Canon who discovered obamas irish roots is moving on

The man who discovered Barack Obama's ancestral links to Moneygall is heading for pastures new.

Canon Stephen Neill who has ministered in Cloughjordan for the past seventeen years, is upping sticks and moving to Celbridge in Co Kildare to become Rector of Newcastlelyons parish.

As part of the move he relinquishes his Church of Ireland 'Canon' status. 'I will be getting  €50 less a month, so I'm not going for the money, ' he laughs. 'But I feel, at 45, I need a new challenge. I'm too comfortable and I have a bit of an itch that needs to be scratched.'

Still, he admits that leaving Cloughjordan won't be so easy for him, his wife Nicola and teenage son Aaron. 'I feel a slight sense of guilt and regret walking away after such a long time, because we have made real friends and people who were with us through thick and thin. We have been very happy here.'

 

* See full interview in this week's issue of The Nenagh Guardian