February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — New York Governor fulfilled a long-time promise to his mother last week by when he brought her to the County Louth church where her great-grandparents were married in 1867.
The governor had always wanted to visit Ireland but the pledge to his mother had been put off from year to year for a variety of reasons.
Long lost relatives turned up when the governor, his mother Margaret, 84, and his son Theodore, 17, visited Stonetown Church near Louth village.
His grandmother Agnes Lynch emigrated to New York in 1909 when she was 21. She married Italian Matteo Lagan and they had two children, one who was the governor’s mother.
After meeting many cousins, the Patakis had a tour of the Cooley
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Peninsula with the chairman of Louth County Council, Cllr Peter Savage, as their guide.
The Governor stressed that his visit was a family one and not
political but he said he does keep in close touch with the progress of the Northern Ireland peace process.