The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Left, Aunt Catherine’s brother Franny around 1945; at right, Aunt Catherine with her brother George in front of
their Hockessin home.
interview Aunt Catherine’s father, who was living alone by
then. Bayard Hoopes invited him to spend the night, which
frightened Aunt Catherine and her sister when they heard
about it. They had visions of an ax murderer spending the
night with their father, but there was no such drama. Fuller
did eventually publish his book in Texas in 1979 … actually a
three-volume set titled “The Hoopes Family Record for Nine
Generations.”
The books make no mention of the rhubarb the
Hoopes family grew in a patch close to their barn. Aunt
Catherine’s son Pat, however, does remember it tasting very
tart. He liked it very much when he was young, but doesn’t
recall having rhubarb again until visiting Ireland in the 1990s.
In Ballinrobe, every cousin seemed to be serving rhubarb pie
and tea. It must be an Irish treat.
Mom-Mom died Feb. 9, 1968, and is buried along
with many other family members in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in
Ashland. After her death, a holy water font in her name was
installed at St. Mary’s in Hockessin in recognition of her
service over the years. St. Mary’s was dedicated in 1965 after
the closing of St. John’s. The font was the only one in St.
Mary’s dedicated to a specific person and remained for many
years just inside the left door as you entered the back of the
church. When it was removed during a recent renovation,
Pastor Charles Dillingham gave the font as a gift to Mom-
Mom’s grandson Pat Gallagher.
Pop-Pop died Sept. 19, 1983, and was buried next to
his wife in St. Patrick’s.
Aunt
Catherine’s
sister Ann
(Gilson) on the
Wildwood
beach near
Hunt’s Pier in
the 1950s; left,
her brother
George when he
graduated from
Salesianum
High School.
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