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.....

The children of Tip O'Neill (Thomas, Susan and Rosemary) meet their father's second cousins from Rashenny, Clonmany - The Toland Family

​Tip O'Neill Family Reunion
The sun was shining for this momentous and historic occasion which had been planned since last year and a large contingent of the Toland Family had gathered to welcome their US cousins.

My associate Agnes O'Donnell and I had the greatest pleasure today of taking the O'Neill family to their ancestral home farm in Rashenny, Clonmany, Co Donegal. It had been almost 150 years since TIP O'NEILL's grandfather, JAMES TOLAND left the family farm in the 1860s to emigrate to Woburn, Massachusetts. And this was the first time that a member of his line had set foot back there since, and what a warm Irish welcome they received!

Catching up on 175 years of family news!

​After emigrating as a teenager to the US from the port of Derry in 1869, like many of his peers, JAMES TOLAND went to work in a tannery. He was part of a large number of Irish sons and daughters who were encouraged by the promise of plentiful work there.

​He married EUNICE FULLERTON (of Sleadrin, Buncrana) in Woburn, MA in 1872, and raised twelve children. Their second child, daughter Rosa (born Rose Anna in 1874), was Tip O'Neill's mother.

​The Toland Family of Rashenny are descended from James' brother JOHN TOLAND who remained in Clonmany Parish, and who married MARY HARTIN of Carndonagh in 1871. They raised eight children in Rashenny, just opposite Rashenny National School which recently celebrated 175 years. Their son PATRICK TOLAND married MADGE KEARNEY of Leenankeel, Urris. 

The older generation of Tolands (Colm, Michael, Gerard, Sisse and Katie) in attendance at the ancestral home gathering (the grandchildren of John Toland and Mary Hartin) met their O'Neill cousins today. Those Tolands are TIP O'NEILL's second cousins.

Tip's children who visited Rashenny (Tommy, Susan and Rosemary) are second cousins, once removed.

​To commemorate their visit to Rashenny and the Toland Ancestral home a very special gift was presented to Tommy O'Neill (Tip's eldest son) by Martin Toland, his third cousin.  Martin is a teacher in Clonmany National School and is a talented artist who created the painting.  This very special gift takes pride of place hanging in Tom's office.

Martin Toland presenting Tom O'Neill and his wife Shelly with his painting of the Toland Ancestral home in Rashenny, Clonmany

​Little did Agnes and I know when we were first asked by Donegal County Council to research the O'Neill-Fullerton links in Buncrana (Tip's Grandmother was Eunice Fullerton from Sleadrin, Buncrana)  that it would lead to us finding a whole new branch of the family living in Clonmany.

The O'Neill Family - Rosemary, Susan, Tom and his wife Shelly wanted me to extend their deepest gratitude to the entire Toland Family who welcomed them "home" and showed them such warm friendship and a real sense of family. They were blown away by the welcome they received and they hope this is the first of many visits to their ancestral home in Clonmany Parish.

This is why I love genealogy and making connections!