After six consecutive months of surgeries, touch ups and check ups in New York, Donegal teenager Alan Doherty is finally back on Irish shores again.

Doherty, 18, had been looking forward to the day he was able to return to his hometown of Letterkenny, Co. Donegal to show his family and friends his new face.

Doherty, a spirited teenager who was born without the lower part of his face, always dreamed of someday looking normal.

Determined and confident, Doherty asked Bill Broderick, executive director of the Physically Challenged Irish and American Youth Team (PCIAYT), a charity that helps physically challenged children early last year if he could get him a new face while he was in New York participating in the PCIAYT's annual sports games.

Promising to help the teenager, Broderick set up a meeting between world-renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Elliott Rose of Mount Sinai Hospital and Doherty's family. The result? Doherty now has a face he is proud of.

Speaking to the Irish Voice through email on Monday, Doherty said, "I am finally glad to have the look that I always wanted."

Doherty arrived back in Ireland last weekend with his mother Bernie, who stayed with her son in Yonkers for the past six months, and a year on and off before that.

While it was frustrating to be away from home for so long, the Dohertys made the most of it and quickly made friends in the local Irish American community. Doherty was such a hit that his Celtic football friends got together and raised $40,000 at their annual dinner dance in early December to help offset the cost of the expensive procedures.

The rest of the operations to create his new face and give him new teeth were paid for by the Friends of Alan Doherty Fund, an organization set up at home in Donegal to raise money for the teenager. The PCIAYT also contributed significantly to the cost.

Bernie said she is delighted that everything worked out well for her son.

"We didn't know what to expect when we were told that operations could be done in America. It seemed so far away but we are so glad that we have gone with the doctors and we have no regrets," she said.

Mount Sinai dental surgeon Dr. Alex Greenburg, who has worked on Doherty for some time, said the teenager has been an inspiration.

"Alan is a very brave young fellow and for him to have gone through all the trials and tribulations and uncertainties in a different country and a different culture away from family and friends and to undergo this series of operations is really quite extraordinary," he said.

"I am pleased and privileged to have been able to do this work on his behalf, and it could pave the way for others."

Doherty is looking forward to spending time at home with his relatives this Christmas. Last year he was forced to spend the holiday in New York due to operational timing, but nothing is keeping him away from an authentic Irish Christmas in 2008.

"I'm really looking forward to being at home this Christmas and although I'm not sure if I have to return to New York next year for checkups, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it," he said.