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Finding out at 87 who mum and dad were

BBC Half-sisters Annette Kohrs and Gladys JohnstonBBC
Gladys Johnston, right, with her half-sister Annette Kohrs in Ireland

A woman who was adopted in the 1930s has, at the age of 87, discovered the identities of her birth parents and met living relatives she never knew she had.

Gladys Johnston was three when she was adopted from an Irish orphanage and brought up in the Scottish Highlands as an only child.

At the age of 12 she found out she was adopted, but it has not been until now that she learned who both her parents were, with help from family in Scotland and BBC Alba documentary-makers.

Gladys said she wished she had met her half-sisters many years ago but added: "We are going to have to make the most of what we have left."

Young Gladys Johnston sitting down. She has a bow in her hair
Gladys was adopted when she was three years old

Gladys' mother, Catherine Kearney, was a servant working at a boarding house in Drogheda in Ireland when she became pregnant.

The father was a married man and it is believed he was unaware of the pregnancy, leaving Catherine to raise their child on her own.

Catherine gave birth in an orphanage in Dublin and, because of attitudes at the time about children born out of wedlock, she was coerced into giving Gladys up for adoption.

She was three years old when she was adopted by Mary and Duncan Cameron who lived in Ardtoe, a small community on Lochaber's Ardnamurchan peninsula.

Gladys' mum Catherine
Gladys was helped in tracing her mum, Catherine, eight years ago

Gladys, who raised her own family in Scotland, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "When I was quite young I was told the people I was living with weren't my parents.

"That was some blow to me. I just couldn't cope."

Gladys did not let on to her adopted parents she knew.

She said: "The parents that adopted me were absolutely lovely people. I never wanted to upset them in any way.

"I carried this suffering with me for a long time, thinking each day I might get there but certainly not doing anything while they were alive because they were so good to me.

"They gave me such a good upbringing and I was so happy there."

Gladys' dad Joseph Quinn
Discovering the identity of her dad, Joseph, completed Gladys' quest

Eight years ago, with help from documentary-makers, Gladys traced her mother in Ireland. Sadly, Catherine had died just a few months earlier.

Gladys did discover that her mum had married and had another daughter.

But the search drew a blank on her dad.

She said: "I thought 'this is just half the journey. I’ve traced my mother but it would be wonderful to find out who my father was'.

"And it bothered me a lot."

She added: "I yearned to find out who my father was before I died."

Gladys, front left, sitting on a sofa and surrounded by family
Gladys, front left, surrounded by family from Scotland and Ireland

Last year, Mrs Johnston was encouraged by a granddaughter to do a DNA test offered by an Ancestry website.

The results, along with further research, led Gladys to discovering the identity of her father, Irishman Joseph Quinn, and finding two half-sisters called Mari and Annette.

It is not known how Joseph met Catherine, but it is believed he met her while travelling for his work as an electrician.

Gladys, who travelled to Ireland to visit her father's grave and is in regular contact with her sisters, said she felt relieved to finally know who her birth parents were.

She said: "I have joined a lovely, lovely family.

“I never saw my mother during this lifetime, and likewise, I never saw my father during his lifetime.

"I am so pleased to have found out who he was. And now, I feel at peace."

The new documentary, Gladys: Story Complete, is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.