The Archive Service of Donegal County Council has launched a search to find relations of the late Daniel Doherty, a Donegal man who was a prominent figure in Irish-American affairs.
Doherty left Malin Head for Boston in the early 1900s and made a name for himself in the Irish political scene there. He was an influential member of the Donegal Association of Boston.
Daniel Doherty with Eamon de Valera, Judge Daniel F. Cohalan and John Devoy. Stamped on back are words: ‘Published May 24 1964 Boston Herald’.
Part of DANIEL DOHERTY Collection in Donegal Co. Archives.
The County Archives have uncovered that Doherty served as an American soldier in France during the First World War. His activity in the War included being in battle for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one of the final campaigns of the war.
He was chairman of the County Donegal Association of Greater Boston in the nineteen sixties. He died in the 1970s.
“He had quite an amazing life,” said Niamh Brennan, Donegal County Archivist.
Boston newspaper article on Daniel Doherty. From the Donegal Co. Archives.
Ms Brennan hopes to develop a travelling exhibition next year based on the archive’s collection of Mr Doherty’s papers, which include letters from John F. and Robert F. Kennedy and Charles DeGaulle.
If you have any information that can help with this project, please email archivist@donegalcoco.ie
The archives give voice to the rich history of Donegal and its people, through the records and writings of organisations and individuals. As archivist, Niamh not only catalogues, researches and maintains the collections, but finds creative ways to bring them to the public.
“Over the last 20-odd years we’ve acquired more and more, which means we’ve a really good collection for Donegal,” Niamh said.
Archives are documents, such as minutes of county meetings, letters, maps, drawings, blueprints, manuscripts, literature, and other records. They tell us what generations of Donegal people said and did – even, at times, what they thought.
Archives in Donegal had been maintained by Donegal Library Services before Niamh became the County Archivist in 1999. Today the Lifford-based archives, part of the council’s Culture Division, are home to more than 10,000 catalogued pieces that span centuries, with the oldest dating back to 1682.
“We try to get out the message that before you destroy anything to come to the archives first to see if it’s worth preserving,” she said. If a document is worth preserving, Niamh will find room.
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