#OTD 10/3/1970 President and Mrs. Nixon arrived in Ireland. President Nixon was only the second American President (after JFK) to visit Ireland.
(Image: The Presidential Motorcade en route to Kilfrush House in Limerick from Shannon Free Airport. WHPO-4662-12A)
#FabulousFLOTUSFriday
We love this photo of First Lady Pat Nixon surrounded by curious and enthusiastic townspeople of Ballinrobe, Ireland during her October 1970 visit to the area from which her Ryan ancestors came. We wonder how many of these faces are her long lost cousins. (WHPO-4667-08A)
Happy Birthday, Pat Nixon!
Here’s a Fun Fact about Mrs. Nixon:
She was born Thelma Catherine Ryan. Her father, who was of Irish ancestry, gave her the nickname “Pat” because she was born the day before Saint Patrick’s Day. Here she is with some of her Irish relatives during her October 1970 visit to Ballinrobe, Ireland. (Image: WHPO-4666-16A)
#OTD 10/5/1970 President and Mrs. Nixon waving to the crowds who turned out to see them pass through Kildare, Newbridge, and Naas while on their way to Naas Racecourse. Can any of our Irish friends identify what town this is? (Image: WHPO-4678-12) UPDATE: One of our Irish followers on Twitter confirms it is Kildare.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
First Lady Pat Nixon with some of her cousins in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, Ireland. (Image: WHPO-4666-16A; 10/4/1970)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
President Nixon stopping to admire horses near the Curragh Racecourse in County Kildare, Ireland. (Image: WHPO-4685-04; 10/5/1970)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Both President and Mrs. Nixon could trace their ancestry to Ireland. In 1969, the President’s staff gave him an Irish Setter puppy named King Timahoe (or Tim, for short) in honor of President Nixon’s roots in Timahoe, County Kildare, Ireland. (Images: WHPO-7760-29&10)
#OTD October 5, 1970 - President Nixon standing by the side of a road in Ireland during a brief stop of the Presidential motorcade driving from Timahoe through the towns of Kildare, Newbridge and Naas, on the way to the Naas Racetrack. (Image: WHPO-4685-04) (at Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
