The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Sisters Ann and Catherine
Hoopes in the 1930s with their
maternal Grandmother Katie
(Gormley) May, also shown
below in 1894.
Catherine’s son Pat has an old cast-iron cobbler set
from around 1890 that may originate with Peter
Lafferty. Aunt Catherine’s father gave the set to Uncle
Jim, who regularly used it to repair his shoes.
Neil Gormley’s children and grandchildren
quickly established themselves in America. His son,
Bernard, certainly was blessed or cursed, depending on
your point of view, with the wanderlust. Bernard, then
16, emigrated from Ireland with his sister Jane aboard
the ship the State of Indiana. They arrived in New York
on Sept. 18, 1874. Bernard traveled west from Chester,
Pa., soon after arriving in the country, making it as far
as Utah. The West was still wild then. Custer’s Last
Stand was in 1876 and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
in 1881. In an effort to locate him, his mother began
placing ads in newspapers around 1883. When Bernard
did finally return to Hockessin, he would help his
brother John build a store. But Bernard quickly
realized he didn’t like being a store clerk, and left
again. Ironically, his wife would eventually open a
family grocery. John and his descendants would turn
his store into a Hockessin fixture for almost 100 years.
Two of Neil Gormley’s grandchildren, James
(Bernard’s son) and Charles (John’s son), were talented
baseball players. They were invited by Connie Mac to
join the Philadelphia A’s American League baseball
team. Both declined the positions because their fathers
had died and they had to help in the family stores.
Baseball did not pay enough in the 1920s. Another
grandchild became a priest and two more became
nuns.
Grandparents George May & Katie Gormley
George May converted to Catholicism on
Sept. 16, 1894, nine days before marrying Catherine
“Katie” Gormley at St. John’s Church in Hockessin.
His future sister in-law and her husband, Jane Gormley
and Frederick Gunn, were his Baptismal sponsors.
Katie’s maid of honor was her soon-to-be sister-in-law
Delia Guthrie, who would marry Bernard Gormley a
year later. George May’s best man was Katie’s
stepbrother Francis Lafferty.
George and Katie May initially lived next to
her mother and mother’s second husband Peter
Lafferty. They had four children: Mary, Margaret,
George and John. In 1905, the family bought the
property on Valley Road directly adjacent to St. John’s
rectory and church, paying $1,600 for the house, barn
and land. George borrowed the money from a
neighbor, John Mitchell.
Katie May remained very close to her
brothers and sisters. She took care of her older brother,
Michael, after his wife, Anna, passed away. By the late
1920s, Uncle Mickey was living with the family on
Valley Road. By then only John and George May were
living at home. Their sister Mary was with Father
Grant at his rectory and Margaret was married with a
family of her own, including young Aunt Catherine.
When they were first married, George May
worked in the clay yards along with Peter Lafferty. He
then worked as a snuff maker at the Garrett Snuff Mill
in Yorklyn, Del., for 20 to 30 years. The Garrett family
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