FORMER president Mary McAleese and her husband Martin have become grandparents for the first time.
Their eldest daughter Emma O'Connell gave birth in Dublin earlier this week to a baby boy.
The newborn has been named Charles Jeremiah after two of his great-grandfathers.
He is the first grandchild of Mary and Martin McAleese, both 62, who have three children including twin siblings Justin and SaraMai, aged in their late twenties. New mother Mrs O'Connell has been married for four years to barrister Micheal O'Connell -the son of legendary Kerry GAA footballer Mick O'Connell.
It is understood that Mrs O'Connell, who works as a dentist and is in her early thirties, gave birth to Charles Jeremiah in Dublin on Tuesday, October 1.
The baby boy's namesakes are his great-grandfathers Charles McAleese and Jeremiah O'Connell, who are both deceased. Charles McAleese was from Portglenone in Co Antrim, while Jeremiah O'Connell was Mick O'Connell's father and a former lifeboat coxswain at Valentia Island, Co Kerry.
Despite Mrs McAleese, originally from Belfast, holding Ireland's highest office for 14 years until 2011, her children have remained relatively out of the spotlight. Her eldest daughter met her future husband at a boat club in Islandbridge, near Phoenix Park in Dublin.
Mr O'Connell is from Valentia Island and is a barrister in Dublin'. he couple were together for more than five years before getting married in 2009.