Visiting a dairy farm in western County Clare, Xi was treated to an Irish coffee - a tasty mix of black coffee topped with cream and containing a generous measure of Irish whiskey.

But not before he got a tour of the cow sheds from dairy farmer James Lynch.

The center of attention, however, was a newborn calf. Xi "was very much taken by the calf," Lynch told the Irish Independent newspaper.

The calf is already a celebrity in Clare, he said - and not for sale.

"Definitely not, we will never sell her. We are going to have to keep her with the herd," he said.

"We will have to call her Ms Xi from now on. We had Mr Xi and now we have Ms Xi with us.

"The least we can do is to name her after himself."