(O)Gallagher
O Gallchobhair (anglicized versions: Gallagher, Gallaher,
Galaher, Gallager, Golaher, Gallacher, Gallaher, Gallogher, Galliker,
Gilliger, O'Gallagher, and O'Galleghure.)
O'Gallchobhair are descendants of Gallchobhar, derivatives being
gall, meaning foreign (stranger)+chobhar, defined as help(support).
The name of this sept, O Gallchobhair in Irish, signifies descendants
of Gallchobhar or Gallagher, who was himself descended from the King of
Ireland who reigned from 642-654. The O'Gallaghers claim to be senior
and most loyal family of the Cineal Connaill. Their territory extended
over a wide area in the modern baronies of Raphoe and Tirhugh, Co. Donegal,
and their chiefs were notable as marshals of O'Donnell's military forces
from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, The principal branch
of the sept were seated at Ballybeit and Ballynaglack.
Gallagher, usually without its prefix O, is one of the commonest names in
Ireland being fourteenth in the statistical list compiled from birth
registrations. Gallagher is pronounced "Gallaher" in Ireland and "Gallager"
in America. Most of Gallaghers were recorded in the north-western counties
of Ulster and Connacht, the majority being from Co. Donegal, the original
homeland of the sept. The national records show them to have been even more
intimately connected with ecclesiastical than military activities. No
less than six O'Gallaghers were bishops of Raphoe in the fifteenth and
and sixteenth centures and one in the eighteenth. One of these, Laurence
O'Gallagher, who held the see from 1466-1477, was anything but a saintly
prelate, while on the other hand Most Rev. Redmond O'Gallagher (1521-1601),
Bishop of Derry, the prelate who befriended the survivors of the Spanish
Armada and was forced to disguise himself as a shepherd in order to escape
the prevailing religious persecution, was eventually captured and became one
of our Irish Catholic martyrs. A later Bishop of Raphoe, and afterwards of
Ossory, Most Rev. James O'Gallagher (1681-1751) was famous for his sermons
(usually preached in Irish), which, when published, ran to twenty editions.
In America Father Hugh Gallagher (1815-1882), had a most colourful career
as a "frontier priest". William Davis Gallagher (1808-1894), American
poet, was the son of an Irish refugee who took part in Robert Emmet's
Rebellion.
THE AUTHENTIC GALLAGHER COAT OF ARMS
It's description is Blazon: Agrgent a lion rampant sable treading on a
serpent in fess proper between eight trefoils vert.
Arms and the right to bear them are granted to individuals by the
Chief Herald of Ireland and only those arms registers with his office can
be truly claimed by descendants. The Coat Of Arms ensemble consists of
the escutcheon or shield; the helm or helmet; the crest; the motto; the
mantle and the suppporters. The shield is the most important element.
The crest ws worn by the warrior chiefs of Greek and Roman antiquity,
serving not only as a mark of rank but also as a consipicous emblem in
battle.
Hearldry is the study and description of coats of arms with its origins
coming in the twelfth century when knights in continental Europe first began
using markings on their shields to identify themselves. Arms first
arrived in Ireland with the Normans. Norman heraldy shows clearly its
military orgins. The more modern Coat Of Arms began in the 16th Century
as a Anglo-Irish heraldic practice characterized by elaborate shields
concerned more about a families' status than military ones. A third
tradition of Irish Hearldry related to Gaelic Irish where the symbols
related to pre-Chrisitan myths.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jack Gallagher
Jack (John) Gallagher, is a second generation Irish American
being born in San Francisco, California in 1948. His father, James
Gallagher, was also born in San Francisco in 1911. And James' Father,
Cornelius Gallagher was born in Cunlin, Ireland, July 15, 1872, migrating
at the turn of the 19th Century directly to San Francisco. This Cornelius
married Mary McDavett (MacDevitt) in San Francisco , her Father being
Cornelius MacDevitt who married Mary O'Kane probably around 1870, both
of whom were probably born around 1840 in the Donegal Area. Cornelius
Gallagher's Father, Jack's Great Grandfather, was also named James Gallagher,
also born in Cunlin around 1840. And, around 1870, he married Mary
Gertrude O'Donnell.
Jack Gallagher is a dual citizen being both an American and
Irish Citizen, currently residing as a permanent resident in the Philippines
with his wife Emilie Gallagher. He'd like more updates on the
GALLAGHER Clan, and will ad it to this site. If you have such
information, or want more information from him, please contact:
JACK GALLAGHER
Email: gallagher@americamail.com
