The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Uncle Pat and Aunt
Catherine share a
birthday cake with their
grandson Shawn.
Mary Kathryn remembers the family owning only
one car. When they would visit family in Wilmington, they
would take the train or cousin Francis Sheridan would drive.
For a family with a penchant for world travel, the
Gallaghers of Philadelphia did not travel to Wilmington all
that often. But that rarity made the times when they did
come to visit all the more important. Among the visits were
the marriages of Uncle Jim and Aunt Catherine in 1958 and
Pat O’Brien and Leon DeAscanis in 1965, and Uncle Pete’s
son’s college graduation. Pictures and video from the events
show the brothers and sisters interacting as if they were still
living together along the boreen in Cornaroya.
'I’LL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY’
By 1982, Mary Kathryn began noticing a decline in
her father’s health. When she would inquire of her mother
about what was wrong, Aunt Catherine would assure her
everything was fine. Several injuries, including a fall from a
ladder and an accident with a lawnmower, sent Mary
Kathryn to the library researching her father’s symptoms. It
didn’t take long for her to realize he had Parkinson’s
disease.
When she went to her mother to inform her, she
discovered Aunt Catherine had known the diagnosis for
some time but had not shared the information because she
didn’t want her daughter to worry. Mary Kathryn almost
immediately brought her parents to Florida, where she could
spend more time with them.
A few years after arriving in Florida, Aunt
Catherine fell ill. She was in the hospital sick for seven
weeks, with Mary Kathryn visiting daily. The day came
when Mary Kathryn had an interview scheduled with U.S.
Air. She initially decided to cancel the interview, but her
mother, as always more concerned about her daughter than
herself, convinced Mary Kathryn she would be fine and
insisted she go to the interview. Aunt Catherine died Aug.
18, 1985. Her obituary notes that her survivors included her
stepfather, Ange, then living in Port Charlotte, Fla.; her
three brothers, William Oliver in Tempe, Ariz., Ed
Rodriguez in Clearwater, Fla., and Joe Rodriguez in
Buffalo, N.Y.; and her sister Patricia Oliver, still in
Philadelphia.
Uncle Pat’s health had gradually worsened, but
when Aunt Catherine passed away the decline accelerated.
She was his whole world. It was as though he lost the will
to live.
A few months after Aunt Catherine passed away,
her memorial stone was delivered and set in place in Sylvan
Abbey Cemetery in Clearwater. Mary Kathryn remembers
that as her father stood over the grave, he said, “Catherine,
I’ll be with you shortly.” That was the last day Uncle Pat
walked. He passed away a few months later, on June 4,
1986, in Pittsburgh. Pa., where he was living with his
daughter. When writing Aunt Mary to inform her of her
brother’s passing, Uncle Jim simply said, “He died from the
same thing mother had.”
NOT AN ENDING
Mary Kathryn has two sons, Shawn and Patrick.
Both were adopted and both were adored by Uncle Pat and
Aunt Catherine. Like any grandparents, they would have
spoiled them as young children and watched proudly as
they grew up. When their health was failing, Uncle Pat and
Aunt Catherine would have been blessed by spending time
with the then-teenage boys and Mary Kathryn in Florida.
Their mother remembers Uncle Pat telling her he
was sorry he once opposed Aunt Catherine’s desire to adopt
because he feared he couldn’t love that child. Mary
Kathryn said he confessed to her he had made a huge
mistake. He said he couldn’t have loved her two boys more.
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