Ciarán Shannon currently resides in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Niamh Shannon is his daughter, and he recently chose to show his pride for her in a series of photos he posted on Twitter.
Shannon chose three photographs of his daughter that he thought represented her academic progression and posted them as part of the “How it all began” section. How’s it going?” trend on the website.
He never expected the post to go viral in the way it has.
“I’ve just been watching the numbers rise and rise,” he explained to the BBC. “It’s like watching the electric meter while the dryer is running.”
Clearly, something has struck a chord with the general public.
“I’m astounded by the response to my photos,” he added. “The good news is that almost a million people now know how proud I am of my daughter.”
Shannon shared three photos of him and his daughter holding hands in the same spot in their yard over the years.
The first photograph was taken on Niamh’s first day of school at St. Therese of Lisieux Primary School in September 1999. The second photo was taken on her last day of school in May 2013, and the final photo was taken for her university graduation in 2018.
The post quickly gained 88.6K retweets and 948.9K likes, both of which are still increasing. Shannon’s post was praised by users for its sweetness and relatability.
Niamh is now a math and science teacher, and Shannon is still proud of her achievements.