On this day in 1984, US president Ronald Reagan visited his ancestral hometown of Ballyporeen. Reagan’s great-grandfather Michael Regan (they picked up an ‘a’ somewhere along the way) was born in Ballyporeen in 1829.
After his return to the USA, the President took the time to pen a very thoughtful thank you letter to Edmond Brennan, Chairperson of South Tipperary County Council, for the welcome he had received in Ballyporeen and County Tipperary.
Reagan stated that the visit to Ballyporeen was a ‘deeply moving experience and once which I will always remember’.
Read the letter in full below which forms part of our collection in the Museum.
