The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Aunt Ann remembered trying to make sure she sat close to her father
during special dinners while she was growing up in Ballinrobe.
and slightly less-styled hair. Telling the story to others,
Uncle Jim said it was unexpected when Owen, a young boy
at the time, picked Aunt Ann.
It shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Compared
with Aunt Mary, Aunt Ann did not show sentimentality, but
she expressed it in other ways. Her character shown
through any lack of smile. Years later, one of Owen’s
tenderest memories of Aunt Ann came from a visit he and
his wife Lynn made not long after Uncle Tom had died.
Lynn, who recognized the special place Aunt Ann held in
the family, came away joyful because Aunt Ann, not known
for her physical displays of affection, had let her embrace
her. It was assurance for Lynn she was fully accepted.
Owen and Lynn always kept a photo of Aunt Ann in a
prominent place in their home – although it is not the one
Owen was asked to judge many years earlier.
IN IRELAND
For various reasons, the civil registrations of
births were often delayed in Ireland. A copy of the
document for Aunt Ann shows she was not registered until
Oct. 14, 1921, almost 10 months after she was born.
Adding some confusion, it lists her birth day as July 28,
with her sister Nora present. Part of the delay may have
been Ireland's ongoing war for independence from Great
Britain. That spring, the conflict came to County Mayo. A
party of volunteers from the South Mayo Brigade IRA
ambushed a detachment of Black and Tans and Royal Irish
Constabulary men, on May 3, 1921. The soldiers had set
out west from their barracks at Ballinrobe to resupply an
outpost on the far side of Lough Mask. They were
ambushed in Tourmakeady. Three RIC constables and a
Black and Tan soldier were killed. Two rebels died,
including Padraig Feeney, a 22-year-old volunteer from
Ballinrobe who worked at Birmingham’s shop. Feeney's
body was placed in front of the main altar at St. Mary's in
Ballinrobe, while two RIC victims rested before the side
altars. Parish priest Canon D’Alton refused to change the
positions when British officials objected, but he did visit
the local barracks with the archbishop and expressed
sympathy with the police. The clergy members described
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