TV PRESENTER, comedian and actor Paddy McGuinness has discovered he has Irish ancestors who were neighbours with ancestor of President Joe Biden.
On the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are (August 22) discovered that his great-grandmother, Bridget McGuinness, had been baptised in a parish in Co. Mayo to parents Mark McGuinness and Winifred Molloy, who lived near the US president’s ancestor Edward Blewitt in Ballina.
President Biden has roots in both Co. Mayo and Co. Louth.
McGuinness, whose name derives from the Irish Mac Aonghuis, literally meaning “son of Angus” has said in the past does feel a connection with Ireland, but felt “pretty much in the dark” about his ancestry.
At the end of the Who Do you Think You Are, McGuinness is pictured on a beach in Co. Mayo, saying: “I do feel a real spiritual connection, even on this beach today, it’s absolutely beautiful here on the west coast of Ireland they could have been playing on here as kids walking up and down here, who knows.
He added: “My ancestors over here in Ballina who lived on the same street as Joe Biden’s ancestors.
“My dad would have loved to find more out about our Irish ancestors, and it would have been nice to bring him out to Ballina and what have you, but I’ll have a pint of the black stuff for him.”
The programme traces the McGuinness family’s journey from Ireland to Bolton, where Paddy was born.
Paddy McGuinness also uncovers his grandfather’s vital work in World War Two, how his other grandfather was involved in the Boer War.