No Place Like Home
Moneygall may sound like the follow-up to the book on baseball's inside workings. But actually it's the name of the Irish town where Obama's great-great-great grandfather on his mother's side grew up before emigrating to the U.S. in 1850. To mark the success of Moneygall's not-so native son, Offaly County Council is mulling plans for a heritage center in his name. "If Obama did decide to come in three or four years' time, then we would have something in place," says Councillor Peter Ormond. But, "there is no point in trying to do it a few months before he comes." Ormond adds that publicity about Obama's Irish roots has already led to an increase in the number of U.S. tourists to the area. A pint of Guinness no doubt awaits the President if he ever decides to retrace his family's footsteps.
—By Glen Levy