SHEER coincidence has reconnected a Scottish woman with the Termon family of the fiancée she lost in a tragic accident almost 60 years ago.
Edward Gallagher’s story was not uncommon in the late 1950s – a Donegal man who travelled across the Irish Sea in search of work. He found employment as a tunneller on the Cruachan power station in the Scottish Highlands and it was there that he met Barbara McCabe. The couple got engaged on December 21, 1961 with a wedding date earmarked for September the following year. It was not to be however as Edward was killed in an industrial accident just before Easter 1962, one of many ‘Tunnel Tigers’ who lost their lives in such circumstances.
In the years immediately following Edward’s death Barbara kept in touch with the Gallagher family, but gradually their letters and visits petered out until they lost contact altogether.
That was until recently when well-known Donegal singer Eddie Gallagher, Edward’s nephew, travelled to Scotland to promote his new album. By pure chance he bumped into a face from his very distant past.
Revealing how the unexpected encounter came about Eddie said, “The company that I work with, Irish Music, said I should go to the Black Isle near Inverness to promote my new album Perfect Days. There is a massive show there each year so I decided to fly over for it.
“I set up my stall and all day people were coming and going. At one stage I noticed this lady standing with her handbag and listening to my CD. I asked her if she was okay and she said she was fine and that she was just listening to the music. Then she asked me who it was singing and I told her it was me.
“I didn’t recognise her and I had no idea who she was at all. But she looked at my CD and asked ‘You’re Eddie Gallagher, from Donegal?’. I told her I was and she said she used to know people from Donegal. I asked her where from and she said I probably wouldn’t know it, a wee place called Termon. I asked her who she knew in Termon and she said a family called Gallagher and she explained how she had been engaged to a man from Termon many years ago.
Edward Gallagher and Barbara McCabe back in the early 1960s. Edward was one of the ‘Tunnel Tigers’ and was tragically killed while working in the Scottish Highlands.
“I started to realise at that point who she was and I said to her ‘You were going to marry my uncle Eddie’.”
With thousands of people in attendance at the Black Isle Show, the chances of the two paths crossing were minute. Fittingly, the song that sparked the conversation between them was Grace, itself a story of love, tragedy and loss. The pair spent several hours talking and Eddie explained how he had vague memories of Barbara coming to visit Termon after his uncle’s death.
The meeting has rekindled old friendships and Barbara, now aged 81 and living in Inverness, is firmly back in touch with Eddie’s mum and his aunts. So much so that a reunion is on the cards for later this year. Last month a special tartan commemorating the sacrifice of the Tunnel Tigers was revealed by the Drax Group which owns the Cruachan power plant. The design features 15 strands of a special dark blue thread to represent each of those who died during the station’s construction. A plaque listing Edward’s name has also been unveiled at the site.
The Gallagher family is planning a trip to the power station and say they would love to reunite with the woman who almost married Termon’s Tunnel Tiger.
“We are all planning to go to Scotland on April 30 and hopefully everyone will get to meet Barbara at that stage. It is unbelievable how it has all unfolded and it’s lovely that we are back in touch,” added Eddie.
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