The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

some valuables. Despite her injuries, she returned to the
burning building again to make sure a pet cat was safely
retrieved.
While living in Edgemoor, Uncle Pete attended St.
Patrick’s Church, at North King and East 15th streets. St.
Patrick’s for years was the termination point of the annual
Wilmington St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Ancient Order of
Hibernians would host a party in the church basement.
Many a Gallagher descendant would be seen over the years
between 14th and 15th streets enjoying the party and
parade in honor of the great saint. But first, it was in this
church, on a fine Sunday morning in 1932, Uncle Pete met
Aunt May.
Mary Tierney was born April 13, 1905, in
Carrowmore, Hollymount, only two miles out the Convent
Road from Cornaroya. Aunt May was the second of 11
children born to John Tierney and Mary Toher. In 1916, her
family was relocated about a mile closer to Cornaroya, to
Gallows Hill, under a British Government program that
possessed and re-allocated land from large estates. Many
tenants, whose holdings may have included non-adjacent
fields, were moved, some a mile or two, others across the
country. The Congested Districts Board program created
holdings of 20 contiguous acres for the tenants. The
Gallows Hill area is now known as Clover Hill and is in the
townland of Rathnaguppaun.
Aunt May attended the Cregduff National School,
just north of the Convent Road, between Gallows Hill and
Cornaroya. At a very early age, she realized the importance
of a good education. So, she was very disappointed when
she was pulled from school a few years early to help her
mother with the younger children and the farm. At some
point, Aunt May went to live with her grandmother (Biddy
McHugh Toher). She would tell the story of being so young
and small that in order to knead the bread she had to get on
a stool to reach the table.
Aunt May and Uncle Pete didn’t really know each
other in Ireland, but the families were familiar with one
another. Uncle Jim could remember walking down the
Convent Road as a young man and hearing May and her
sister Delia sing out from the rocks by Cregduff, “Hello,
Jim Gallagher!” He wouldn’t give any further details of the
encounter; he just laughed. The families probably would
have had interaction in town.
As was the case with her future husband, Aunt
May decided early her future was in America. She was not
the oldest, but she was the first in her family to leave home.
When her Uncle James Toher (Tucker) agreed to sponsor
her, she began making plans.
Like Uncle Pete, she left County Mayo on the
From the top are the Tierney home in Gallows Hill, the
family's barn there, and the Cregduff School, which Aunt
May attended as a girl. Gallows Hill, currently known as
Clover Hill, is located about a mile from Cornaroya along
the Convent Road.
Claremorris train. Unlike Uncle Pete, May still needed to
stop in Dublin to submit her paperwork and get her
physical. Her visa was awarded Oct. 12, 1925, less than a
week before she would sail from Cobh.
Aunt May’s parents and younger sister Una went
along to see her off to America. Una was about nine at the
time. The RMS Celtic was scheduled to leave Cobh on Oct.
18, 1925. Aunt May had a second-class cabin, and in the
119