Here in Kilshannig, a small fishing village on a remote stretch of sandy beach, the governor is still known as Kathleen Courtney, the granddaughter of John Courtney and Mary Browne, who emigrated separately to the United States as teenagers over a century ago in search of greater opportunity.
Almost everyone who crowded into the low-ceilinged pub looking for a selfie or a handshake with their distinguished American guest claimed to share ancestry with the governor through her grandparents.
My mother and her grandmother were first cousins, said Mary Harrington-McKenna, 75, who lives in the town. It's very exciting to have our cousin, the governor of New York, visit where her grandparents came from.
[
add
]
[
|
|
...
]