A Donegal man who grew up watching his heroes compete in the Donegal International Rally has gone on to pursue a dream career in Formula 1 motorsport.
Born and raised in Kerrykeel, Bryan Gallagher is now a Senior Design Engineer with Ferrari in Maranello, Italy.
This week, he told his amazing story in Donegal Connections, the latest edition of the Donegal Diaspora ezine
As a child, Bryan was always interested in rallying: “The Donegal International was the sporting highlight of the year in our house. My brother Ciaran competed in the event several times and I sat alongside him in 2010, but unfortunately the car declined the challenge!”
Bryan Gallagher pictured outside Ferrari HQ.
Upon leaving school, Bryan studied at Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) for three years, gaining a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
“LYIT didn’t just offer me a solid understanding of the theoretical side of engineering, it provided me with an invaluable understanding of practical engineering through hands-on learning with projects, in the labs and in the machine shops. From LYIT, I continued my studies in Queens University in Belfast and then went to Chalmers University in Sweden to complete a Masters in Mechanical Engineering.”
Whilst at Queens and Chalmers, Bryan was involved in a project called Formula Student. This involved groups of students from many universities all over the world designing, manufacturing and competing in a low-cost single-seater race-car series.
Bryan began his career in motorsport with Midland F1, based in Silverstone, in 2006.
Starting in 2008, he worked at McLaren for almost seven years, working his way to the position of Senior Design Engineer.
Pic courtesy of www.ferrari.com
In 2015 he was offered an opportunity to join Ferrari F1 as a Senior Design Engineer, but the pull of home was never far away.
“Even though I was a Ferrari fan from a very young age, I had to think long and hard about whether I should accept their offer. When I left home in 2006 to move to the UK, I told myself that I would return home after five years. Nine years later I was considering moving even further from Ireland; but as we say in Donegal “never die wondering” and so off to Italy I went.”
Ferrari is located in a town called Maranello – about the size of Donegal Town – two hours south of Milan.
“Since moving to Italy, I got married, have had a son and we’re expecting another child” Bryan adds.
However, Bryan and the family plan to move back to Donegal ‘for good’ in 2023.
Read Bryan’s amazing story in Donegal Connections, the latest edition of the Donegal Diaspora ezine which is out now.
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