The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Aunt May was 20 years old when she came to the U.S.
Her first job was with the Sexton family. She did domestic
work and lived with the family at 2000 Woodlawn Ave.,
Wilmington, at right.
hours before the ship sailed, she was allowed to give her
parents and sister a tour of the luxurious ocean liner. The
Celtic looked like a palace, and Aunt May and the others
had never seen anything like it. They were amazed at the
splendor; the tour could have gone on for hours and no one
would have complained. Except, perhaps, Aunt May, who
must have been anxious to start the biggest adventure of
her life. After waving goodbye to her family, Aunt May left
Cobh and Ireland for her life’s odyssey in America.
As the Celtic approached the U.S. Coast, it began
having mechanical problems. As a result, the ship had to
dock in Boston instead of New York. It landed in
Massachusetts on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Aunt May had to
catch a coastal steamer south.
Aunt May stayed with her Uncle James, at 110 N.
Franklin St. in Wilmington. At the time, James’ wife, Nora
Mahan, and daughters Mary (who would be the godmother
to Aunt May’s daughter) and Katherine would have been
living there. Nora may also have been expecting their next
child, Helen. Still, the Tucker family happily welcomed
their newly arrived relative.
Aunt May soon got a job with the Sexton family,
who lived at 2000 Woodlawn Ave., Wilmington, near
Rockford Park. She worked as a domestic and lived with
the family.
Aunt May’s older brother Jack arrived in America
in 1926 and her sister Delia in 1930. May and Delia usually
attended Mass at St. Ann’s in Wilmington. But one Sunday
in 1932 they had occasion to attend services at St. Patrick’s.
At the time, the average American male height was 5 feet 8
inches. So, it would have been easy to notice the 6-foot-tall
Pete Gallagher in the congregation. Aunt May and her
sister certainly noticed the tall Irishman and recognized
him from Ballinrobe. After Mass, they called out to Uncle
Pete. Pete and May quickly developed a friendship and
realized they had a lot in common.
By 1933, they were a couple, and talk of marriage
quickly ensued. A decision was made to return to Ireland to
announce their upcoming nuptials. They arrived in
Ballinrobe for a two-and-a-half-month visit on July 21,
1933. The visit would have given both Pete and May a
chance to reconnect with their families. All four of their
parents were still alive. But things would have been
significantly different, particularly for Uncle Pete. In the
six years since he had emigrated, Pete’s younger brothers
and sisters would have changed dramatically. Jim and Tom,
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