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No 'return to sender' for Donegal man's letter

Letter addressed to Donegal university student Barry Henderson
Letter addressed to Donegal university student Barry Henderson Letter addressed to Donegal university student Barry Henderson

ELVIS Presley once sang about the woes of a letter going missing in his hit Return to Sender.

But for one Donegal man, there was no need to "return to sender" as his address was far from "unknown".

Friends of Barry Henderson (32), from Buncrana, couldn't believe that he hails from such a small seaside town that everybody knows one another and a vaguely addressed letter would find its way promptly to him.

Barry is completing a PhD in modern history at Queen's University in Belfast, and a fellow student decided to test the Irish postal system to see if the letter could find its way to his friend in Buncrana.

His wife Roisin, a journalist with the Inish Times, shared this picture on Facebook, writing: "A guy Barry knows sent him this from Belfast.

"The postman delivered it to the Inish Times office when I was out, asking if it could possibly be for my husband. I think it's brilliant. Only in Donegal. Inishowen postmen are the best."

But this isn't the first time that a letter has made its way to a recipient without a proper address.

Irish News staff photographer Hugh Russell, who won a flyweight bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics, said he once received fan mail which made its way from Germany, via Dublin, to his boxing club in Belfast, with the address: Hugh Russell, Olympic Boxer, Ireland.