TO describe Myles Gallagher’s life as interesting would be to sell it short and by some margin.
From being a teenage taxi driver in Donegal to joining the New Zealand airforce to providing waiter service to Neil Armstrong, it would be fair to say the Gortahork man has been around a few corners in his time.
Thanks to Letterkenny film maker Andrew Clarke, the 87-year-old’s many colourful experiences have now been captured in a video autobiography.
‘Myles Joseph Gallagher – A Life Less Trodden’ is a 95 minute film that starts and ends in Donegal but with an around-the-world adventure worthy of Jules Verne sandwiched in between.
Andrew is a great-nephew of Myles, a man who in complete contrast to his past life now lives as a Hermit Monk at his home place in rural west Donegal.
Based in Dublin, film maker Andrew started out in marketing before establishing his own videography business.
On how A Life Less Trodden came about, he explained, “Myles is the last surviving of a generation and his memory is still impeccable. His attention to detail is astounding, it really is. So the family just felt that we should create a record of his life because his story is quite unique. It was about posterity and retaining his story for future generations.”
Myles (left) whilst working at a luxury hotel in Milford Sound, New Zealand.
It would be impossible to include every episode of Myles Gallagher’s life in a newspaper article. In fact even a book would be a Tolstoy-esque tome. A brief synopsis though would begin with him leaving school at a young age before taking a job at the age of 16 as a taxi driver in Gortahork.
Even as a teenager though he had itchy feet and it was that burning desire to explore the world that convinced him to leave Donegal. When he did it was not for London where many of his peers were headed but for much more distant shores like Australia and New Zealand.
It was while in New Zealand that he joined the airforce and got married. Always though he had to keep moving and before long he found himself in Sydney working as a room service waiter in one of the city’s top hotels. Among those who pressed a tip into his hand were James Bond actor Roger Moore and the aforementioned Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.
Myles spent his 21st birthday on a ship sailing through the Panama Canal. A later voyage across the world would take him through the Suez Canal and via the cape of South Africa.
In 1964 he answered Mass in Latin in Jerusalem on the Hill of Calvary at the request of a Japanese bishop.
From being a bus conductor in Bristol to grafting on a building site in Glasgow to serving drinks at a luxury ski resort on top of New Zealand’s Mount Cook, Myles Gallagher’s life has been a breathless global express ride that only slowed when his mental health began to ail. He makes no secret of the long battle he has had with depression and anxiety and actually credits it with leading him along the path he continues to tread today.
From Bournville in Birmingham where he worked in the Cadbury’s factory to learning traditional singing while visiting Fiji and Tonga, Myles is now a Hermit Monk who dedicates his entire life to prayer, meditation, contemplation and donating whatever he can to charity.
He resides at the Holy Cross Hermitage in Gortahork where he ignores any of the trappings of modern society.
A dapper looking Myles in days gone by.
“Myles’s life story is one of adventure, travel, optimism, love, loss and mental health struggles,” said Andrew.
“It is a unique story with great contrasts from seeking excitement to seeking silence and solitude and from suffering deep depression to overcoming it and finding hope through deep faith.”
Myles Gallagher has given over much of his life and money to supporting the World Missions, the official Irish charity for overseas mission work of Pope Francis.
In a gentle touch at the end of A Life Less Trodden, which is available today on Youtube, Andrew asks, “If you are inspired by Myles’s story of adventure, travel, love and loss, overcoming a battle with mental health and above all a dedication to his faith in God, please consider making a donation to the World Missions that has been so dear to him through his life.”
You can do so by logging on to www.wmi.ie.
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