Sons of Galway go head to head in battle to succeed Barack Obama

America’s next Presidential race may come down to a straight fight between two men with impeccable Galway roots.

And the rival candidates with respective links to Inishbofin and Maam Valley could well be vying to succeed Barack Obama in the White House – and the Irish angle has captured the imagination of both communities.

Republican candidate Congressman Pete King’s grandparents came from Inishbofin while Governor of Maryland and Democrat Martin O’Malley’s grandparents hailed from Maam Valley in Connemara.

Both have announced their intention to contest their party’s nomination to run for the presidency of the United States in 2016 and relatives of both politicians are keeping a close eye on their prospects.

Congressman King (69), who represents Long Island, recalled his first visit to Inishbofin in 1981 when he concluded that it was a rustic writer’s retreat and was taken aback by how harsh the place was at the time.

He recalled that there was only one car on the island – it was the nurse who had a jeep. There was no electricity, the residents had battery operated radios and there was no pasturised milk.

The Congressman has visited the island, which is now a major tourist destination, since then although his last remaining relative on Inishbofin, who was named Tierney, died within the last decade. His grandparents, after emigrating to New York City sometime in the 1920s, married and settled in St. Teresa of Avila parish in Brooklyn’s ninth Ward.

Meanwhile Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley is serving his second term in the office.

He is determined to run for the presidency of the US. During the course of his political career, he has met up with Tuam group The Sawdoctors who have played for him during their tours of The States and has formed a strong friendship with guitarist Leo Moran.

Leo told The Connacht Tribune that Martin loved his visits to Connemara although they had been limited in the recent past.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.