US president Barack Obama is to visit his ancestral home of Moneygall, Co Offaly, during an official visit to Ireland this summer.
Mr Obama may also travel to Kilkenny and Mayo during the visit, which was announced during the St Patrick's Day visit to the White House by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Seated in the Oval Office beside Mr Kenny, he said he intended to go to Ireland in May, "and I'm expecting to go not only to all the famous sites, but also to Moneygall, where my great-great-great-great-great grandfather hails from".
Mr Obama squinted as he repeated the word "great", as if straining to get the right number.
The White House began to plan for a visit to Ireland in late January, and is expected to send an advance team to Dublin within two to three weeks.
The president's trip is expected to include a courtesy call to President McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin.
In addition to Moneygall, officials are understood to be considering a visit to St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny. A tomb there holds the remains of Bishop John Kearney, who was Mr Obama's great-great-great-granduncle and became provost of Trinity College in 1799.
Mr Obama may also visit Mayo because it is the home of the Taoiseach and because the parents of Patricia Rooney, wife of US ambassador Dan Rooney, were born there.
There are mixed opinions about whether Mr Obama should retrace the steps of President John F Kennedy in 1963, including a visit to Galway. The Taoiseach gave Mr Obama a copy of President Kennedy's 1963 speech to Dáil Éireann last night.
Asked outside the White House when he learned that the president had accepted his invitation, the Taoiseach said: "Just 15 minutes ago, when I asked him."
In the Oval Office, Mr Kenny promised Mr Obama a "fulfilling experience during your visit of Moneygall, where some of your ancestors contributed to the welfare and the wellbeing of that little village right in the centre of Ireland".
The Taoiseach said he appreciated "for a person with so many difficulties on his plate as you have, in the global sense, that you'd take time to visit Ireland".
Mr Kenny called the visit "another great day in our country's journey" and said it was "a very significant statement of confidence by the most powerful political office in the world that the president of the United States decides to come to Ireland in May . . . If you want to do a round of golf I'd be happy to participate with you". Mr Obama said he had heard the Taoiseach was "pretty good, so . . . I may have to practise before I play with him".
Journalists later asked the Taoiseach what his handicap was. "Thirteen," he replied. Mr Obama's handicap is reportedly 16. Outside the White House Mr Kenny could hardly contain his excitement, repeating the words "confidence" and "brilliant".
Neither the Irish Embassy nor the White House would reveal details of the visit, but Mr Kenny said the US leader would come to Ireland "with his wife". The Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, will be in school in May, so it is unlikely they will accompany their parents.
Neither the date nor the length of the visit has been settled, pending confirmation of the date of the Queen of England's visit, which is expected to be around May 17th.
The preference is understood to be for Mr Obama to stop in Ireland before his May 24th-26th visit to England.
At speaker John Boehner's lunch for Mr Kenny on Capitol Hill, Mr Obama sat beside Fionnuala Kenny, whom he referred to as the Taoiseach's "lovely wife, who has made a wonderful luncheon companion".
Mr Obama brought up Moneygall again, saying: "There has been some controversy about my own background," an allusion to right-wing theories that he was not born in the US, is a Muslim or grew up in Kenya, all of which are false.
"So today I want to put all those rumours to rest," Mr Obama continued. "It is true my great-great-great grandfather really was from Ireland . . . Moneygall, to be precise. I can't believe I have to keep pointing this out."