MEDIA RELEASE
June 29, 2023
Media Contact:
Matt Porter
617-514-1574
press@jfklfoundation.org
www.jfklibrary.org
JFK Library Foundation Hosts Commemoration in Ireland Celebrating 60th Anniversary of Historic John F. Kennedy Visit
—Special Exhibit and Events in Ireland Mark the Anniversary of President Kennedy’s Visit—
BOSTON – In celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the President’s visit to Ireland, the JFK Library Foundation marked the anniversary with special events and exhibits in partnership with the EPIC Museum, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, Trinity College Dublin, the Kennedy Summer School and other institutions in Ireland. In June 1963, President Kennedy became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the nation of Ireland. The visit would also be part of his final foreign trip before his death in November 1963.
“President Kennedy was deeply proud of his Irish heritage, and during his historic visit remarked to the people of Limerick, ‘This is not the land of my birth but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.’” said Rachel Flor, Executive Director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. “This commemoration was a forward-looking celebration that drew inspiration from President Kennedy’s legacy to help inspire a new generation of global leaders to build a better world.”
The commemorative celebration, JFK60: A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, was a two-day event coinciding with JFK’s visit to Ireland on June 28 through June 29 featuring distinguished guests from both Ireland and the United States.
On June 29, a public forum was live streamed from the Trinity Business School in Ireland with a focus on innovations in the fields of technology, health, and the environment. The forum, JFK Moonshot: Reimagining Human Potential and Progress, was inspired by President Kennedy’s call to tackle big, seemingly impossible challenges. The afternoon will include a fireside chat with Irish entrepreneur Patrick Collison, Co-Founder and CEO of Stripe. In 2005, Collison earned Ireland’s Young Scientist of the Year at the age of 16 years old and went on to co-found one of the largest payment processing companies worldwide. Collison was in conversation with Lant Pritchett, Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, on whether the rate of economic, scientific, and technological progress that has driven human prosperity for centuries is slowing, and if so, how we can accelerate it.
Preceding the fireside chat, journalist and author Dearbhail MacDonald moderated a panel discussion on how the next generation can draw inspiration from President Kennedy’s vision to solve the greatest issues of our time. MacDonald was in conversation with Professor Mary Aiken, Chair of the Department of Cyberpsychology at Capitol Technology University, Dr. Martin Curley, Professor of Innovation at Maynooth University, and Rodrigo García González, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of environmental start-up Notpla, a winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize for “Build a Waste-Free World.”
U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy (by video), Trinity College Provost Dr. Linda Doyle, U.S. Ambassador Claire D. Cronin, JFK Library Foundation Executive Director Rachel Flor, and Kennedy Summer School Program Director Charles Larkin also delivered remarks.
On June 28, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum debuted a temporary exhibit in collaboration with the John. F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, titled Homecoming: JFK in Ireland, which tells the story of JFK’s visit and what it meant for Ireland.
Visit www.jfklibrary.org/JFK60Ireland for the full schedule and links to all program videos online. Media in Ireland and Boston seeking more information on the programs or exhibit should email press@jfklfoundation.org.
About the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is the non-profit partner and creative collaborator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which is administered by the United States National Archives and Records Administration. Over the past forty years, this partnership has produced world class exhibits, the largest, most advanced digital archive created by a presidential library, award-winning educational and digital resources, and public programs that make the Library the largest convener of public dialogues in the Boston area. Grounded in the archival evidence, these activities promote a greater appreciation of America’s political and cultural heritage, help people understand the major challenges facing democracy today, and inspire new generations to engage with the issues at the heart of contemporary life that relate to the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.