Biden recounts emotional meeting with priest in Ireland: ‘Felt like Beau was with me’
Ryan King
Video Embed
President Joe Biden detailed an encounter with the priest that administered the last rites to his late son Beau Biden.
Biden met the Rev. Frank O’Grady while touring the Catholic Knock Shrine during his recent four-day trip across the United Kingdom and Ireland, where he explored his ancestral roots.
A HOMECOMING AND RECKONING AWAIT BIDEN IN IRELAND WITH SPOTLIGHT ON TRIP
“It felt like Beau was with me. And it just felt like he completed the circle, Beau. I know it sounds stupid, maybe, but it just felt like [to] my sister Valerie and my son Hunter, Beau [was] with us,” Biden told MSNBC in a clip previewed by Morning Joe.
https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe/status/1647920677545029633
The president was accompanied by his son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens on the trip. Their travel was intended to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which eased years of violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Prior to Beau Biden’s death from cancer in 2015, the president mused about traveling to Ireland with his sons.
“Beau and Hunter and I talked … before I became vice president about [how] we’re gonna go to Ireland one day, and I always wanted Beau to be there,” Joe Biden recalled.
O’Grady delivered last rites, a religious ceremony to commend the dying, to Beau Biden at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Priests often shuffle around. The Rev. Richard Gibbons, who conducted the president’s tour of the Knock Shrine, noted that O’Grady was nearby during his visit.
“He showed up, and he reminded us of talking to Beau and how proud he was a Beau,” Joe Biden said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
During the trip, the president also stopped by the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation in Castlebar, County Mayo, which had a plaque dedicated to Beau Biden.
The full interview is set to air on April 24.