Video: 'President John F Kennedy arriving in Dublin, Ireland, June 26th 1963'

(Wednesday, June 26, 1963, 8:00 p.m. Irish Standard Time) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who is of Irish descent, arrived In Dublin this evening for a four-day visit, and in a sense, it was, he said, like “coming home.”

That was the way the Irish felt about It too.

Kennedy, whose voice almost broke with emotion when he arrived at the airport, was all smiles later as he was greeted with thunderous cheers and cries of “welcome home, Jack” in Ireland’s first ticker tape parade

He was hailed by Ireland’s President Eamon de Valera as the “first citizen” of the United States, but also by the people of Dublin as the local boy three generations removed who made good.

All the Dubliners seemed to be at the airport or lining the road of the 12-mile route to the U. S. embassy in Phoenix Park.

If the President was tired after his grueling three days in West Germany, or by the vast emotional outpouring of the West Berliners earlier in the day, he did not show it.

Video: 'President John F. Kennedy in Ireland in June 1963' (26 clips)

It had rained off and on during the day in and around Dublin, and hailstones had fallen, covering the green fields with a short-lasting unseasonable blanket of white.

But the sky was blue and the last of the day’s sun was shining when the President’s plane landed and for most of the drive to the embassy.

Then the rain came down again, hard. President Kennedy, riding in an open car beside the 80-year-old De Valera, put on a hat for the last part of the drive.

A little rain, however, could not spoil the long-awaited occasion for the Dubliners.

They hung from lampposts and windows and stood four deep along the road to cheer and wave the Stars and Stripes and the green, white, and yellow flag of Ireland.

Everywhere it seemed there were posters proclaiming “Cead mile failte,” Gaelic for “100,000 welcomes.”

Video: 'This program is "America Remembers John F. Kennedy" (circa 1983) This is part 13 of a 14 part program.' (June 26, 1963, at 2:23)

There was another banner in the crowd that projected the only political note. It said: “Undivided Ireland welcomes you no partition for the Congo, why Ireland?” But for this day at least, most people seemed willing to forget that the six northern counties still are under British rule.

The visit was the first of an American President to Ireland while in office and that was enough for the Dubliners, especially since it was a President by the name of Kennedy.

Over the next three days, Kennedy accepted a grant of armorial bearings from the Chief Herald of Ireland, received honorary degrees from the National University of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin, attended a State Dinner in Dublin, and was conferred with the freedom of the towns and cities of Wexford, Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Limerick.

He visited the cottage at Dunganstown, near New Ross, County Wexford, where his ancestors had lived before emigrating to America.

Kennedy also was the first foreign leader to address the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament.

Kennedy later told aides that the trip was the best four days of his life.