A man who found a camera near Banba’s Crown on Malin Head in County Donegal over 10 years ago is still looking for its owner.
The man, Phil McEleney, developed the photographs and has kept them and the camera for the last decade. So far, his search has been in vain, but McEleney still hopes to return both the camera and the photographs to their rightful owner. Now, he is making yet another attempt to identify the people in the photographs.
McEleney, originally from Donegal, and his wife Mags were vacationing in Clonmany from Hertfordshire, England.
“It was 2006, long time ago, and we were on holiday in Malin Head, about 30 miles away from Clomany where I was born, either the last week in August or first week in September," he said.
“We found the camera on a bench near the top of Malin Head and asked around but nobody knew anyone who had lost it so we brought it back to England with us."
Once they were back home, they tried to locate the owners via the internet but had "no luck."
McEleney then developed the film and sent the photographs to his sister, Maureen Friel at Dunaff Post Office.
“I had the photos developed to see if I recognized anyone and I didn’t, so I sent them back to my sister Maureen in Clomany and she showed them around and nobody knew anyone," said McEleney.
“She sent them back to me and since then I’ve been putting them on Facebook every now and again to see if I can find the owners.”
McEleney, now 70, said he joined Facebook and uploaded the photographs “two or three times.” After acquiring more Facebook friends, he decided to “try again this year.” After uploading the photos, he cropped them to make the faces bigger, hoping that this time someone will be able to identify the people in them.
He said he could not bear to throw away the photographs knowing they belong to someone. He said that even if it doesn’t work this time, he will keep trying to find the owner because he’s “very stubborn.”
“Some of the people might not be alive anymore,” McEleney said, “but the photos would mean something to the other people to get the pictures and camera back.”
If you recognize the people in these photographs, please call the ‘Derry Journal’ on +44 28 7127 2200 or email [email protected].
Read more: What happened to the Irish girl in this 1927 National Geographic photo?
Comments