Royal welcome in Gorey in '62
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THE VISIT of the 30-yearold Senator Ted Kennedy to Wexford in late 1962 was organised to pave the way for his brother's visit to the county the following year.
His first stop in the county was Gorey, where he alighted from his car at the Railway bridge on the Arklow Road and walked up the Main Street.
Local resident Tony Woulfe, one of the few people with a camera that day, captured the moment for posterity.
'I saw the flags out on the Market House and I asked somebody what was going on, and they said an American senator was coming through,' he recalled. 'Quite a few people were waiting around.'
He went home and got his camera. 'He got out at the Ambassador Supermarket and walked up the town with his security people by his side, and the Pipe Band leading him up the street,' he added. 'He stopped at the Market House and took off his shoes and stood up on the bonnet of the car.
'He said he was preparing for the visit of his brother the following year, and he hoped they would give him as good a reception as he had received.'
Senator Kennedy was greeted by Town Commissioners Chairman Tomas Funge and several other commissioners. Tomas's son Joe also clearly recalls the visit. 'He met traders' representatives. People from different organisations were asked to be there,' he said. 'I remember it was a dull evening.'
'He gave my father a tiepin which depicted a boat to do with his brother John's military service,' he added. 'He did create a bit of a stir. This was his entry into Wexford.'
Joe recalled being told that a photograph from Senator Kennedy's visit to Gorey made it onto the front pages of newspapers in the United States the following day.
