FIRST LADY OF the United States, Michelle Obama, has said she was “surprised” by the connection she felt during her Moneygall visit in May.

Though it is her husband Barack Obama who has the ancestral link to the tiny Co Offaly town, in a recent interview Obama said that she felt many emotions when the couple paid a visit on 23 May.

Reuters reports that when asked by a student during a forum at the University of Cape Town if she felt a kinship to Africa, she said “absolutely”, before adding:

I absolutely felt that connection in Moneygall [and was] a little more surprised by it.

The love, the warmth, the connection, the excitement. That was family, too. And that’s what I want my kids to understand – that your family is Granny in Kisumu, but it’s also your cousin in Moneygall. That is your history.

People thronged the streets for the Obama’s whistle-stop trip to Moneygall, where the couple visited Ollie Hayes’ pub, met some of the President’s relations, and sampled some Guinness.

Read more: A behind the scenes look at Obama’s Ireland visit>
Read more: Barack Obama has a pint with his relatives in Moneygall>

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