The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe
IN MARCH 2020, Pat Gallagher had an idea. He asked his brother, Owen, what he thought of writing a book about the family of their father, James Gallagher, who grew up in the early decades of the 20th century in the West of Ireland in the small town of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. The shutdown from COVID-19 was just beginning, and the thinking was they would have more time on their hands than usual. What better way to spend quarantine than exploring the stories of our aunts, uncles and other relatives. The task turned out to be much more complicated (and rewarding) than anticipated. It involved sifting through ship manifests, census, birth and marriage records, newspaper archives, and, most enjoyable, sessions delving into the memories of extended-family members. Sorely missed was the chance to hear first-hand the tales from our deceased cousins John O'Brien and Pete Gallagher. This book's stories and more than 500 images are the result of the past year's journey. The goal was both simple and ambitious: making the memories of the Gallaghers of Ballinrobe ours forever.
IN MARCH 2020, Pat Gallagher had an idea. He asked his brother, Owen, what he thought of writing a book about the family of their father, James Gallagher, who grew up in the early decades of the 20th century in the West of Ireland in the small town of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. The shutdown from COVID-19 was just beginning, and the thinking was they would have more time on their hands than usual. What better way to spend quarantine than exploring the stories of our aunts, uncles and other relatives.
The task turned out to be much more complicated (and rewarding) than anticipated. It involved sifting through ship manifests, census, birth and marriage records, newspaper archives, and, most enjoyable, sessions delving into the memories of extended-family members. Sorely missed was the chance to hear first-hand the tales from our deceased cousins John O'Brien and Pete Gallagher. This book's stories and more than 500 images are the result of the past year's journey. The goal was both simple and ambitious: making the memories of the Gallaghers of Ballinrobe ours forever.
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JAMES GALLAGHER
1911-1992
Uncle Jim with his sons Pat and Owen at the fountain at Josephine Gardens in Wilmington's
Brandywine Park at Easter 1963. Below is Uncle Jim in 1931.
When he arrived in America in 1949, Uncle Jim’s first priority
was to find a job. He told the story of how he was walking past a gravel
yard in Wilmington and thought that was work he could do.
“I can shovel gravel as well as any man,” he recalled. “I went
to inquire and was hired and told to start work on Monday. Monday
came and I went to work, but it was raining and no one else showed up.
In Ireland, if you didn’t work every time it rained a little bit, you would
never accomplish anything. So I had the day free; I figured I better go
find another job.”
He did find another job, at Krueger Brewery behind St. Francis
Hospital. Uncle Jim never went back for Day Two at the gravel yard.
The story is an example of several key aspects of who Uncle
Jim was. He was a person who understood the virtue and dignity of hard
work. And, above all, his showing up in the rain shows the sense of
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