Taoiseach Enda Kenny will on Friday visit the lighthouse where his grandfather was keeper in the 1920s and 1930s.
The visit will take place on the day before the historic Loop Head Lighthouse – dating back to the 1670s – reopens to the public for the summer, two weeks ahead of schedule.
The lighthouse, which is located on the most westerly tip of Co Clare, was opened to visitors last summer for the fist time in its 341-year history.
Almost 17,000 people visited the building during the trial opening, bringing an estimated €400,000 into the local economy.
As a result of the success of that 11-week trial, the coastal landmark will reopen for a 14-week period from next Saturday, creating 12 seasonal jobs.
Records show that the Taoiseach’s grandfather, James McGinley, entered the lighthouse service in 1905, aged 25, and spent six months training at the Baily Lighthouse in Howth before being promoted to assistant keeper on Rathlin O’Birne in Donegal.
In 1910 he was stationed on Beeves Rock in the Shannon Estuary, and some time later, during the first World War, on Tuskar Rock off the Wexford coast.
McGinley took up service as keeper at Loop Head in 1922 before returning to Rathlin O’Birne for his final five-year posting in 1935.