United States Ambassador to Ireland Claire D. Cronin is set to host a Fourth of July party in Dublin this week to mark Independence Day.
Ambassador Cronin, whose family hails from Donegal, is planning a big bash at her Phoenix Park residence next weekend. A few surprises are in store for the day, she told the Irish Daily Mail, including a rock band and a performance from Louth singer Cathy Maguire.
“It’s going to be a full house and I can’t wait,” Ambassador Cronin said.
This will be the Ambassador’s first Independence Day in her new role, where her work so far has focused on strengthening business links and local community links between Irish people and the embassy.
In May, Ambassador Cronin made her first visit to the land of her family heritage, Carrowmenagh in Moville. Her grandfather Hugh McLaughlin was born in Inishowen in 1886. He emigrated to the U.S. with three of his brothers in 1912. Claire Cronin was born Clare McLaughlin in Brockton, Massachusetts to parents, James Daniel McLaughlin and Phyllis Virginia Lucey. Prior to being elected to politics, Cronin maintained a law practice.
On her visit to Donegal, Ambassador Cronin got the unique chance to meet some far-out relatives Lily McLaughlin and locals including Pol and Julie Callaghan. She told the Daily Mail that she is still learning about her ancestry from the special visit: “I just got a letter from someone else. Her great grandmother and my great grandfather were brother and sister I think, we’re looking into that.”
