Exhibition 'Homecoming: JFK in Ireland' in EPIC Museum
2023 marks the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s visit to Ireland, the first by a serving US president. To commemorate this pivotal moment in Irish-American relations, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, are proud to present Homecoming: JKF in Ireland.
This temporary exhibition invites visitors to step back in time to 1963 and reflect on the atmosphere and impact of a momentous journey. JFK’s four-day visit strengthened ties between two nations and ushered in a new era of optimism in a changing Ireland. Archival material including photographs and film footage will allow visitors to revisit the past through the eyes of the many thousands of people who lined the streets of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Wexford, welcoming home a descendant of Famine emigrants whose story defied all odds.
“We are delighted to be hosting this exhibition in collaboration with the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. JFK’s visit to Ireland brought international attention to the progress made by the independent Irish state, but it also served as a celebration of Irish diaspora success. The first Catholic to be elected to the White House, he was a powerful emblem of Irish America’s transition from tenement poverty to middle-class respectability. We hope that visitors young and old will enjoy this retrospective look at his time in Ireland.” - Catherine Healy, Historian-in-Residence at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
