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IRELAND'S economic crisis has claimed yet another victim - the man famous across the country as a distant cousin of President Barack Obama.
Henry Healy, from Moneygall in County Offaly, became known as "Henry VIII" after discovering he was Obama's cousin eight times removed, with the pair sharing an ancestor, a 17th century hat maker named Fulmouth Kearney.
However, this week, Henry joined the long lines of Ireland's unemployed after losing his post as a bookkeeper for a local plumbing firm. The news comes just weeks after the Moneygall home of Falmouth Kearney, where he lived with parents Joseph and Phoebe before emigrating to the United States in the 1850s, was opened to the public.
After leading the campaign for Obama to return to his roots and visit Moneygall during last year's official Irish state visit, Healy and the president have kept in touch. The pair famously downed pints of Guinness in Moneygall's Ollie Hayes Pub, and in March of this year, Obama returned the favor by inviting Healy to the Dubliner Pub in Washington to celebrate St. Patrick's day.
Reminiscing about the Obama visit, Healy said he had joined Obama when he visited the former Kearney home, which now has an official, framed "President's Certificate of Irish Heritage" hanging on the wall.
"I was fortunate enough to be there with him and he stamped his foot on the ground and said 'this is where my ancestors lived'," Healy said.
Healy has said he now hopes to begin a teaching career, and has signed up for a diploma course.
