Sir, - Mark O’Connell’s recent article (“Will Americans want to visit a Richard Nixon interpretive centre just outside Naas?,“ Opinion, March 7th) is generally dismissive of a US presidents’ trail in Ireland to mark 250 years since the US Declaration of Independence was signed.
He concedes there may be merit to the idea but then rows back on it by referring to “tenuous and overstretched scrap” and to a likely lack of interest in presidents such as Grover Cleveland and William McKinley. He then casts doubt the idea of a Richard Nixon interpretative centre.
I disagree with him. Although this is perhaps not the ideal moment to highlight them, US links to Ireland remain of great significance and considerable historical importance.
Twenty-three US presidents can claim some Irish ancestry, in particular Ulster Scots, with no fewer than nine having links with Co Antrim alone. These are far stronger than similar links with other countries. Some of the 23 presidents concerned were obscure or mediocre, but others were very consequential or at least deserving of greater interest.
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They provide a cross-section of American history, from Andrew Jackson (the first populist president) to James Polk (more significant than his lack of fame suggests) to Ulysses Grant. The list goes on, from Theodore Roosevelt to Woodrow Wilson and from Harry Truman to Joe Biden. Ten post-second World War presidents have Irish ancestry.
This is an exceptional heritage. I have always believed Irish tourist authorities should draw more visible attention to these links.
I believe such a tourist trail would be of considerable interest for many American visitors, not least those searching their own ancestral links in Ireland. It would also have the benefit of highlighting different aspects of American history to many Irish people.
More than half of the counties in Ireland would benefit from such a decentralised initiative. It would also help to further tourist links between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The cost of such an initiative need not be high at all. Already, a number of ancestral homes exist that can be visited, such as those of Jackson, Grant, Chester Arthur and Wilson. There is also a John F Kennedy visitors’ centre.
There are already other sites linked with US presidents, such as pubs in Ballyporeen and Moneygall, and the Quaker cemetery in Timahoe. A proper book may be necessary to link up the different sites, or at least a tourist brochure or booklet. This could be backed up by local plaques and other historical information in specific locations. Why not just do this now? - Yours, etc,
FRANCIS BRENDAN JACOBS,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
