New York, Mar 17 : US President Barack Obama is 3.1 percent Irish, it has emerged.

According to Ancestry. com, Obama's great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, sailed aboard the Marmion from Liverpool on March 20, 1850, with plans of settling in Ohio.

The roots of Kearney can be traced back to the villages of Moneygall and Shinrone in County Offaly, Ireland, reports The New York Daily News.

Also, Joe Biden's ancestors arrived in the U. S. within six months of Obama's Irish family; both were shoemakers by trade.

Meanwhile, Obama is meeting with Irish political leaders intent on maintaining peace despite dissidents'''' violence in Northern Ireland on St. Patrick''''s Day.

Obama plans to meet with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen in the Oval Office, and then with Northern Ireland''''s First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy, Martin McGuinness, in his national security adviser''''s office on Tuesday. (ANI)