I saw that over at Democratic Underground. Some poster calls himself Barack O'Bama! Too funny.
But then I decided to Google that name and it turns out that Obama has Irish roots. Check this out from the Chicago Sun Times... Barack Obama is American Indian, Irish, Scottish, Kenyan, and Pilgrim!
For sure, Obama's South Side Irish
ANCESTRY | One of his roots traces back to small village
May 3, 2007
BY BRIAN HUTTON
DUBLIN -- Presidential hopeful Barack Obama's ancestry has been traced back to a shoemaker in a small Irish village, it was reported Wednesday.
Obama's campaign wasn't talking about the revelation, but Chicago Ald. Ed Burke (14th) said he wasn't surprised.
"I could tell from the very first time I saw him -- he's got such a way with words," said Burke, who himself can trace ancestors to counties Clare and Kerry.
» Click to enlarge image
Sen. Barack Obama waves to the crowd at the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
(AP file)
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Records unearthed in the home of an elderly Irish parishioner who died recently have shed new light on the Illinois senator's ancestry.
A Church of Ireland rector scoured files from the church -- the equivalent of the U.S. Episcopal Church -- dating to the late 1700s. He confirmed that Obama descended from Moneygall, County Offaly.
The village today holds little more than a couple of pubs, shops and a Roman Catholic church.
Canon Stephen Neill, from a nearby town, began delving into Obama's past after a U.S. genealogist told him about the possible connection. "I would be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this is categorical evidence of Mr. Obama's link to this part of the world," said the rector.
It was initially believed the would-be president's great-great-great-grandfather Fulmuth Kearney was the only one of his family to have sailed from Ireland to New York at age 19 in 1850.
But the newly uncovered records show other family members had in fact emigrated to America since the 1790s.
They also reveal that Fulmuth's father, Joseph, was a shoemaker -- a wealthy skilled trade at the time. "They would have been among the upper echelons of society back then," said Neill.
He said he thinks the name Fulmuth -- unusual for an Irish man -- was most likely a surname that was taken as a first name.
Obama was born in Hawaii to a black man from Kenya and a white woman -- with Irish links -- from Kansas. "I've got pieces of everybody in me," he has been quoted as saying.
But does the piece from Moneygall make Obama -- who lives in the South Side's Kenwood neighborhood -- South Side Irish?
"Of course," Burke said.
Press Association of Ireland, with Sun-Times Staff Reporter Matthew Nickerson contributing
OBAMA'S FAMILY TREE
His roots spread into so many places, it's hard to keep track. Here's a breakdown of reported links:
• American Indian: Obama said he had a "full-blooded Cherokee" in the family, but a genealogist said he couldn't find proof of that.
• Irish: He's traced to Fulmuth Kearney, who sailed to New York from Ireland in 1850. But where in Ireland? The counties are feuding: One expert says Kearney was from Meath, another Carlow. Now comes the news of ties to County Offaly.
• Kenyan: Obama's father came from the Luo group.
• Pilgrim: One direct ancestor was Edward FitzRandolph, married in Massachusetts in 1637. He was a Pilgrim father from Nottinghamshire, England.
• Scottish: There's even a royal link. Obama is descended from William I of Scotland, who reigned from 1165 to 1214. William was a politically and physically strong king. He charged Henry II's army single-handedly but was captured.
Sources: Sunday Times of London, Daily Mail of London, Chicago Sun-Times, Press Association
