Main pic: John and TikTok sensation, Kareem Raham. Image: John McDonagh.
A celebrity New York cabbie who was ‘half reared’ in Pettigo has managed to showcase Donegal Tweed to millions of viewers on social media platform, TikTok.
John McDonagh (69) is a famous Yellow Cab driver who has appeared on TV with none other than Stephen Fry and Top Gear’s Richard Hammond, to name but a few. A native of the borough of Queens, his first days of learning were spent at the tiny Lettercran National School near Pettigo.
The remote Lettercran is a townland on the Donegal side of the border, near the Tyrone parish of Aghyaran. His mother Cathy (née Monaghan) was from the even more remote Cashelinney and his father was Joseph McDonagh from Aghyaran.
John also performed a one-man show, Off The Meter, at New York’s The Irish Repertory Theatre detailing his life as a cabbie which was made into an off-Broadway play and enjoyed sold-out shows in Ballyshannon, Dublin and Cork last October.
However, he has recently reached a new global audience after appearing on ‘Keep The Meter Running’, a TikTok channel boasting half a million followers and headed up by comedian Kareem Raham who interviews New York’s taxi drivers. One of the episodes featuring John has already been viewed almost two million times.
Seth, John and Kareem at the famous Katz’s Delicatessen. Image: John McDonagh.
“It all started when long-time WBAI (radio station) listener, Uncle Gino from the Bronx, heard my show and called his nephew in Brooklyn, who happens to be a cameraman for Kareem,” John told Donegal Daily this week.
“He suggested that he interview me for their TikTok show where they interview cab drivers. As the TikTok world is somewhat foreign to me, I was stunned to find out that his account has a half million followers and he gets up to eight million views for his videos.”
The premise is that Kareem, a social media sensation who has been likened to Anthony Bourdain by Vanity Fair Magazine, hops in a cab and asks the driver to take him to their favourite place. John’s spot of choice was Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side, made famous by a stand-out scene in the 1989 hit, When Harry Met Sally.
During the six-part series, John explains how his parents arrived in New York from Donegal in 1949 and settled in Jackson Heights.
“We had a great time filming the six-part segment,” John continued.
“The series has already been viewed over two million times. Taking a page from Sarah Jessica Parker’s book of promoting Donegal clothing in the West Village, I was in the East Village sporting my sweater by Edel MacBride and the cap from Magee’s in Donegal town. Not just brand loyalty – during winter in NY, I rarely go out without them,” he concluded.
Watch one of the ‘Keep The Meter Running’ episodes featuring John below: