The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Also in 1879, less than 20 miles north of
Ballinrobe, the Blessed Mother appeared in the village of
Knock. Fifteen people recounted seeing a light coming from
the parish chapel at about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 21. The apparition,
which lasted two hours, included Our Lady, St. Joseph, St.
John the Evangelist and a lamb. It is the only reported
apparition worldwide that included the Lamb of God.
That eventful year also saw the founding of The
Irish National Land League at a meeting in Castlebar, with
Charles Stewart Parnell its president and Mayo native
Michael Davitt organizing secretary. The Land League
helped fight for the rights of farmers, who regularly suffered
the threat of eviction if they were unable to pay their rent.
The agitation led to 1885’s Ashbourne Act, which put
limited tenant land purchase in motion. Parliament passed
several Land Acts over time that addressed the push for the
so-called “Three Fs”: Fair Rent, Free Sale and Fixity of
Tenure. Fair rent would be decided by land courts instead of
landlords; Free Sale meant a tenant could sell a holding
without landlord interference; and Fixity of Tenure meant a
tenant could not be evicted if the rent was paid. The
Gallaghers were supporters of the United Irish League, a
nationalist party launched in 1898. The Ballinrobe
Chronicle of March 26, 1903, shows P. Gallagher, Mrs.
Gallagher (probably Owen's widow) and J. Sheridan, at a
shilling each, among the 10 residents of Cornaroya
contributing to the League's Ballinrobe branch.
It is unclear when the Gallaghers were able stop
renting and “own” their land in Cornaroya. By 1914, 75
percent of renters in Ireland were buying out their landlords
under various government programs. The Gallaghers
initially paid rent to Col. Charles Knox and then his son
Charles H. Knox. Payments eventually went to the Irish
Free State/Republic. The amount remained stable over the
decades, eventually being eliminated in the 1970s when it
cost the government more to collect than it was worth.
SHERIDANS, ROONEYS, GALLAGHERS
In the last half of the nineteenth century, Ned
Sheridan was also building a family in Ballinaya, just south
of Ballinrobe. They were the ancestors of our grandmother.
Ned Sheridan married Mary Hamrogue around 1840. They
had at least six children: Edward, Mary, Patrick, twins
James and John, and Honor. John is our maternal greatgrandfather.
Meanwhile, laborer Michael Rooney and his wife
gave birth to a daughter Honor (Nora) around 1845
somewhere in Cornaroya. Nora would go on to marry John
Sheridan on Feb. 16, 1870, at St. Mary’s in Ballinrobe.
After the marriage, John and Nora lived with an
aunt and uncle in Cornaroya to the east of the Gallagher
properties. John and Nora had 10 children: Catherine
(1871), Edward (1873), Annie (1875), our Grandmother
Mary (1877), John (1879), James (1881), Patrick (1882),
Hanna (1884) and Maggie (1887). They lost their first
child, Mary, in infancy.
John and Nora’s fourth child was born June 16,
1877. Mary and her brothers and sisters all would attend
school and learn to read and write. Mary was only 19 when
she married Pat Gallagher on Oct. 18, 1896. The witnesses
were listed as Pat Malley, the groom's first cousin, and
Mary Walshe; the Rev. Andrew Judge presided. The
newlyweds lived with Pat’s father and mother in the small
cottage along the boreen.
STONE WALLS, FARMING AND LOTS OF MUD
An unmistakable feature of the landscape around
the boreen, and throughout the West of Ireland, are the
stone walls that line many roads and separate fields from
one another. Our grandfather had a reputation of being
highly skilled at working with stone. According to Jim
Four generations of
Gallaghers lived on the
family farm in Cornaroya.
The walls of the old home,
shown in 1993, have
finally disappeared, but
plenty of memories
remain. The metal bars
are a cattle chute added
after the structure was no
longer used as a home.
16