A heartwarming reunion between two sisters separated for a decade has captured the attention of millions on TikTok.
Meghan McGill (@_meghanmcgill_), 23, from Dublin, shared the emotional moment her grandmother, Teresa McGill (née Heerey), 96, embraced her younger sister, Lola Brady (née Heerey), 87, for the first time in over 10 years. The clip, posted to TikTok, has garnered 1.2 million views and 134,200 likes.
McGill told Newsweek: “Their reunion has meant a lot to us as a family because especially at the ages they are there’s no guarantee of anything. Seeing them greet each other the way they did was like watching a lifetime of girlhood and history and life come to such a special moment. It was surreal and sobering and made a lot of us realize just how precious life is.”
Teresa, born in 1929, worked for many years as a nurse, while Lola, born in 1938, emigrated to Long Island where she worked as a coding clerk.
@_meghanmcgill_/@_meghanmcgill_
They grew up with nine siblings on a farm near Oldcastle in County Cavan before several family members moved to America. In total, four of the siblings emigrated, and today Teresa, Lola, and their brother Sean, 83, who also lives in New York, are the only surviving members of their generation.
According to McGill, Lola’s daughter Sheila and her family had been saving for years to fund the trip, which they believed could be the sisters’ last chance to see each other. Health concerns and the cost of transatlantic flights had prevented them from reuniting sooner. Lola traveled to Dublin with her granddaughter, Jackie Cohen, 27, where they are staying with Teresa in Tallaght for a week.
The sisters have spent their time together enjoying tea, brandy, and their favorite soaps, while reminiscing about “old times, good times, and sad times,” as Lola put it. This weekend, they will travel from Tallaght to Cavan to visit their family cottage in Virginia and attend the Blessing of the Graves Mass in Castlerahan, where many of their relatives are buried, including Teresa’s husband and child. They also plan to drive by their old family farm, now rented out since the last Heerey sibling in Ireland passed away.
Despite their age gap, McGill said Teresa and Lola’s bond has always been strong. They often share childhood stories of mischief, their transitions from farm life to the working world, and their early years in Dublin and New York.
Coming from a large and lively family with deep Catholic roots—including an uncle, Archbishop Charles Heerey, and three generations of priests—faith remains an important part of their lives.
McGill said the family has been taking every opportunity to record the sisters’ memories before Lola returns to the U.S.
TikTok viewers were moved by the clip. “And then I realized that once they were little girls, playing with each other, telling secrets to one another, planning their future…and I started sobbing,” wrote Anna. Another user, Sofie, commented: “I swear to god all I do on this app is crying over strangers.”
“Jesus I’m bawling, how precious,” said one viewer, while another shared: “This got to me more than it should. my little sisters funeral was just a couple of weeks ago. my eulogy was about how we will never grow old together.”
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