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The Kennedy Homestead, Dunganstown, New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland. Home

Dunganstown, New Ross, Co. Wexford

The Kennedy Homestead

JFK's ancestral home, and the farm Patrick Kennedy left as a famine emigrant in 1848

“Welcome home Jack”

Dunganstown, June 1963

Book your visitPrices and opening times

Film: President Kennedy with his cousins at Dunganstown, 27 June 1963. White House film, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

Open
7 days, 9.30am to 5.30pm
Last admission
5.00pm
Adults
€11, under 6 free
Parking
Cars and coaches, on site

The Kennedy farm at Dunganstown

The Kennedy Homestead is the birthplace of Patrick Kennedy, great-grandfather of President John F. Kennedy. Patrick left here as a famine emigrant in 1848. The farm is still worked by his descendants today.

The visitor centre tells the story of five generations of the family: the Kennedys who went away and the Kennedys who stayed. Its curators built the exhibition from the Kennedy Library archive in Boston, and it was opened in June 2013 by Caroline Kennedy and Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

The homestead in 1963: a low stone cottage with a green corrugated roof and a hand-painted sign reading The Kennedy Homestead, a two-storey whitewashed farmhouse behind it, and men in suits gathered in the yard below a cloudy sky.
The homestead, 27 June 1963
The courtyard today: a whitewashed farmhouse with a green door at the far end, a long whitewashed outbuilding on the left and a stone barn on the right, with a lawn in the foreground under a clear blue sky.
The courtyard today

27 June 1963

President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland in June 1963 was a pivotal moment in Irish history, and its key stop was here, at the family homestead. Famine emigrant to the most powerful man in the world, all in just three generations.

The exhibition lets you relive the sounds and scenes of that day. This is how it went.

Three women and a man from the Irish Kennedy family stand in the yard outside the old stone cottage with its green corrugated roof.
The cousins before the reception, 27 June 1963

  1. 1Arrival

    The President comes to Dunganstown

    President Kennedy shaking hands in the farmyard among women in bright coats and dresses, under red and white bunting.

    President Kennedy came to Dunganstown by Army helicopter. The farmyard was hung with red and white bunting, and the crowd pressed in to shake his hand.

  2. 2The cousins

    The Kennedys who stayed

    An older woman in a floral dress rests her hand on President Kennedy’s back as he greets family in the farmyard, while press photographers take pictures.

    Waiting for him were his Irish cousins, the family who stayed on the farm Patrick Kennedy left in 1848, and who farm it still.

  3. 3Tea at 12.15pm

    Tea in the farmyard

    President Kennedy, in a grey suit, speaks and gestures at the reception. Beside him an older woman in a floral dress holds a cup and saucer. Tables laid for tea, bunting and uniformed officers fill the background.

    The reception began at 12.15pm. Tea tables were laid under the bunting, and the President took tea with his cousins. Beside him here, a cousin holds a cup and saucer.

  4. 4Departure

    Back to the helicopter

    President Kennedy smiles from the steps of the Army helicopter as the crowd in the field looks on.

    Then it was back to the helicopter in the field, and on to Wexford town.

A white china cup and saucer painted with orange and purple flowers, in a glass case. A plaque beside it reads: Cup and Saucer used by President Kennedy at the Dunganstown Tea Party, 27th June 1963. Behind it stands a worn wooden box with Kennedy and 27 June 1963 written on it in pencil.

The same cup, in the exhibition today

The cup and saucer from the tea photograph are on display in the exhibition, in a glass case beside the wooden box they were kept in.

“The best four days of my life.”

President John F. Kennedy, on his visit to Ireland in June 1963

Five generations

The homestead tells the story of five generations of the Kennedy family: the Kennedys who went away and the Kennedys who stayed behind. Curators built the exhibition from the archive of the Kennedy Library in Boston. It starts with Patrick Kennedy’s departure in 1848 and follows the family through the twentieth century to today.

  1. 1848

    Patrick Kennedy leaves Dunganstown

    Patrick Kennedy, President Kennedy’s great-grandfather, is born on this farm. In 1848 he leaves it as a famine emigrant.

  2. 1888

    Joseph P. Kennedy

    Born in Boston on 6 September 1888. Businessman, politician and diplomat, and US Ambassador to Britain. Died 1969.

  3. 1890

    Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

    Born in Boston on 22 July 1890. Philanthropist and mother of nine. Died 1995.

  4. 1915

    Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

    Born in Brookline on 25 July 1915, the eldest of the nine. Naval aviator, killed in action in 1944.

  5. 1917

    John F. Kennedy

    Born in Brookline on 29 May 1917. 35th President of the United States, 1961 to 1963. Died in Dallas on 22 November 1963.

  6. 1918

    Rosemary Kennedy

    Born on 13 September 1918, the first daughter. Died 2005.

  7. 1920

    Kathleen Kennedy

    Known as Kick. Born in Brookline on 20 February 1920. Died in a plane crash in France in 1948.

  8. 1921

    Eunice Kennedy Shriver

    Born in Brookline on 10 July 1921. Founder of the Special Olympics. Died 2009.

  9. 1924

    Patricia Kennedy Lawford

    Born in Brookline on 6 May 1924. Died 2006.

  10. 1925

    Robert F. Kennedy

    Born in Brookline on 20 November 1925. Attorney General, then US Senator for New York. Died in Los Angeles on 6 June 1968.

  11. 1928

    Jean Kennedy Smith

    Born in Brookline on 20 February 1928. US Ambassador to Ireland, 1993 to 1998, and guest of honour at the opening of the visitor centre in 2013. Died 2020.

  12. 1929

    Jacqueline Kennedy

    Born in Southampton on 28 July 1929. First Lady, 1961 to 1963, and later a book editor. Died 1994.

  13. 1932

    Edward M. Kennedy

    Born in Boston on 22 February 1932. US Senator for almost 47 years. Died 2009.

  14. 1957

    Caroline Kennedy

    Born in New York City on 27 November 1957. Author and attorney.

  15. 1960

    John F. Kennedy Jr.

    Born in Washington, D.C. on 25 November 1960. Lawyer and magazine publisher. Died 1999.

  16. 1963

    The President comes home

    On 27 June 1963 President Kennedy takes tea with his Irish cousins in the farmyard at Dunganstown.

  17. 2013

    The visitor centre opens

    On 22 June 2013 Caroline Kennedy and Taoiseach Enda Kenny open the Kennedy Homestead Visitor Centre.

    Caroline Kennedy, in a green dress, speaks from a lectern to seated guests and a large crowd at the opening of the visitor centre.
    Caroline Kennedy at the opening, 22 June 2013

What you'll see

The exhibition was built from the archive of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. It explores why Patrick Kennedy left in 1848, and follows the family through the 20th century to today.

  • Inside the exhibition: a wooden-floored gallery lined with red and white panels of family photographs, with a portrait of a young woman in the foreground.

    The exhibition

    A photographic exhibition and a historical interpretive display, using mixed media, in the visitor centre on the farm.

  • An exhibition wall headed 27th June 1963, with large photographs of the President among his cousins and two listening points with headphones below.

    The audio-visual display

    The 1963 visit is a key part of the homestead. The audio-visual display lets you relive the sounds and scenes of that day.

  • A rosary of pale blue beads with a silver crucifix, beside a red brocade purse, above a dark card reading President Kennedy’s Rosary Beads.

    The memorabilia

    The Kennedy memorabilia collection includes the cup and saucer the President used at the tea party in the farmyard, and President Kennedy's rosary beads.

  • A member of the homestead team smiling at the reception desk, in front of a large black-and-white photograph of the 1963 visit.

    A warm welcome

    Your visit is a guided tour. There is a souvenir shop on site, and a picnic area outside.

Virtual tour

Walk through the exhibition before you come, or from wherever you are. The tour opens here when you select it.

The tour is hosted by VirtualVisitr and loads from their site. Open it in a new tab

Book your visit

New Ross, 27 June 1963

The day the President came to tea in Dunganstown, crowds filled the quay in New Ross to welcome him. A banner high on one of the quayside buildings read "Welcome home Mr President".

President Kennedy, smiling, reaches out to a crowd of children waving small American and Irish flags under a wide turquoise sky.
A huge crowd on the New Ross quay, packed in front of a stone building hung with a banner reading Welcome Home Mr President, with Gardaí in the foreground.

The quay at New Ross, 27 June 1963. White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

The Emigrant Flame

On the quayside in New Ross is the Emigrant Flame, unveiled in June 2013. A light taken from the eternal flame at President Kennedy's grave in Arlington was carried across the Atlantic, and Caroline Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith lit the Flame with it.

It marks the journey from famine emigrant to the US Presidency in three generations, and stands as "a permanent flame of hope and inspiration to all Irish emigrants".

Guests applaud beside a bronze bust of Edward M. Kennedy on a stone plinth, in front of the old stone wall of the homestead, with foxgloves in the foreground.
At the homestead, June 2013

The Ted Kennedy bust

A bronze bust of Senator Edward M. Kennedy by the artist Rory Breslin stands at the homestead. It was unveiled during the opening ceremony in June 2013 by his granddaughters, Kylie and Grace Kennedy.

Opening times and prices

Opening times

Every day
9.30am to 5.30pm
Last admission
5.00pm

Booking

You don't need to book in advance, but we recommend it if you are visiting in peak season.

Contact Mary or Marcella

Facilities

  • Kennedy memorabilia collection
  • Audio-visual display
  • Souvenir shop
  • Picnic area
  • Wheelchair access
  • Car and coach parking
Admission prices
TicketPrice
Single tickets
Adult€11
Senior€10
Student or child€8
Under 6Free
Family tickets
2 adults and 1 child under 12€26
2 adults and 2 children under 12€31
2 adults and 3 children under 12€36
Joint tickets
Adult€22
Senior€20
Family, 2 adults and 1 child€51
Family, 2 adults and 2 children€61
Family, 2 adults and 3 children€72

Prices quoted as per current VAT rate.

Groups and coach tours

Coach tours, community groups, historical societies and Irish-American tour parties are all welcome at the homestead.

A group visit

Your group is guided through the exhibition, with its photographs, audio-visual display and the Kennedy memorabilia collection. There is also a souvenir shop, and a picnic area outside.

Book a group

To arrange a group or coach visit, call Mary or Marcella.

The homestead yard under a clear blue sky: whitewashed and stone farm buildings around a wide yard, with the farmhouse at the far end.

How to get here

Kennedy Homestead
Dunganstown
New Ross
Co. Wexford, Ireland

Car and coach parking on site.

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Places to visit nearby

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Working here

Interested in working with us? Email info@kennedyhomestead.ie

Accessibility

The homestead has wheelchair access. On this website, text grows with your browser's text size, and you can pinch to zoom on a phone or tablet.