The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

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PETER GALLAGHER
1908-1983
Uncle Pete was dapper, with an air of
sophistication. He also was an adventurer, never afraid of
something new. He left his native Ireland for a new home in
America while still a teenager, the youngest of his brothers
or sisters to do so. He exaggerated his driving experience
while on his first job. He left Philadelphia and the comfort
of his mother’s family, the Sheridans, when he heard of a
better job in Wilmington. Over the next two decades, four
siblings would follow him to Delaware. He opened his own
business. Worked as a chauffeur. Never wanted to borrow
money. Yet, after traveling over 3,000 miles from home, he
married a girl who grew up only two miles from where he
was born.
The week Uncle Pete was born, no less an
eminence than the Archbishop of Tuam, Thomas Gilmartin,
made comments at the Ballinrobe Bazaar that nicely
express Uncle Pete’s philosophy of life. “The people of
Ballinrobe are fond of having everything neat, and do not
like to be in debt!” he told those gathered for a fund-raiser
for improvements at St. Mary’s Church. Most people never
saw Uncle Pete when he was not impeccably dressed. As
for debt and borrowing to buy on credit – he would have
preferred adding milk to his Irish whiskey. He always lived
within his means, while constantly striving to upgrade his
family’s station in life. He worked hard and whenever
possible paid “cash on the barrelhead” for everything.
Uncle Pete was born Saturday April 17, 1908. He
was the sixth child of Patrick Gallagher and Mary Sheridan.
His godparents were his brother Michael and cousin Sarah
Gallagher, from next door. Three thousand miles away that
year in America, Theodore Roosevelt was president, the
first Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line, and
William C. Durant founded the company that eventually
became General Motors. The 20th century was ready to
take off, and Uncle Pete would be there for all of it.
But first, Uncle Pete would start his education at
the Christian Brother’s primary school near Ballinrobe’s
Cornmarket. His older brother John would just have been
finishing, but Pete would soon be joined by his brothers Pat
(one year behind) and Jim (three years).
In addition to schooling, Uncle Pete would have
Uncle Pete and Aunt May, shown in their engagement
photo, were married Sept. 26, 1934. They were both
from the Ballinrobe area but didn't become a couple
until they immigrated to America.
spent his time helping around the farm. There would have
been chores to do before school. The farm animals would
have to be looked in on. The cows milked and then the
milk strained. Eggs would need to be collected and
brought into the kitchen. (Uncle Jim remembered they had
to get the eggs early, or the chickens would stomp on
them.) The cows, chickens, horses, pigs and other animals
would all need to be fed. For the day’s use in the fireplace,
turf would have to be brought in from a pile outside. After
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