A judgment of error

Even after 50 years, John F Kennedy’s speech to the joint houses of the Oireachtas has lost none of its power. It was, as this newspaper reported, “finely composed, magnificent in context, and delivered with such [sincerity] that even veteran members of the Dáil were visibly moved”.

It did also, however, contain two factual errors, both in the first paragraph. The subject was that great Irish-American regiment, the “Fighting 69th”, one of whose flags the president was about to unveil and present to the parliament, where it still hangs today.

The flag was given to the union regiment in 1862, to replace colours obliterated in previous battles. And it was carried during a famous assault at Fredericksburg on December 13th of that year, when their doomed heroism (only 280 of 1,200 men survived) astonished even the confederate general, Robert E Lee.

So it was important to get details right. Whereas Kennedy’s speech managed to get both date and place of battle wrong. It was said to have happened on “13th September” at “Fredericksburg, Maryland”. Which means it was three months and about 50 miles out, because Fredericksburg is in Virginia.

But nobody picked up on it at the time. And half a century on, the errors remain indelibly preserved on the Dáil record, not to mention YouTube. In fact, ironically, it was something else Kennedy said that caused him problems.

One of the many impressive things about the speech was the way it balanced pathos (there were tears in his own eyes as he started speaking) with humour. And among several jokes, he quoted a former resident of Leinster House, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who once complained to his mother that the building’s gloomy architecture “does not inspire the brightest ideas”.

This earned a laugh from the TDs and senators. But another President, Eamon de Valera, was reportedly less amused. According to Ryan Tubridy's 2010 book, JFK in Ireland, Dev later had words with Kennedy over the implied insult. Moreover, the then taoiseach Sean Lemass was quoted as saying that Dev's displeasure led to the joke's "complete suppression" from subsequent reports of the speech, including the Dáil record.

If so, it seems to have crept back into the record at some point: the transcript on Oireachtas.ie now includes the quip. But it’s an amusing irony if the factual inaccuracies in the speech were untouchable, while a joke that arguably contained some truth had to be censored. Besides, if Leinster House had contained any wits back in 1963, their obvious come-back to JFK’s dig was to point out that, if nothing else, the building had inspired James Hoban’s design of the White House. He could have decided himself whether that was a bright idea.

Anyway, I mention all this only by way of relaying an invitation from the National Library to anyone with memories or memorabilia of the Kennedy visit. Such persons are asked to attend the library today (after first booking a place by email to learning@nli.ie), bringing their stories and souvenirs for digitising. The results will help form a 50th anniversary exhibition, starting on June 20th.

But getting back to the man himself, and the question of errors, I’m also reminded that for a short period after the war, JFK worked as a journalist. During which time, he wrote a report about Ireland that misspelt both the Irish name of the State (as “Erie”) and the first name of the then taoiseach (“Emon”). This further proves that even John F Kennedy was human. And if there’s a moral in the story, surely, it’s that one shouldn’t be too harsh on journalists generally, just because they get the odd detail wrong.

On which note, this might be a good time to point out that, contrary to what I suggested in a recent diary, JRR Tolkien was not born in “South Africa”, a country not yet existing at the time of his birth. “Orange Free State” is what I should have written. Furthermore, I now know that the fictional universe Tolkien created was “Middle-earth” – he was insistent on that form, apparently – not “Middle Earth”, an invention entirely my own.

While we’re at it I should add that another recent column referred to Patrick Heeney as the man “who wrote the forgotten half of the Irish national anthem – the words”. That should, of course, have read “the music”. I’m grateful to readers for pointing out these errors. And I stand humbly corrected, albeit clutching JFK’s Dáil address in one hand and the flag of the Fighting 69th in the other.

fmcnally@irishtimes.com