[ad_1]
It has been revealed the Duchess of Sussex has Irish roots after her great-great-great grandmother Mary Smith emigrated to London from Ireland in the mid-1800s.
Mary married a British soldier named Thomas Bird – a controversial move at the time which resulted in Mary’s Irish famliy disowning her.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will will meet the President and the Taoiseach of Ireland, and will visit key attractions, including Trinity College, the Famine Memorial, the Irish Emigration museum and a Gaelic sports festival at Croke Park.
Kensington Palace said: “The Royal couple are looking forward to learning more about Ireland’s history and experiencing its rich culture, as well as meeting the people who are shaping the country’s future.”
The couple are expected to visit DogPatch Labs, which is a start-up hub where they will meet young individuals taking part in free coding lessons.
They will also attend a garden party at the residence of the British ambassador.
This is the Royal couple’s first official visit to Ireland since their marriage on May 19. It will mark Prince Harry’s first visit to Ireland, while Meghan has visited the country on at least one occasion.
She travelled to Ireland in 2014 as part of her role as a One Young World ambassador.
Prince Charles also visited Ireland this summer. The Prince of Wales traveled to County Kerry and Cork with the Duchess of Cornwall to retrace the footsteps of his great-great-great- grandmother, Queen Victoria, who visited the town of Killarney in 1861.
Prince Charles has, by Royal Family standards, been a regular visitor to Ireland in recent years. He also visited Dublin in 2017 and Sligo in 2015.
The visit to Mullaghmore in County Sligo was particularly emotional given it was the town where Charles’ beloved great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by the IRA in 1979.
Hundreds of local residents lined the streets to pay their respects as Charles and Camilla visited the harbour where Lord Mountbatten died while fishing in a booby-trapped boat.
Charles said the brutal killing helped him understand the “agonies borne” by so many in Ireland during the Troubles.
[ad_2]
