Memorable reunion for extended Sheridan clan

Firefighter and family make emotional visit from New York

The Sheridan family from Maio, Moynalty, recently came together in a heartwarming and memorable reunion in a celebration that will be fondly remembered for years to come. Building on the success of the millennium gathering held in August 2000, this year’s event welcomed an even broader representation of the Sheridan clan as it included members of the extended Monaghan family from Newcastle and the Tully family from Bailieboro in Co Cavan.

The day began with a special Mass at the Church of the Assumption, Newcastle, celebrated by Father Joseph McEvoy, parish priest of Moynalty, bringing the family together in prayer and remembrance of generations past. Celebrations continued at the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells, where Moynalty musician Ted Nevin provided entertainment throughout the evening.

One of the highlights of the day was the presence of Danny Sheridan and members of his family who made the journey all the way from America to reconnect with their ancestral roots in Ireland. With the help of local genealogist Catherine McCormack, Danny traced his lineage back to the Sheridan’s of Maio, Moynalty. His great great grandfather, James Sheridan, had emigrated to the United States in 1865, where he met and then married Catherine Murphy from New Ross, County Wexford, who had also emigrated to America around the same time.

Danny’s visit was made even more special with a heartfelt homecoming to the ancestral homestead in Maio, kindly hosted by Philip and Julie Gargan. This experience proved deeply emotional for him and it marked a significant personal milestone as he stood on the very ground his forebears once called home.

Danny returned to Ireland in September as he led his colleagues from the Fire Department in New York in a four-day cycle from Newcastlewest in Limerick to Kinsale in Cork, in memory of colleagues who died in the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on 11th September 2001.

Danny was accompanied by 23 American firefighters and they were also joined by 60 Irish firemen in the cycle from Newcastlewest to Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale. The cyclists were then welcomed by US Ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh at a special ceremony in Kinsale to mark the occasion. The Garden of Remembrance was established by Cork woman Kathleen Murphy, who had been working as a nurse in Manhattan for four decades when the terrorist attack occurred and who treated victims on that fateful day.

Danny wasn’t on duty the day of the attack, but arrived on the site the following day to help with the rescue mission, which then became a recovery mission, and was working on that sad process until the following March. He lost 343 colleagues in that tragedy and a total of 370 altogether, with 9/11 related illnesses.

Since 9/11, the Fire Department of New York has held an annual cycle to raise funds for families of those who died in the terrorist attack that day, and this year was the second time the cycle was been held outside the United States, 33 years on from a conversation Danny had with his late colleague Pete McLoughlin. Both men had Irish roots and talked of one day cycling across the country and visiting the homeland of their ancestors. However, Pete died while fighting a fire in Queens, New York in October 1995.

The American firefighters were in Ireland raising funds for Friends of Firefighters in NYC, which provides independent, confidential, and free mental health counselling and wellness services to active and retired FDNY firefighters and their families.

The Irish crew were raising money for Aoibheann’s Pink Tie, the Dunboyne based organisation which helps children and their families during their battle with cancer, providing the necessary support to allow the family to focus on their well-being, their support of each other, and the treatment and support of their child.