DUBLIN (AP) — No trip to Newry was complete for the late Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Daniel M. Rooney until he stopped by the Whitegates community center that he helped get off the ground in the 1990s.

“Always visited for half an hour for a cup of tea with the people,” recalled local businessman Feargal McCormack. “He loved a cup of tea.”

The kettle will be warm when the Rooneys visit Newry on Thursday before crossing the border — Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. — into the Republic of Ireland for the Steelers’ game against the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park in Dublin.

Indeed, Sunday’s showdown — Ireland’s first time hosting a regular-season NFL game — represents a Rooney homecoming, technically in two countries.

The family traces its roots to Newry, a small town located

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