"Once a son of Cooley, always a son of Cooley".
That's what Joe Biden’s fifth cousin Andrea McKevitt said about US President Joe Biden, or "cousin Joe", as she refers to him.
She is one of a number of people from his ancestral home on the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth, who claims a family link to the most powerful man in the world.
The 46th President of the United States' family history goes back to the Finnegans of Whitestown, with his great-great-grandfather emigrating to America in the 1840s.
The White House has confirmed that Joe Biden will visit Co Louth during his trip to Ireland last week, however there has been no official confirmation of exactly where he will stop.
This will be his third visit to Louth and the Cooley peninsula.
In 2016, Whitestown, Kilwirra cemetery where his ancestors are buried, and Lily Finnegan’s pub were among the locations he visited as vice president.
This time, it is hoped the presidential visit will take in nearby Carlingford, where President Biden could imagine the journey his ancestors made, by boat through Carlingford Lough on their way to America.
Yvonne Keenan-Ross from the Heritage Trust in Carlingford said there are plenty of attractions in the area to choose from, but a visit to King John’s castle in Carlingford would be "poignant".
"The castle is the pride and joy of Carlingford, so we are hoping we will get the opportunity to show him the castle", she said.
"We’re hoping that perhaps, if he does visit the castle, he’ll be able to look out and it would be poignant for him to see the trip his great-great-grandparents made on their way to America. They would have sailed down the Lough."
"Probably the castle and the village would be the last landmarks they would have seen before they sailed off to America", she said.
There has been plenty of security activity and reports of the US secret service scouting out locations all around Louth for the presidential visit and locals have reported sightings of blacked-out vehicles travelling around the area.
Out the road on the Cooley peninsula is Fitzpatrick’s pub, where Joe Biden stopped for lunch in 2016.
Friends Aoibhinn Brennan and Sarah Duffy from Lordship were among the lucky ones to meet him last time around.
Sarah remembers Mr Biden telling jokes to children he met.
The then vice president spent time chatting to Aoibhinn who was just 5 years old at the time before telling her: "Just remember, no serious dates until you’re 30!".
Aoibhinn remembers Mr Biden coming to talk to her and "trying to get away from reporters".
She is keen to meet him again this time, but what would she say?
Now aged 12, she’s looking for an invite to The White House.
Distant relatives like Andrea McKevitt are also hoping for an introduction.
"We are really excited to welcome cousin Joe Biden home. In the peninsula everyone is related to him, we can’t wait to see him back here,", she said.
While John Owen Finegan, a fourth cousin of Joe Biden, has already had a family reunion with the then-vice president at Lily Finnegan's pub seven years ago.
He said that at that time, Mr Biden promised to come back and that he is "a man of his word".
Mr Finegan said he would be at the top of the queue if there were a chance to meet the President again.
Co Louth has already had a visit from an American president, when Bill Clinton came to Dundalk back in 2000.
It was a huge event, with thousands coming to town to hear an address.
CEO of Louth County Council Joan Martin said that that trip was only to Dundalk, but "this time, there may be more than one centre involved".
Remembering the 2000 visit, Joan said that a lot of people in Louth will now be hoping they will get a similar chance to actually see the president and hear him as well.
As official details of the trip are awaited, the first American flags were flying over Carlingford today.
But as the first and only recipient of the Freedom of Louth, Joe Biden will be welcome, wherever he goes during next week’s visit.
