Ryan Grenfell (of Sydney) and Ryan Grenfell (of Lanarkshire, R) (Image: Facebook)

Scots and Aussie lads with same name go for pints after Facebook meet goes viral

Ryan Grenfell, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, received an invitation to connect on social media from Ryan Grenfell of Sydney, Australia.

by · Daily Record

A Scottish construction worker accepted a random Facebook request from his namesake 10,000 miles away before meeting him for a drink.

Ryan Grenfell, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, received an invitation to connect on social media from Ryan Grenfell of Sydney, Australia - just because of their shared moniker.

The pair exchanged occasional messages for around a year before Aussie Ryan dropped a bombshell in early 2018 that he was touring Europe and had just landed in Edinburgh.

Like any true Scotsman, Lanarkshire Ryan arranged to meet his namesake in the capital for a few pints to celebrate their quirky friendship.

As well as having the same name, the pair, who were 21 when they met in person for the first time, were born a month apart – one on August 30, 1996, and the other on September 30, 1996. They also both have careers in construction and a list of similar interests.

Ryan's post on Facebook about their encounter quickly went viral

Lanarkshire Ryan shared the brilliant story on Facebook, saying: “Ever added somebody on Facebook because you have the same name? This is Ryan Grenfell from down under and he’s exactly one month older than me, weird as f**k!

“He mailed me yesterday saying he had just landed in Edinburgh, so aye, went for a few pints with him.”

The pair's story quickly went viral and Ryan spoke to our sister title, The Hamilton Advertiser, shortly after the meet: “Ryan added me on Facebook about a year ago just for a laugh and we had spoken since.

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“He said he was touring Europe for a month, so I went through to Edinburgh to meet him. It was a good night out, a good laugh!

“There’s a few similarities with our age, and that we are do the same kind of construction work and we're into the same kind of things.”

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