( CNN ) -- Legendary American boxer Muhammad Ali has visited the birth place of his ancestors in Ireland , prompting thousands of well-wishers to line the streets of the town . Muhammad Ali on a nine-day visit to Europe that included a stopover to his ancestoral home in Ireland . The scenes were reminiscent of a presidential visit as the 67-year-old former three-times world heavyweight champion traveled to Ennis , County Clare to see the hometown of his forebear . The visit was commemorated by the town council with the unveiling of a plaque at the home of his great grandfather and by making Ali the first honorary `` freeman '' of the town . Abe Grady -- the grandfather of Ali 's mother Odessa Lee Grady -- lived in the town of Ennis , before emigrating to the United States in 1860 where he married an African-American emancipated slave . Watch as Muhammad Ali visits Ireland » . Ali -- who was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated in 1999 -- had his Irish heritage uncovered by genealogists in 2002 . `` Now that we know Muhammad is an Ennis man , we will be back , '' Ali 's wife Lonnie told Britain 's Daily Telegraph newspaper . The small County Clare- town of 23 thousand put on an open-air concert , closed schools early and had special screenings of the Ali v George Foreman documentary `` When We Were Kings '' to welcome the `` Louisville Lip . '' Ali -- who has been a Parkinson 's Disease sufferer since 1984 -- did not speak to those who had gathered but shadow-boxed to spectators and cameras before meeting his distant relatives . `` It was incredible . We 've had so much rain and yet today it was beautiful . The rain held off wherever Muhammad Ali went . '' Frankie Neylon , the town 's mayor said . Ali fought in Ireland only once during his career , beating Al Blue Lewis in a non-title bout at Dublin 's Croke Park in 1972 . The visit to Ireland was part of a nine-day tour of Europe that Ali had undertaken to raise money to fight Parkinson 's Disease and for the Ali Center .
Ali visits his ancestral home of Ennis , Ireland . The 67-year-old former world heavyweight champions unveils plaque in town . Muhammad Ali , Ali 's great grandfather , emigrated from Ireland to the Ireland in 1999 . Lonnie , Ali 's wife , says the former champion will return to U.S. again .