President on quiet visit for son’s wedding
PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins made a very discreet visit to West Kerry before the weekend to attend the wedding ceremony in Ballintaggart House of his son John and fiancée Eva Lynch.
Media speculation in recent weeks suggested that the couple were to be married in a registry office followed by a reception in the five-star Mount Juliet Hotel. The President’s family seem to have been happy to let that story stand as it distracted national attention while they planned a quiet family wedding in Dingle.
They arrived in Ballintaggart on Wednesday and headed out that evening to the South Pole Inn where proprietor Gary Percival was expecting a group that had booked as the ‘Lynch party’. Gary had been told to expect up to 40 guests who ‘might have a bite to eat’. He though it might have been a bus tour and only realised there was more to the gathering when a black limo pulled up at the door and Michael D stepped out.
John Higgins and Eva Lynch’s wedding ceremony was held the following day in the courtyard of Ballintaggart House, where they were fortunate to enjoy some of the better weather we’ve seen this summer. Afterwards the Higgins family had a quiet gathering indoors; there was no marquee, no fuss, no fireworks. Some of the party stayed in accommodation in Dingle and the following day they left as discreetly as they had arrived; unseen almost, except for reports that Michael D was seen walking on a boithrín in Ballintaggart in the company of one his security staff.
Ballintaggart House manager John Cluskey wasn’t able to confirm this or anything else concerning the wedding ceremony. All he would say for certain is that it’s very important to respect people’s privacy… and that his guests were “really nice, genuine people”.