Biden traces his Irish roots as suspected document leaker faces charges in the U.S.

DUBLIN – President Joe Biden wrapped up his three-day trip to Ireland on Friday by retracing his family roots and basking in the adoration of an ancestral homeland where he is known not only as the leader of the free world but also simply as Cousin Joe.

“Being here does feel like coming home – it really does,” Biden told a cheering crowd of 27,000 outside the towering Saint Muredach’s Cathedral in County Mayo, where his great-great-grandfather Patrick Blewitt lived before leaving for the United States.

Over the years, Biden said, County Mayo has become part of his family lore. In 1828, his great-great-great-grandfather Edward Blewitt sold the cathedral 27,000 bricks that were used to construct the 12 pillars that support the knave.

“Stories of this place have become part of my soul,” Biden said.

Back home, however, the final leg of Biden’s visit to Ireland was largely overshadowed by the arrest of Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman from Massachusetts who is accused of leaking highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine and U.S. spying. The Justice Department announced Teixeira’s arrest on Thursday.

At a banquet shortly after the arrest, Biden said his Grandpa Finnegan had a saying: “If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.”

But as Biden made a last attempt to connect with his Irish roots, Teixeira made his first appearance in federal court.

Biden departed Ireland Friday evening for the return trip home. He will spend weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

The latest:

• Church tour: Biden on Friday toured the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock in County Mayo, Ireland, where an apparition of the Virgin Mary, Joseph, John the Evangelist and angels is said to have appeared in 1879. At the chapel wall where the apparition appeared, Biden touched the bricks before going inside.

• Priest meeting: At the sanctuary, Biden also met with Friar Frank O’Grady, the priest who performed last rites for his son, Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015. O’Grady now works at the Irish shrine.

• Hospice visit: After the church tour, Biden visited the Mayo Roscommon Hospice, where a plaque commemorates Beau Biden. Joe Biden attended the hospice's groundbreaking in 2017.

• Family heritage: At the North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre’s Family History Research Unit, Biden met with a family that owns a store located on the site of the former Blewitt family home in Ballina. The family presented Biden with a brick from the home.  “It’s a 200-year-old brick” Biden said. “That’s incredible.”

• Goodbye Feast: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar held a banquet on Thursday evening for Biden and U.S. lawmakers at Dublin Castle.

• The Menu: Starters included Lambay Island crab cake and asparagus, while Biden was treated to duck fat fondant potato, rainbow carrots, pea and mint puree, sherry vinegar lamb jus, roast saddle of lamb and confit lamb shoulder as main courses.

• Dessert: No chocolate chip ice cream on the menu, but Biden was served Tonka beans, pear and maple syrup mousse tart, pear cream, matcha tea crumb, ginger caramel and compress pear.

Top takeaways

Biden's trips abroad have a history of being disrupted by outside forces.

While in Mexico earlier this year, the president was pressed on revelations that stray classified documents were found at his private office. On a trip to Indonesia for the Group of 20 Summit, his last day in Bali was overshadowed by a missile crisis.

Earlier in the year, as Biden was preparing to leave for Europe, the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's Irish travels come amid turmoil at home over Pentagon leak