice President Biden, in remarks at Dublin's Trinity College

 

"...Even before great waves of emigration brought so many of us Irish to the shores of America to make their home in American soil, it sharped our spirit of freedom and our drive for independence and launched an irrevocable friendship between the United States and Ireland."

Vice President Biden, in remarks at Dublin's Trinity College

 

"I’m overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people of Ireland; overwhelmed by the hospitality of Trinity College. And I am extremely flattered, and I wish all of you graduates -- I wish you well. Go and do good."

Vice President Biden, in remarks at Dublin's Trinity College

 

 

"Around the same time my great-great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, the shoemaker, boarded the Brothers on May 31, 1844, another shoemaker named Joseph Kearny, from Moneygall, sailed aboard the Caroline Reade, arriving in America just five weeks before my great-great-grandfather.

 

It’s doubtful they ever knew each another. But one thing we do know -- they left everything behind for an uncertain future.

 

And in all of their dreams, could they ever have dreamt that 160 years later, two great-great-grandsons of shoemakers from Ireland would be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States of America?"

Vice President Biden, in remarks at Dublin Castle

 

 

Day Five: Onward to County Louth

• ​The Vice President and his family tour Newgrange, a prehistoric world heritage site built between 3000 and 2500 B.C.
• The Vice President and family depart Newgrange for County Louth.
• The Vice President tours the Kilwirra Church and Cemetery, where some of his ancestors were baptized.
• The Vice President makes additional local stops in County Louth before returning to Dublin, where he will remain overnight.

 

"Wave up at the window!" Recap the full Ireland trip -- including this stop in County Louth -- at the link in the bio.

A video posted by Vice President Joe Biden (@vp) on Jun 28, 2016 at 6:55am PDT

 

View of @vp motorcade from the top of the hill at Carlingford heritage center - great turnout! #bideninireland pic.twitter.com/L0IXUnXjR3

— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) June 25, 2016

Day Six: Bidding Ireland Farewell

• The Vice President attends a lunch hosted by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the Farmleigh House -- the official Irish State guest house.
• The Vice President and family depart Dublin en route for Washington, D.C.

 

As my trip to Ireland comes to a close, I want to thank the Irish people for their warmth and incredible hospitality toward me and my family -- from the thousands who lined the streets to say hello, to the members of my own family I was fortunate enough to be able to meet for the first time. The Irish don't say "Welcome;" they say "You're welcome." Each time they say it, they're literally telling you: You are welcome here. And you feel it. It has truly been a wonderful visit.

A video posted by Vice President Joe Biden (@vp) on Jun 26, 2016 at 11:54am PDT

.@VP Biden: "I've an announcement to make. We're not leaving" #bideninireland @opwfarmleigh @VPLive pic.twitter.com/hdNKpdQp0t

— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) June 26, 2016