The never before told story of the Irish advisors that surrounded the Kennedy family
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was acutely felt in his ancestral homeland of Ireland. Just five months before his death in Dallas on the afternoon of the 22nd November 1963, the young President had captivated the Irish people with his charm, his wit, and his rhetoric. Over the course of four days in June of that year, Kennedy visited the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick and his family homestead in Dunganstown, Co Wexford. When President Kennedy died, a part of Ireland died with him.
But for Kennedy and for his father, Ireland was much more than a romantic, mystical homeland. The Irish in America, their catholicism and fanatical support of the Democratic Party, had long been key to the election of aspiring American politicians with anything resembling Irish roots. For the Kennedys the Irish connection had been critical to JFK’s election in 1960 and would, in their view, be just as critical in the re-election battle of ’64.
What became known as the Kennedys’ “Irish Mafia” became the key advisors surrounding the President. Men selected for their loyalty and devotion to JFK and his family. Often hand picked by his father, and from the stock of his forbearers, these men helped him win the Presidency, grieved for his passing and provided political support to his successors for decades after his death.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of both the visit to Ireland and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, this documentary special details the never before told story of the Irish who surrounded the family of the most charismatic political figure of the 20th Century.
