Born in 1963

John F. Kennedy visited Ireland in June and was greeted with a fervour that bordered on the religious. For Irish people everywhere, his presidency had been a source of enormous pride — proof that the Irish diaspora could reach the highest levels of American life.

His assassination in November was felt like a personal bereavement across Ireland. Churches were packed for months of Masses said in his memory. Ireland and America were bound together by blood and grief.