The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Uncle Owen always loved his dogs. At left, he is outside one of the old buildings on the Gallagher property with his
dog Prince in 1993. At right, he is with an unidentified canine decades earlier along the boreen.
recluse. The picture couldn’t have been more wrong.
It turns out Uncle Owen was among the most
social and welcoming members of the family.
Uncle Jim’s son Owen and his wife, Lynn, met
Owen’s namesake on their honeymoon in Ireland in April
1993. There was some apprehension beforehand, but he
turned out to be a very gracious, warm host. An entry from
their journal about their first meeting reads:
“Uncle Owen came around the corner of his house
to greet us as we walked up the road to his gate. Owen
recognized him from the few pictures he had seen, but
(Uncle Owen) was a little different from what we had
imagined. He looked like a mixture of Uncle Tom, Uncle
Pete and parts of his other brothers. His face was more
weathered than expected, with a jaw that jutted out slightly.
He later said that he, of all the brothers, might have looked
the most like his father. Uncle Owen’s walk was slow, but
his wit was quick. He admitted he used to drink a little and
smoke a lot, though he had quit both for his health. Overall,
he seemed at first meeting as though he might be a very
likeable, talkative rascal.”
THE YOUNGEST BROTHER
Uncle Owen was born Nov. 28, 1916, the
youngest of the seven brothers born to Pat and Mary
Gallagher. It was the year of the Easter Rising in Dublin. In
Cornaroya, the Gallagher family now had nine children,
with two daughters still to come in the next six years.
Owen’s would not have been a childhood without troubles.
His brother Michael died when Owen was 4 years old and
John died when he was 13. Before he was 10 years old,
Owen's sister Delia became the first of their generation to
leave for America.
Uncle Owen attended school with the Christian
Brothers for as long as any of his siblings (until age 12,
according to Aunt Ann). But there were early struggles with
his learning that by some accounts left him bitter about
“ridicule from within” the family. There was some feeling
that Uncle Owen was not up to the high caliber of the
others. It was Aunt Delia who first diagnosed the real
problem. Patsy DeAscanis said she was told by Maureen
Gallagher, who ministered to Uncle Owen as he got older,
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