A PUB once owned by distant relatives of US President Joe Biden was burgled in the early hours of Monday morning.
Lily Finnegan's, in Biden's ancestral home of Carlingford, Co Louth, was broken into at around 4am on Monday and a sum of cash was stolen from the premises.
The pub is named after a relative of Biden's maternal great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan, who was from the Cooney Peninsula in Co Louth.
During his visit to Ireland in 2016, then vice-president Biden paid a visit to the pub - and told a secret service agent "man, you're in heaven" when they arrived at Lily Finnegan's.
Biden, who is teetotal, didn't enjoy a pint of Guinness but spent an hour meeting with locals in the well-known Carlingford pub.
A motorcade of around 30 cars and a SWAT team protected Biden while he was inside the pub while secret service agents and snipers were on duty in the surrounding areas.
The US President visited the pub again in November 2017 during a personal visit to Ireland with his brother Jimmy.
He is said to have spent even more time meeting with locals during that trip to Carlingford.
The pub, which first opened in the 1840s, was renamed after Lily Finnegan after she took over the pub from her father in the 1950s.
She ran the pub until shortly before she passed away in 1994.
Her nephew John Pratt took over the running of the pub before the current owners took it over in 2001.
Biden isn't the only famous person to have visited the pub as Bruce Springsteen drank at Lily Finnegan's around the time of his Slane concerts in 1985 and country stars Nathan Carter and Lisa McHugh have also performed in the pub.
Current owners renovated Lily Finnegan's during COVID-19 closures and the beer garden was also transformed.
It's understood thieves broke into Lily Finnegan's at around 4am on Monday morning and made off with a large amount of cash.
The current owner couldn't be reached for comment regarding the robbery last night.
Gardai confirmed that they are investigating the robbery.
A spokesperson said: "Gardaí responded to a report of a burglary at a premises in Greenore, Co. Louth on October 4, 2021, at approximately 4am.
"A large sum of cash was taken from the scene.
"No arrests have been made. Investigations ongoing."'
