The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Eugene Gallagher,
holding a cigarette,
gathers with at least six
cousins, including Aunt
Nora, probably sometime
in the 1970s. In front,
from left, are Bridie
(Mellet) Butler, Bridie
(King) Mullin, Aunt Nora
and Annie (King) Clancy.
Bridie Mullin's son the
Rev. Thomas Mullin is at
the far left and son Bobby
is behind Eugene. The tall
man in the white shirt
could not be identified.
home, until he built a new bungalow, probably in the late
1950s, on the boreen slightly closer to the Convent Road.
That bungalow has given way to modern developments.
Among Peter’s children, Delma, who married
Andy Derhen, would go on to hold various jobs at the
United Nations. She died in 1998, leaving two children,
Brian and Vanessa. Tommy moved to Virginia, married
Sharon Slaughter in 1968 and raised a family there while
keeping in touch with his Gallagher cousins in the
Wilmington, Del., area. He died in 2006; his children are
Kara and Kelly.
Eugene and Peter raised their own families next
door to each other along the boreen in Cornaroya. They
moved from the original cottage where they were raised to
a pair of plots around a bend in the road at different times.
Memory and Valuation Office records indicate their homes
were under construction around 1970/71. We owe a debt of
gratitude to Peter’s wife, Maureen, for how she was among
those who helped Uncle Owen as his health failed in the
late 1990s.
Peter Gallagher Next Door’s oldest son, Eugene,
had a way of standing out to his relatives in the U.S. Maybe
it was because he came to America and served in the
Korean War. Maybe because two of his daughters stayed
for a while with Uncle Jim’s son Pat in Wilmington. Or
maybe it was simply because his personality exuded the
graciousness, humor and love of family we think of as
typical for an Irish gentleman farmer. "All the nice things
we say about the Gallaghers we say for only one reason,"
he once reflected, before pausing in the way he would
when making a profound declaration. Prodded for the
reason, he finally added, "Because they're true."
Eugene’s service in the military in the 1950s
earned him U.S. citizenship. And after returning to
Ballinrobe and starting his family, he often traveled to
America for reunions with Army buddies or to visit his
many relatives. On one such visit he came for a World Cup
soccer game and ended up at the funeral of his cousin, our
Uncle Tom. On another visit, he charmed the mother-inlaw
of Uncle Jim’s son Owen by serenading her with a
favorite song at the kitchen table. He also insisted that
Owen and Lynn take him to an arena inside the Trump
Plaza casino in Atlantic City from where he had watched so
many televised boxing broadcasts over the years. He
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