The Gallaghers of Ballinrobe
IN MARCH 2020, Pat Gallagher had an idea. He asked his brother, Owen, what he thought of writing a book about the family of their father, James Gallagher, who grew up in the early decades of the 20th century in the West of Ireland in the small town of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. The shutdown from COVID-19 was just beginning, and the thinking was they would have more time on their hands than usual. What better way to spend quarantine than exploring the stories of our aunts, uncles and other relatives. The task turned out to be much more complicated (and rewarding) than anticipated. It involved sifting through ship manifests, census, birth and marriage records, newspaper archives, and, most enjoyable, sessions delving into the memories of extended-family members. Sorely missed was the chance to hear first-hand the tales from our deceased cousins John O'Brien and Pete Gallagher. This book's stories and more than 500 images are the result of the past year's journey. The goal was both simple and ambitious: making the memories of the Gallaghers of Ballinrobe ours forever.
IN MARCH 2020, Pat Gallagher had an idea. He asked his brother, Owen, what he thought of writing a book about the family of their father, James Gallagher, who grew up in the early decades of the 20th century in the West of Ireland in the small town of Ballinrobe, County Mayo. The shutdown from COVID-19 was just beginning, and the thinking was they would have more time on their hands than usual. What better way to spend quarantine than exploring the stories of our aunts, uncles and other relatives.
The task turned out to be much more complicated (and rewarding) than anticipated. It involved sifting through ship manifests, census, birth and marriage records, newspaper archives, and, most enjoyable, sessions delving into the memories of extended-family members. Sorely missed was the chance to hear first-hand the tales from our deceased cousins John O'Brien and Pete Gallagher. This book's stories and more than 500 images are the result of the past year's journey. The goal was both simple and ambitious: making the memories of the Gallaghers of Ballinrobe ours forever.
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MIKE O'BRIEN'S FAMILY
Father Michael, Patsy DeAscanis' oldest son, visits his grandfather's family in County Meath, Ireland, in
2004. With Father, from left, are Beno's husband Phil Newport and Uncle Mike's nephew James Kerrigan.
County Meath is home to the Hill of Tara, the
seat of the legendary High Kings of Ireland. It is claimed
the view from the top of the hill offers views of half the
counties of Ireland. But you only need a range of seven
or eight miles to see the county town of Navan to the
northwest. Let your eyes follow the flow of the River
Boyne.
It is Navan and the surrounding townlands that
were home to the ancestors of our Uncle Mike O’Brien.
His paternal grandfather was John Brien, a
laborer from Newtown a few miles south of Navan, near
the town of Trim. In those times, the “O” prefix in front
of Brien was often omitted from official records. The
“O” generally stood for “son of,” while “Mac” or “Mc”
stood for “grandson of” or “descendent of.” Uncle
Mike’s maternal grandfather was Daniel Flannigan from
Athlumney, a townland just east of Navan. We don’t
know how Daniel Flannigan made a living, but unlike
the Gallaghers of County Mayo, neither of Uncle Mike’s
grandfathers nor his father were farmers.
The Boyne Valley is Ireland’s ancient capital
and has a sacred and mythical landscape. It also is one
of Ireland’s most renowned centers for equestrian sports
and horse breeding. The Irish Grand National is
regularly held at Fairyhouse, and Navan’s own
racecourse is one of the finest tests for National Hunt
horses. The two main rivers in County Meath, the
Boyne and the Blackwater, join at Navan, and continue
east to the Irish Sea. Both waterways are rich in
aquatic life, and the salmon and trout are recognized as
among the finest in Ireland.
According to the Navan Historical Society,
Navan in the 1840s was comparable to what we today
might call a Third World Town. Chief among the
causes for the local economic collapse was the end of
the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Farmers once vital to the
war efforts fell into poverty. Young men no longer had
the (admittedly dangerous) option of going off to
battle. Then came the Great Famine. The population of
County Meath declined from 183,000 in 1841 to
67,000 by 1900. Royal Meath always had been a
center for Irish nationalism. The Battle of the Boyne
was fought there in 1690. Those anti-British
sentiments grew deeper as times grew harder. Daniel
“The Liberator” O’Connell had held a “monster” rally
on the Hill of Tara in August 1843 that was attended by
as many as a million people. And Charles Stewart
Parnell was first elected to the House of Commons as a
Home Rule League MP for County Meath in 1875.
It was in the midst of this 19th century life
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