Thomas "Tip" O'Neill's Inishowen Ancestry

I was commissioned by Donegal County Council to look into Tip O'Neill's Donegal ancestry as part of their celebration of his centennial year in 2012 and the introduction of the Tip O'Neill Irish Diaspora Awards.  It was the start of a very special relationship with his family which endures to this day.  I knew this would be a mammoth task and since it was a particularly important and prestigious project , I asked my friend Agnes O'Donnell to assist me.  Agnes is a very skilled and thorough genealogist and I knew that she would relish the challenge as much as I would.  It took many months of diligent work to put together his family tree and in doing so we established that he had not one Inishowen grandparent, but two!

Following the completion of this work, Agnes and I were invited by Tip O'Neill's family to join them in Boston for the US celebrations of his centennial year.  What followed was my first trip to the US and a most enjoyable week of events.

The Tip O'Neill Irish Diaspora Awards is an annual award presented by Donegal County Council to recognise members of the global Irish diaspora for their outstanding achievements and service, while also celebrating their connections to Ireland. Launched in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr., whose maternal ancestors were from Donegal, the awards foster a global connection to the county and the island. The awards honour diaspora members for contributing to Ireland and maintaining cultural ties. 

In 2015, Agnes and I arranged the O'Neill family visit to one of their Inishowen ancestral homes in Rashenny, Clonmany.  This is the story of that day.....

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