The Donegal man who rubbed shoulders with de Valera, Roosevelt and Kennedy

Donegal County Council have brought the archive of Malin’s Daniel Doherty together by digitilising a collection of archives from his life.

Doherty emigrated from Ireland to the USA, arriving in Maine in 1909. He worked for the Old Boston Consolidated Gas Company and lived in Massachusetts for almost 70 years.

World War I broke out in 1914 and when the US joined the war in 1917, Doherty joined the US Army at Fort Bliss, Texas, and served as an American soldier in France. His activity in the war included being in battle for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one of the final campaigns.

For most of his life, Doherty lived in Massachusetts, including in Dorchester and Chelsea. He was a dedicated lobbyist on Irish matters and in particular committed to the reunification of Ireland. 

The archive of Daniel Doherty dating from about 1919 to 1977 has now been digitised by the Archives Service and is available online here

He became Chairman of the County Donegal Association of Greater Boston in the 1960s. He was also the Chair of the Central Council of Irish County Clubs, Boston; and chairman of the Committee for the Unification and Liberation of Ireland. Doherty married Nora McGonagle Doherty and they had one daughter. He lived in an Old Soldiers' Home and Veterans' Home for at least 10 years.

The collection consists mostly of letters and telegrams, newspaper clippings, photos, cards, political documents. The majority relate to matters of Irish interest or Irish/American activities. 

Doherty was a prolific lobbyist and campaigner for reunification of Ireland and sought the interest of the Democrats in the matter. He expressed annoyance and disappointment when Lyndon B Johnson became John F Kennedy’s Vice-President of choice, due to what Doherty felt was the latter’s lack of interest in Ireland. 

His disappointment is expressed in a telegram to Kennedy in 1960. Other letters in the collection include replies from politicians, including Robert Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, John W. McCormack, Majority Leader of the House of Representative and General Charles de Gaulle; there is also a letter from Franklin D Roosevelt to Daniel Doherty dated August 22 1932 during his campaign to be president. 

Included also is a photo of John Devoy and Eamon de Valera, on the latter’s campaigning tour of the USA in 1919 - the first year of the War of Independence in Ireland.