I went to Ireland's bizarre Barack Obama-themed service station, complete with a museum and statues that make it as otherworldly as it sounds
Driving along Ireland's M7 highway, which connects the cities of Cork and Dublin, there's a strange place: a service station dedicated to former US President Barack Obama.
The Barack Obama Plaza, as it's called, is a gas station with multiple food outlets, a shop, and, bizarrely, a museum dedicated to Obama and the US-Ireland connection.
It's a heavily branded wonder that equal parts loved by Irish people as both a pleasant and useful place to stop, and a source of national embarrassment that this place really exists.
Obama Plaza was built and named after President Barack Obama visited the nearby town of Moneygall in 2011 during his trip to Ireland. A genealogist had learned that Obama's great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, was from the town and had emigrated to the US in the 1800s.
Obama then visited a pub in the town, where he and his wife Michelle famously had pints of Guinness and he said: "I feel even more at home after that pint that I had."
This is the outside of the pub today — with Obama's face now displayed proudly on its sign.
You start to see signs for the Barack Obama Plaza as you drive along the highway.
As well as signs for Moneygall, which present it as a tourist site and describe it as "President Obama's Ancestral Village" rather than an actual place that people live.
Drive a bit further and you see it: Obama's name lit up, the gas station, the restaurants.
Walk in, and one of the first things you see is a life-size cutout of Barack and Michelle. I steeled myself to take a photo for this article, and then had to burst out laughing when an employee adjusting Christmas decorations made an (inaccurate) joke about me being American. I didn't correct him, because it was much less embarrassing than saying I was actually an Irish journalist.
You're also hit by screens for the upstairs "Visitor Centre"...
... as well as the meeting room you can book. This seems like a very sensible addition, as it means people can hold meetings at roughly a middle point between many of Ireland's major cities.
But first, I wanted to explore the downstairs more. There's a host of restaurants, including Irish burger chain Supermac's and a Papa John's pizza (and, when I was there, some Christmas decorations).
I've spoken enthusiastically of Supermac's, the small Irish chain that won a major naming rights victory over the significantly larger McDonald's, before.
But just when the place starts to feel normal, the Obama branding rears its head again in places like the carpet.
I ordered a tea and it came in normal cup, but then they stuck an Obama sticker on top.
The branding makes its way to the most bizarre places. I'm sure the former president is honored to have his name on this trash can.
There's something very bizarre about seeing Obama's name plastered on regular old service station signs. They were also advertising an upcoming "Christmas Wonderland" when I was there. Sadly I had to return to Business Insider's UK office before it kicked off.
It was nice to see that the plaza even sponsors a local sports team.
The strangest thing about the place is that it is used by regular people who want to grab a quick coffee or bite to eat during their commute. Very few people, and certainly almost no locals, would actually come here because of any connection to Obama.
The dining area is largely devoid of any reference to US presidents.
It's actually easy to go to the shop and view it as a regular store filled with regular Irish products ...
... until you take a closer look at some of what's on sale.
There's also a whole host of Obama Plaza merch for sale in the cafe — as well as a mug that was the only reference to current president, Donald Trump, that I noticed.
The place itself is certainly aware of its political connections — as well as how Obama is vastly more popular in Ireland than Trump. Just before the 2016 election result, it jokingly asked its Facebook followers what it should do about changing its name.
But it wouldn't make sense to rename the place unless it was after another president with a connection to Ireland. That is, after all, the point of its (free) museum upstairs.
Before you go up, you can play with a claw machine, or get yourself a souvenir coin featuring Obama's, or John F. Kennedy's, face.
The museum is an odd place. It's home to *another* bronze statue of Obama...
... and a Hollywood-esque star for him on the floor.
The museum has some items that clearly came from government officials ...
... and other stuff that might be out of circulation now, but are just preserved, everyday objects.
It also has dedicated areas for former US presidents who had Irish ancestors, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Kennedy.
It turns out that the list of US Presidents with Irish ancestry is really long, and spans from seventh president Andrew Jackson all the way to Obama himself. It even includes the likes of George Bush (who the display says related to "two of the most notorious villains in Irish history.")
But it's not just the US — the museum highlights the Irish people who went all over the globe and their now-famous ancestors, from revolutionary Che Guevara to Henry Ford.
Ireland has a unique global position as waves of emigration, including during the famine in the 1800s, mean that the Irish diaspora is now made up of around 80 million people, while the country's population is under five million.
The museum is filled with quotes from Obama's visit to the country, including the speech he gave in Dublin ...
... and some similar platitudes from Kennedy.
And there's history on the Irish famine, which is what drove so many Irish people to America.
It also features artworks of other US presidents like Kennedy ...
... more artworks of Obama..
... and artifacts that symbolize the US-Ireland relationship. This is a replica of the bowl that Ireland's then-prime minister gave to Obama with shamrocks in it for St. Patrick's Day 2013 as part of a longstanding tradition. The museum didn't say where the original was.
And just in case you forget where you are, you can look out the window to see the road again.
There's also Obama memorabilia, donated by Americans. Here's a pin badge from Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
And the stairs shows a large image of a Moneygall woman preparing for Obama's visit with a comically big American flag, which I couldn't decide if I found embarrassing or endearing.
There's an Obama-era White House Christmas card ...
... and a guest book, which mostly seemed to be signed by pretty much exclusively Americans.
The Barack Obama Plaza is a place where photos of Obama, of the gas station, and general tourist information exist in a strange harmony.
Overall, despite my reservations, it's a pit stop I have to recommend.
Whether you want food, a break from driving, some free education about Ireland and America, or just want to be entertained, the Barack Obama Plaza is worth taking a break on your journey.
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