BY her own admission, Letterkenny woman Maddeleana Merrigan was sceptical when it came to a person possessing healing powers.
That changed when a good friend, crippled with inflammation in her knees, asked her to accompany her to see international acclaimed healer, Danny Gallagher.
Having witnessed at firsthand a transformation in her friend’s well-being, Maddeleana wanted to find out more about Danny Gallagher. Fast forward a few years and the Letterkenny freelance journalist and author has published a biography, ‘Danny Gallagher, Born to Heal’.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Maddeleana said she believes the book will be of great interest locally as thousands of people have visited Danny’s healing centres in Donegal.
“I wasn’t open to this kind of thing at all. I am not a superstitious person in the slightest. A friend of mine had a problem with her knees and she had heard of Danny Gallagher and his healing powers. She asked me to go along with her to see him in Kildare and I saw before my eyes how he started to heal her,” she said.
“There was an energy; something about him that was so rare. Afterwards we started chatting and I told him that I am a freelance journalist and he asked me if I would be interested in telling his story.”
Maddeleana jumped at the chance and over the next number of years she accompanied him as he carried out his healing powers.
“Danny is of Donegal origin and grew up in Maghera, County Derry. He is the seventh son of a seventh son and has dedicated his life to healing, not only in Ireland but worldwide. Thousands of articles have been published by people claiming they were cured of varying illness since the 1970s. Danny has appeared on radio and television over the years.”
Author Maddeleana Merrigan.
The book details his very unique and fascinating life. From his childhood visions of healing to his first cure, the book includes newspaper cuttings from around the world and also details a documentary made by The History Channel. A documentary filmed about him by an American crew will air in the spring of next year.
The introduction of the book reveals how miracle man Danny Gallagher came out of retirement to help a little baby called Maia. Featuring an article from the Sunday World newspaper, Maia’s family claimed the healer’s ‘magic’ hands helped the tot with four holes in her heart.
The introduction reads: “In June 2021, Danny was approached by a doctor at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital. His daughter Maia was born with four holes in her heart. The condition was further complicated by a large hole between the aortic chambers. Her breathing was compromised and her parents were aware that she could suffer heart failure at any moment. Maia’s only hope of survival involved open heart surgery with no guarantee that she would survive or have any quality of life.
“Danny, recovering from cancer at the time, felt compelled to come out of retirement and help baby Maia. Following three sessions of healing with Danny, to the amazement of her parents, a scan review showed the holes in the heart had all almost completely closed and the chamber had completely healed.”
The young girl’s mother, Emma told the Sunday World: “The only thing I can call it is a miracle. I have no idea how it happened , or why it happened, but it happened.”
Danny’s father sadly passed away when he was just nine years of age. Very ill as a young boy, a priest came to his bedside and told his mother not to worry, that the angels would come through the ceiling and take him away with them. As a young boy, Danny’s mother often told him that he would be a healer one day. At the age of eight, he began to have a recurring vision in a dream.
“It was a vision of a little girl very ill in bed, all covered in white. There was what appeared to be a clergyman at her bedside and a candle lighting on the table. I went over to her, lifted the bedclothes and laid my hands on her body. The man passed on a prayer to me. Words I have not repeated to a soul, and the young girl always recovered,” reveals Danny.
Danny left school at the age of 12. Two years later, he got his first full time job with a local builder by the name of Johnston. He later moved to London and worked in various jobs around the city, most notably Lyons ice cream manufacturing plant. He met his wife, Nora (née) Murphy. The couple married in St Joseph’s Church, Highgate, before returning to Danny’s hometown of Maghera. There, they ran an ice cream van. On the ice cream route, Danny regularly saw a small girl, unable to walk, carried by her mother to the van.
“One day I was on my rounds in the van and the little girl wasn’t there. I couldn’t understand it. I had long hair and thought maybe a hair had fallen into her ice cream and she wouldn’t return. But it wasn’t that at all, she was that close to the vehicle , I just couldn’t see her. After a while, I looked down and saw her looking up at me – our eyes met like two torches shining into each other and I felt compelled to heal this child. I told her parents that I was the seventh son of a seventh son and they couldn’t get me to the house quick enough.”
Applying the instruction given to him in the childhood visions, Danny performed his first ever healing. To his astonishment, the little girl began to steady herself and walk. News of the healing spread fast and locals began phoning, writing, calling to Danny’s home asking for help. The first of what was to become a myriad of newspaper articles was published titled, ‘Ice cream man with the healing hands.’
In the book Danny reveals he was reluctant to become a healer, but in the end it was something he could not turn his back on.
“I knew it would take over my life and change everything for me and my family. Shortly after, that little girl responded to my healing and began to walk. I knew I had a decision to make. I sat on a rock on a mountain outside my hometown to contemplate the future. Later that evening, I made the decision to dedicate my life to healing. It was something greater than myself. No matter what I did in life, something was telling me I was not following the right path. Only when I committed my life to healing, I knew I was doing the right thing.
The book is currently on sale in Bookmark in Letterkenny and will be on sale in bookshops across the county in the coming weeks. It is also available in Donegal libraries and can also be purchased on Buythebook.ie
A book signing will be held in Donegal in the coming weeks.
‘Danny Gallagher, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Born to Heal’ is the second book by Maddeleana Merrigan. Her first publication, ‘Serenity’ is a collection of short stories set in Donegal which received strong reviews and has sold very well.
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