The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe

Uncle Mike was born Dec. 15, 1897, in the townland of Simonstown, just north of Navan, County
Meath, Ireland. He was always working himself or helping friends and relatives find a job.
Michael and Margaret Brady as sponsors, according to a
copy of his Baptismal certificate from May 24, 1930. Uncle
Mike was a middle child in a family of 11 children born to
Owen (Eugene) and Anne (Flannigan) O’Brien. Just three
years later, the 1901 Census shows Uncle Mike, his parents
and his five older siblings living as boarders in the home of
a 70-year-old widow, Marie McLaughlin, and her son
Thomas, a soldier, on Flower Hill in Navan. This was a
temporary situation, as the family moved to their own home
in Milestown by 1904, at the latest. Milestown is another
townland just north of Simonstown. Navan, itself, sits at the
confluence of the Rivers Boyne and Blackwater, less than
30 miles northwest of Dublin.
Details of Uncle Mike’s young days are limited,
but he grew to be a friendly, affable and congenial young
man. He was quick with a joke and fond of a good story …
the bigger the better. Throughout his life he was always
willing to help someone in need. This virtue served him
well in both personal relationships and in the working
world. In its most sincere sense, Uncle Mike fit the greeting
of a “hail fellow well met.”
Whatever schooling Uncle Mike received, it
would have been enhanced by what he learned following
his passion for horse racing. It was a love that ran through
the family. His sister Bridget married a jockey, Joseph
Norris. Joseph’s son Paddy went on to become a renowned
horse trainer, whose winning entries included Kilballyowen
in the 1957 Jameson Irish Grand National. A column in the
Irish Press written on Paddy Norris’ death in 1990
described him in a way that could easily be said of his
Uncle Mike: “One of the great extroverts and one of the
true humorists in Irish racing.”
Uncle Mike had some racing success himself. He
was proud of telling his family how he once finished third
in the Grand National steeplechase race, which is held
annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England.
The exact year could not be determined, but there was a
jockey named O’Brien (identified variously as M., Major
or John) who, technically, finished third on the horse
Amberwave in the 1928 Aintree running. He tied for the
distinction with 39 others. Only two mounts actually
finished that particularly crowded and rough race without
stumbling over a fence, hedge or other horse. A jockey
named J.C. O’Brien, identified in newspaper accounts as an
“amateur pilot,” rode Amberwave to a second-place finish
in the 1927 Irish Grand National steeplechase race, held
each Easter Monday at Fairyhouse Racecourse in County
Meath. Whenever it was that Uncle Mike made his ride at
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