Phone box siblings go on emotional journey to search for long-lost brother
They are the so-called ‘phone box siblings’, abandoned as babies and reunited 50 years later.
Three babies, who were all abandoned in different parts of Ireland, have revealed their hidden connection and why they believe there may be one more person just like them.
Each of the babies was discovered in the 1960s by random passersby – two in phone boxes and one in a car – without any identifying information or clue to their origins.
A new documentary airing next week on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player has uncovered details about the babies’ parents and why they were given up. Fifty years later, as adults, they have discovered their connection to each other and are embarking on an emotional journey to uncover their identities.
David McBride, born in 1962, was left in a car in a Belfast driveway. John Dowling, born in 1965, was found in a Drogheda phone box. Helen Ward, born in 1968, was discovered by a lorry driver in a Dundalk phone box.
Driver Donal Boyle, who was 26 at the time, recalled: ‘I opened the door of the phone box and there was a tartan shopping bag. I saw the bag moving and I said to myself, it’s either someone dumped their pups or their kittens.
‘And I opened the bag and there was the baby girl inside. The bottle was warm and she was well-wrapped up… but I don’t know if she would have survived the night or not, it was so cold.’
Each baby was adopted and raised in different parts of Ireland. In 2020, David and Helen discovered they were brother and sister through DNA technology and were reunited on the ITV series Long Lost Family.
They were saddened to learn their parents had since died, but to their shock and joy, they subsequently found John Dowling, a third full sibling.
They now believe there is a fourth sibling and are hoping this documentary will encourage that person to get in touch.
Helen said there were reports of a baby boy found in Newry in 1963, in a phone box.
‘There’s that strong possibility that this person could be part of our journey too,’ she said.
The Phone Box Babies airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player next Wednesday, July 2, at 9.35pm.
