Museum bosses tried to score a fun point by teasing US president Joe Biden’s Mayo relatives about their All-Ireland drought.
The county has not won football’s famous Sam Maguire cup in 72 years since 1951 – when president Biden was eight years old.
He is due tomorrow to visit Mayo where the Irish Emigration Museum has erected a billboard about the county’s long-running efforts to recapture the championship.
READ MORE: Joe Biden in Ireland LIVE: Full itinerary, schedule and road closures as trips continues
The billboard in Ballina states: “Who would have thought Mayo would bring a US president home before an All-Ireland?”
A spokesperson for the museum said: “The Irish Emigration Museum has given Ballina locals a laugh with a billboard that welcomes the US president home.
“[It] highlights his Mayo roots in light-hearted Irish style and gets him up to speed on his ancestral home county’s deep passion for Gaelic football.”
The museum’s marketing director Yvonne Murphy said: “Our campaigns have always been conversation-starters and this billboard in Ballina is no different.
“Whilst the words are playful, the sentiment is sincere. The whole [museum] team wishes president Joe Biden a big welcome and an enjoyable visit to his ancestral home.”
Legend claims that after Mayo beat Meath in the 1951 final, the homecoming team passed a funeral in Foxford without stopping and a curse was cast so the county would not win the All-Ireland again until all the players had died.
The last player to die was full-back Paddy Prendergast, who died, aged 95, in September 2021.
President Biden is expected to visit the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre’s Family History Research Unit on Friday.
The Irish Emigration Museum opened in Dublin in 2016 and charts accounts of the 70 million people across the globe who claim Irish descent.
Its official genealogy partner, the Irish Family History centre, was commissioned in 2016 to research the Irish roots of then US vice-president Biden and the research was presented to him.
Mr Biden said at the time: “I’ve waited my whole life for this.”
Its spokesperson said: “The museum exists to show who the Irish really are, as told through the unforgettable stories of those who left our shores, influencing and shaping the world along the way.”
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