President Biden cites great-grandfather, Lafayette Class of 1879, in Dublin speech

During a speech at a Dublin Castle banquet on April 13, President Biden referenced his great-grandfather, Edward Blewitt Finnegan (1859-1926), Lafayette College Class of 1879.

In remarks filled with affection for his Irish ancestry and his love of Irish poets, the president cited Finnegan, a civil engineer and a Pennsylvania state senator who served from 1907 to 1910.

“He came here with his parents … at the time of the famine,” Biden said. “And he became a well-educated man. He got a degree from Lafayette College. And he had four sons; they all got degrees there as well.  And he became a mining engineer and — raised in Scranton, but the heart that he had was molded by his father and his grandfather.”

Joe Biden at Lafayette in May 2012

Biden spoke at Lafayette in May 2012 as vice president and in his remarks discussed his great-grandfather as well as his great uncles Arthur Joseph Blewitt, Class of 1904, and Robert Patrick Blewitt, Class of 1905.

Biden began a three-day tour of Ireland on April 11.

Read the transcript from the White House.