An 80-year-old Irish pensioner recently gave her 103-year-old mother a surprise visit after a 60-year search by a genealogist turned fruitful.

Mrs. Eileen Macken, 81 grew up in the Bethany Home orphanage in Dublin and had no information about her birth mother who gave her up for adoption when she was a child.

However, a 61-year long search and a call to RTE Liveline has made it possible for the pensioner to meet her mother who the genealogist tracked to Scotland.

She said: ‘Once I heard that, nothing would stop me trying to get to see her.’

This joyful reunion marks the end of a search initiated by Mrs. Macken when she was only 19.

Her mother Elizabeth gave birth to Eileen in August 1937 through a doctor’s surgery. She was only 22.

Typically, in those days, babies born out of wedlock were given up for adoption. Baby Eileen was given to the Bethany Home in the capital of the Irish Republic, aged five months. Since then, Eileen has been under the care of the Church of Ireland Orphan House until she was 17.

Eileen flew over from Ireland on Aprill 11 accompanied by her husband George, 82, and one of their daughters, Mrs. Macken.

While the family didn’t receive an official invite to visit Mrs. Elizabeth, they still made the trip. Mrs. Macken was determined to meet her birth mother- who she was shocked was still alive.

She said, “I went over to see her and she’s the most beautiful lady, lovely family, they gave me a great welcome.

“We came in and honestly, I haven’t got over the acceptance that I got because I was thinking,’This is terrible, what am I going to do?’ But they accepted me and I had a great chat with my mother.”

“I know she's my mum and I said it to her. 'You know I'm your daughter' and she looked up at me and took my hand, we had a great chat. 

'There was such a bond between the two of us, it was fantastic.”

Mrs. Macken who once branded herself the ‘world’s oldest orphan’ just found out that she has two half brothers. When she knocked on her mother’s door, she was met by a man who turned out to be her half-brother.

Mrs. Macken said; “I told him I was from Ireland and I had found my mum here and could we come in to see her, she said, ‘certainly’.

“She was reading the newspaper and when she saw me, I said we were from Ireland and she said, 'I was born in Ireland'.

“She was thrilled and she never let go of my hand. I don't think I'll ever come down out of the cloud.”

The mother of three described her three-day the trip as ‘three days of wonderful happiness and is the likes of she had ‘never had before’

After three days together, the mother said to the daughter “'Oh I'd love to make you some tea, but I don't think I'll be able to'. And I told her don't worry at all about it. I don't want tea I just wanted to chat to you.”

Mrs. Macken is so thrilled to meet her mother and describes herself as the ‘happiest person alive’

Ms. Macken spoke of hearing her 'fabulous' mother's voice on the phone for the first time, saying that the only thing she wanted to do was meet her, overwhelmed by the joy of not being 'an orphan anymore'.