Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled to County Mayo on the second day of his visit to the Republic of Ireland.
Carney, who spent Saturday in Dublin alongside Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin, reunited with his cousins on Sunday in Aughagower—the village his grandparents, Robert and Nora Moran, left behind when they emigrated to Canada in 1925.
Carney has expressed pride in his family background and described his Irish roots as a "big part of who I am."
Irish President Catherine Connolly met with Carney at Westport House on Sunday morning.
Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Carney stated he was heartened by the advancements made toward a potential and more lasting ceasefire between the US and Iran.
He indicated that the issue of how to "reinforce" the ceasefire would be "topic number one" for Monday's G7 Summit in France.
During his visit to Mayo, the Canadian prime minister and his wife Diana Fox Carney attended Mass at the parish church and visited a cemetery where several of his relatives are buried.
When asked about his experience in Aughagower, Carney remarked: "It's fantastic to be back, I've been here twice, but no one noticed the last few times I came, so it's a great thrill."
Carney met with more than 20 of his cousins, including Pat Carney and Maureen O'Malley, first cousins of his father and two of the prime minister's nearest Irish relatives.
Following Mass, Carney planted an Irish oak tree in the graveyard.
He joked about having a prior "career as a gardener," and his wife Diana Fox quoted Christy Moore's Don't Forget Your Shovel as he worked.
Speaking after the Mass, he expressed gratitude to attendees and urged them to visit what was once "Carney's sweetshop" and the local pub.
Earlier, Maureen O'Malley's daughter, Rosaleen Heraty, spoke to RTÉ about the family connection.
"Mam and Pat's father was John Carney and he was the brother of Robert Carney, who is Mark Carney's grandfather. Imagine, his grandson is the prime minister of Canada," she said.
"It's all we can talk about, generations of the Carney clan, and we are so excited to finally meet him.
"If you compare photos of him and his grandfather Robert, there is an uncanny likeness. I noticed it when I spotted him on the telly when he was Governor of the Bank of England. I saw the name Carney and saw the face and said it to Mam.
"She hardly missed a beat and just said 'ah yeah, we haven't seen them for years,'" said Heraty.
Tenant farmers who endured famine aftermath
The Carney and Moran families were tenant farmers on the estate of Lord Sligo.
The Carney homestead, situated in the townland of Ayle, was a typical rural dwelling of the era: a thatched cottage with two windows at the front. Nine people lived in two rooms, with a third room added later.
The Moran home in the townland of Mace North was nearby.
Both Ayle and Mace were located in the parish of Aughagower, where, according to local tradition, St Patrick is thought to have stopped on his way to Croagh Patrick.
The prime minister's grandparents would have encountered significant hardship during their time in Ireland, living through a period of upheaval and change that followed the Irish famine.
When they departed, they would have become part of the wave of mass emigration that saw over one million people leave the island.
The couple emigrated to Canada in 1925, married the following year, and had three sons.
On Sunday night, Carney attended a reception in Westport where he was presented with a civic scroll by Mayo County Council.
During the ceremony, he was also given a commemorative history of the Carneys, written by local Westport historian Harry Hughes, along with fellow researchers and editors James Kelly and Micheál Casey.