Glencoe Massacre remembered at annual wreath laying ceremony

Alan, a 74 year old former banker from Christchurch, has always been regaled with stories from his grandfather of their family links to the MacDonalds of Glencoe but as a youngster showed little interest.

However later in life and married with children he decided to delve further into the stories, enlisting the services of his retired father to explore their genealogy.

This threw up a number of potential links and when Alan undertook a DNA test it revealed a match leading to Clan Chief MacIan of Glencoe.

The late husband of Ros MacDonald, Iain, founder of the Glencoe Heritage Trust also possessed a similar genetic make up and she was delighted when Alan contacted her with the information.

The Trust had been involved in supplying information in tracing his family tree and for them this was an amazing result.

Ros said: "My son Alexander has been researching the MacDonald line for many years and has a tremendous amount of information which is available and accessed by MacDonalds across the globe.

"He came to see us and we had a great chat. We are delighted to welcome him to the family."

While Alan has visited Scotland and Glencoe before, even spending a year working in Glasgow in the late 90s, he had never managed to attend the actual ceremony on the anniversary.

He said: "I, New Zealand the Clan Donald Society do recognise the date of the massacre but mark it on the closest Sunday to the actual date when we also hold the AGM.

"I am delighted to discover that not only my ancestry but also that my Grandfather’s stories were true.

"It was so good to be here today and to know that even after all this time people still care and have genuine feelings for those who were killed."