The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

The home where Uncle Owen lived out his years in Cornaroya was across the boreen from the old family cottage.
Arrangements to build the 'new' house started in the early 1950s.
shelter for four generations of Gallaghers. In September
1957, a letter arrived for the Gallagher brothers and sisters
in America from Dublin Solicitor Patrick U. Murphy. The
correspondence included a Deed of Family Settlement they
all needed to sign to turn over the “land, premises, stock,
furniture, farm implements, etc.” from the estate of their
father to Uncle Owen.
By that point, Uncle Jim and Aunt Ann had been
the last of the siblings to leave for America (in 1949), Aunt
Nora was living in town at the cottages on New Street after
her 1948 marriage to Paddy Murphy, and Aunt Mary likely
had moved to England. That left Uncle Owen alone in the
family home. Soon, Uncle Owen – who would have made
his living by farming, working at the convent and renting
out fields so others could raise sheep or produce hay –
would build a new home almost directly across the boreen
from the old cottage. Irish Valuation Office Records
indicate construction was finished in 1959. It was a singlestory
structure set back slightly from the road, which on
that side has a bank that rises three or four feet. The house
has a brick foundation and masonry walls, still humble but
a far cry from the traditional Irish cottage with its
whitewashed stone walls, dirt floor and thatched roof.
It was around the same time that Uncle Owen's
relatives next door moved from their aging cottage. Peter
Gallagher Next Door built a new bungalow house slightly
closer to the Convent Road. His son Peter's family
remember there was no running water or electricity in
Cornaroya until Uncle Owen, or “Ownie,” brought water to
the area for his own home and land in the 1950s. The
younger Peter built his own home around a bend in the
boreen around 1970. He and his wife still live there today.
Before those water lines came, the families would
have had to make a trip to the Bulkaun River to haul back
water for drinking, washing, cooking and other tasks.
“Unimaginable,” was a recent comment from Eugene's
daughter Maria in Ballinrobe. Methods of transporting the
water ranged from smaller tin cans carried by children to
various carts and barrels for larger loads.
A small story from Uncle Tom lends credence to
the idea that Uncle Owen, a lifelong bachelor, would not
always have been excited, or more likely prepared, to host
visitors from the U.S. – even in his new home. Some
friends of Uncle Tom’s at the Post Office were planning a
trip to Ireland and, in their enthusiasm and generosity
toward their friend, said they would stop and see Uncle
Tom’s family in Ballinrobe. The prospect spurred Tom to
send money to Uncle Owen so he would have some things
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