Main pic: Jonathan Gallagher (left) and Tom Gallacher outside the family homestead near Ardara.
A man of Scottish/Irish descent has spoken of his delight after he finally got to connect with his long lost Donegal relatives this week.
Back in March Tom Gallacher, from Hillsboro, Oregon, contacted Donegal Daily seeking help in tracing his family tree to a couple, Patrick Gallagher and Catherine O’Donnell Gallagher of Ranny, Ardara. Their son, Charles Gallagher, born in 1865, was Tom’s great-grandfather.
Tom was planning to visit Ardara this summer with the dream of meeting any living relatives he may have in the area.
He said all his dreams came true on Thursday when he met his cousin, Jonathan Gallagher, for the first time and got to visit his ancestral home along with his wife, Claire (below).
Tom and Claire Gallacher.
“I had two experiences of a lifetime today,” said a delighted Tom.
“I met my cousin Jonathan, a very nice man, and I got to see the Gallagher family farm which has been passed down for generations. I walked the same ground my grandad walked on when he was seven.”
He added that he was now expecting Jonathan, the local chimney sweep, to visit him and his family at their home in Oregon.
Tom Gallacher (left) and Jonathan in Ardara this week.
When Tom initially contacted us, all he knew was that the Gallagher farm was ‘near Ardara.’
His Grandfather was Patrick James Gallacher, who was born in 1896 in Greenock, Scotland to Charles Gallagher and Ellen Helen Daily Gallagher. Charles Gallagher was born to Patrick Gallagher and Catherine O’Donnell Gallagher in 1865 in Ardara.
“The story goes that Catherine’s dowry was half of a farm in Ardara and that she and Patrick bought the other half,” he told us back in March.
“I am told that it was passed from first son to first son and is still in family hands.”
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