{"id":495974,"date":"2026-06-12T11:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/495974\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:55:15","slug":"as-huge-as-jfk-mayo-village-prepares-for-carney-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/495974\/","title":{"rendered":"‘As huge as JFK’ – Mayo village prepares for Carney visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The village of Aughagower in Co Mayo is preparing to welcome Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney this weekend.<\/p>\n

Mr Carney is due to travel to the homeplace of his paternal grandparents on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The trip forms part of a two-day visit to Ireland, which will include a stop-off in Dublin tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Mr Carney’s grandparents, Robert Carney and Nora Moran, grew up around Aughagower and emigrated in July 1925 to begin a new life in North America.<\/p>\n

They married soon after their arrival in Canada and had three sons.<\/p>\n

Michael Heraty of the Aughagower Development Company said it was “just as huge as JFK and President Biden” visiting over the years.<\/p>\n

“Everyone has a smile from ear to ear”<\/p>\n

“Someone going away like that and coming back… it’s just as huge as JFK and President Biden in the last decades.”<\/p>\n

“Everyone is just on such a high for the past two weeks since we got wind of it,” Chairperson of Aughagower Community Council Colette Sheridan said.<\/p>\n

“Everyone has a smile from ear to ear,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"Graves
\nMark Carney is expected to attend mass in the parish church and visit the nearby cemetery, where some of his ancestors are buried<\/p>\n

“His people were born 3km from here – both grandparents from exactly 3km,” said local resident JP Scott.<\/p>\n

“They walked through the village here, and I mean its really as close as you get.<\/p>\n

“You really can associate with him, I think.”<\/p>\n

During his visit to the village, Mr Carney is expected to attend mass in the parish church and visit the nearby cemetery, where some of his ancestors are buried.<\/p>\n

In anticipation of the trip, there has been a concerted effort to mark the occasion and trace the Carney and Moran family heritage.<\/p>\n

The fruits of this research are being showcased in a captivating display at the local community centre and have also been published in a commemorative booklet, which will be formally presented to the Canadian leader on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"A
\nCanadian flags have been raised ahead of Mark Carney’s arrival<\/p>\n

Michael Heraty, of the Aughagower Development Company, said the visit was hugely significant for the area, comparing it to the links New Ross and Ballina had with former US Presidents Kennedy and Biden.<\/p>\n

“It’s just as huge as John F Kennedy and President Biden in the last few decades.”<\/p>\n

He said that the events this weekend followed a determined campaign by people in the village to extend an invitation to Mr Carney.<\/p>\n

These intensified after his election as prime minister in March of last year.<\/p>\n

\"A
\nThere has been an effort to mark the occasion and trace the Carney and Moran family heritage<\/p>\n

Mr Carney is expected to fly into Ireland West Airport on Sunday morning, before travelling by car to Westport, where he will have a number of engagements over the course of the day.<\/p>\n

After his visit to Aughagower, he will travel back to the town to attend a civic reception hosted in his honour by Mayo County Council.<\/p>\n

The general welcome for him in the area is perhaps encapsulated by a message from the village\u2019s community council in the booklet members helped prepare for the event: “An \u00e1it a bhfuil do chro\u00ed, is ann a thabharfas do chosa th\u00fa” – Your feet will lead you to where your heart is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The village of Aughagower in Co Mayo is preparing to welcome Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney this weekend.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-495974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}