Prince visits Kingdom
Charles meets former IRA gun-runner Ferris on his jaunt to Kerry
WHEN meeting the British Royals, it helps to have a distinguished lineage.
So it was with justifiable confidence that John Cunningham mentioned his own when he met the Prince of Wales and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
As the prince was shown round the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell, he was introduced to the Great Liberator’s relatives.
‘And who are you?’ Prince Charles asked Mr Cunningham, who was there with sister Emily Lenehan and other relatives.
He proudly replied: ‘I am one of Daniel O’Connell’s greatgreat-great-grandsons.’
Quick as a flash, the prince told him: ‘Really? I am a great-greatgreat-grandson of Queen Victoria.’
Mr Cunningham later told reporters: ‘He was very relaxed and very nice. He was very interested in the family and our young days in Derrynane.’
The visit was one of the highlights of the second leg of the royal couple’s visit to the Republic and it started with a helicopter ride from north Cork. And it was the first time the prince – who plans to have visited every county in Ireland over the coming years – had been in The Kingdom.
Clearly delighted by this, he told reporters as much when asked how he was enjoying Kerry.
He said the county was ‘remarkable’ and added: ‘At last I got a chance to see Kerry.’
Other highlights included a visit by the royal couple to Muckross House near Killarney. While inside, they signed the visitors’ book signed by Queen Victoria in 1861 with her husband Prince Albert. A little later, at a reception at Killarney House, the prince was introduced to ex IRA gun-runner Martin Ferris, a Sinn Féin TD. The two men spoke for about two minutes. Later, Mr Ferris told reporters: ‘He said he was delighted to be here and also he said he was delighted to meet with me. ‘He and I and others are on a journey of peace and reconciliation and it is a big statement for that. He said he had met Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald.’ neil.michael@dailymail.ie
‘He was very nice and very relaxed’