Nostalgia: Looking back on the day US president JFK visited Leeside

This year marks 60 years since JFK arrived in Cork in June 1963, as part of a four-day trip to Ireland.

Approximately 100,000 people flocked to see the US president during the historic trip which took place just five months before his assassination in Dallas.

His popularity in America in the summer of 1963, just two and a half years into his presidency, seemed to make him a certainty for re-election.

When he took his Irish trip, his approval rating was at an incredible 82%.

While Cork was not originally part of the president’s itinerary, his address in the Rebel County turned out to be iconic.

Having arrived in Dublin and visited Wexford to explore more of his Irish ancestry with relatives, he boarded a helicopter to Collins Barracks on that Friday morning.

He travelled without his sisters Eunice and Jean who had accompanied him all through the previous day.

JFK was made a Freeman of Cork at City Hall, having travelled through the city accompanied by bursts of band music and continuous cheering and applause.

He was taken by a motorcade down Summerhill, along MacCurtain St, over Patrick’s Bridge, along Patrick’s St, Grand Parade and the South Mall and over Brian Boru Bridge to the City Hall where he was to be conferred with the Freedom of the City by then Lord Mayor, Sean Casey.

JFK described it as an honour to receive the Freedom of the City.

His speech was broadcast over loudspeakers to the crowds outside. 

In that speech, he talked about the Irish connections of many of his entourage and praised the contribution of Ireland to the United States.

Speaking about Ireland’s long history of emigration, he said that “most countries send out oil, iron, steel or gold, some others crops, but Ireland has only one export and that is people”.

Earlier this month, to mark 60 years since the president’s visit, a ‘Homecoming: JFK in Ireland’ exhibition was launched in Dublin.

The exhibition delves into the cultural and political significance of Kennedy’s four-day trip in 1963, utilising original documents, photography, and oral history interviews to convey what the visit meant to Irish politicians.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, in collaboration with the John F Kennedy (JFK) Presidential Library and Museum, will run the exhibition until September this year.