Brendan Vaughan: The Donegal man known as Tiny with the big heart

Brendan Vaughan was born in Carrigart in 1961.

He grew up in a large, caring and close-knit family of eight boys and three girls. His father, a fluent Irish speaker, was also raised in Carrigart and later married Mary Carr from Creeslough.

To this day, Brendan holds vivid and affectionate memories of both parents and the physical and mental strength that carried him through Gaelic football and a lifetime of working away from home.

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While home life was defined by warmth, affection and stability, that sense of security was brutally shattered in 1965 when he started school.

There, like many other pupils of the era, he was subjected to ferocious abuse. He still recalls a neighbour, a young innocent girl, so overwhelmed with fear that she wet herself in class.

He remembers limping home, his concerned mother anxiously asking about his injuries, and his innocent explanation that he had simply taken a bit of a beating at school. When she examined him more closely, she was horrified by what she discovered. She brought him to a local priest, whom Brendan would later describe bluntly as a “do nothing” priest.

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In Brendan’s view, his mother’s intervention ended the very worst of the abuse, but he maintains that the teacher then escalated the punishment to another form of almost torturous levels.

Like many Donegal men of that generation, the abuse left a permanent mark. The difference was how Brendan responded. He never turned to alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. Instead, he channelled himself relentlessly into sport, hard work and later charity. Many of his classmates were not so fortunate. Some fell into addiction, and many died far too young.

In 2010, Brendan’s mother died. He returned from London and once again came face to face with his 1960s primary school teacher at his mother’s wake. The thought of punching him two feet off the ground passed through his mind, but it was not the right time or place; the moment passed, but the memory remains.

Frozen by Fear Whilst Heading for Milford Tech
Aged just 14 in 1975, Tiny enrolled at Milford Technical School. Paralysed by anticipatory fear, he vomited every day on Joe McHugh’s bus, convinced, like the Tunnel Tigers of the 1950s, that the abuse would simply continue at secondary level.

Instead, Milford Tech marked the beginning of his return to normality. There, he encountered what he still regards as absolute top class teaching gentlemen, Eugene McGinley, Dinny Gorman, Jim McCallum, Mickey Doherty, Denis Boyce and Liam McDevitt.

He encountered one bullying student and put him firmly in his place, ending what could easily have become another damaging chapter. During his secondary school years from 1975 to 1980, he played both school and club Gaelic football with Glenree and Downings. At that stage of life, he felt an absolute need to overcome what had happened at primary school. He excelled in Gaelic football and also took up boxing, achieving high standards in both. While playing football, he often lined up against household names, including Martin McHugh and Packie Bonner, among many others.

He also took temporary work in the Carrigart Hotel and in Paddy Bradley’s fish and chips shop. At the time, the Carrigart Hotel was the first hotel in Ireland to provide swimming facilities, and it was there that Brendan learned to swim. He also helped around the Termon Ballroom, and the money he earned helped his mother manage the household.

In 1980, he took a full-time position with Jim McGaughey, a painting and decorating contractor, and where he remained until May 1982 before heading to London, following the love of his life, Maureen, who was born there of Donegal parents, and whom he later married back in his native Carrigart.

Forty-Four Years in Exile, 1982 to 2026
“Tiny” by name, not by nature. Seamus Carr from Carrick can be congratulated for calling Brendan “Tiny”, a name that has stuck since his first working days in London.

Tiny was fortunate that his aunt Grainne lived in London and offered him secure accommodation. Joe Kelly of Letterkenny County Cleaners also put him in touch with Tir Conaill Gaels. London quickly became a home from home. Like generations of Donegal emigrants before him, he joined the construction industry and worked as a shuttering carpenter, a trade he still practises today.

Over the years, he worked on major projects including the new Wembley Stadium, Battersea Power Station, Chelsea Barracks, Stratford Shopping Centre and the refurbishment of London Bridge. In 1987, he headed to America, landing in Boston.

There, he worked at Harvard University, erecting stud partitions, while again maintaining close ties with the GAA. With no Donegal team in Boston, he played for Galway and at one point lined out against Dublin’s 1992 All-Ireland player, Keith Barr. Between 1991 and 1992, Brnedan ventured to Paris to work on Euro Disney. Even there, he largely lived and worked among Donegal men, including Donegal’s 1992 All-Ireland winner John Joe Doherty.

From Trauma to Charity, A Relentless Commitment to Giving Back
Most likely shaped by earlier childhood trauma, Tiny developed a deep, almost instinctive empathy. He became acutely aware of suffering, Irish people sleeping rough in London and families struggling back home in Donegal. With a keen eye for photography, he founded the Donegal Hospice Calendar in 2011 in memory of his late mother who had in fact given him his first camera at a young age.

To date the calendar has raised approximately €240,000 thanks to the sponsorship and support of the London / Donegal business community.

Following the Inishowen flood disaster in 2017, he organised a Ford Focus raffle that raised €31,500, acknowledging the vital support of Tim Kelly of Frosses (Kelly Group London) for sponsoring the car.

Other fundraisers followed for two young cancer sufferers, Rocco McGinley (Rocco’s Road to Recovery) and Ellie McHugh (Ellie’s Wish to Walk), raising over €40,000 each towards their treatment.

In 2022, after the tragedy in Creeslough, Tiny arranged for a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor to be sponsored and raffled in aid to the Voluntary Services (Critical Emergency Medical Response, K9 Search and Rescue, Garda, Mevagh Fire Service and Air Ambulance NI) that had assisted in the aftermath of the explosion, again raising almost €50,000 and more recently his collaboration with Highland Radio’s Lee Gooch along with Dennis Ferry and Leslie O’Donnell in the Driving for Zach and Cassie fundraiser.

His largest and most successful initiative remains London’s annual Irish Vintage Day, established in 2011 and now having raised over £1.0 million for various charities both in the UK and Ireland.

Funded through entrance fees, programme sponsorship and donations, the event is a highlight in the Irish calendar in London and is fully supported by the London Irish community. In 2018, Tiny and his wife, Maureen, received the honour of London Donegal Persons of the Year from the Donegal Association in London.

From Survival to Service, A Life Defined by Giving Back
Brendan “Tiny” Vaughan’s life is one of endurance, refusal and purpose. Shaped by early cruelty yet grounded in family, sport and work, he chose discipline over destruction and service over bitterness.

From Carrigart to London, Boston and Paris, he carried Donegal with him, on building sites, on GAA pitches and among emigrant communities. What defines him is not what was done to him, but what he did in response, turning hardship into action, exile into belonging and success into generosity.

Tiny has told his story in memory of his late parents. He is deeply grateful to his many friends throughout Donegal and wishes to acknowledge the support of Highland Radio, the Tir Chonaill Tribune and the Donegal Democrat in highlighting and backing his charity work over the years.

Above all, he extends his deepest thanks to the Donegal and wider Irish community in London, whose loyalty and generosity stood with him at every step and made so much of what he achieved possible.

London has been good to Tiny but no matter how long you are away … Donegal is always home!
Eamonn Coyle is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Environmentalist