The Gallaghers are decended from the O'Gallchobair clan who were based
in Donegal which still maintains the greatest concentration of this
family name. Taken from The Ireland Information Page
Two main names-Gallagher is on my father's side and Lyons is my
mother's maiden name.
GALLAGHER surname and variations (e.g., Gallacher, Gallaugher, Golliher)
LYONS surname and variations (e.g., Lyon.)
My father's side of the family AND my mother's side of the family
emigrated from County
Mayo Ireland in 1850.
For instance, emigrants from the Ballina area of Mayo frequently settled
in Scranton, PA, USA. (This was also taken from the County Mayo link.)
The villages that our ancestors came from were, Ballina and Crossmolina
in County Mayo.
The new blockbuster movie called "The Titanic" has a scene in it that accurately portrays a vivid image of my ancestors in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries.
The scene is a third class, peasant and immigrant Irish dance party.
The characters were immigrating to Ellis Island, New York, in the United States of America.
The frequent drinking, loud noise making, stubbornness, and violent tempers are common traits among the Irish, which is my family heritage.
Titanic sailed in 1912, and my ancestors came over in the year of 1884.
None of my ancestors were on the Titanic, but the cultural diversity and the culture of the Irish were depicted on the Titanic, especially during the scene of the Irish dance party.
There is nothing better that I can think than that scene that reminds me of my roots.
I imagine my ancestors immigrating to New York, with little or
no English learned. The primary language back then was Gaelic.
Gaelic is rarely spoken in Ireland now. So, I am sure that the
Irish peasants on the Titanic and other ships only knew Gaelic and very little English. They learned it quickly once they arrived in America and worked there for a long period of time.
They were manual laborers with little or no education who worked for next to nothing. This was after the great potato famine had devastated the Irish countryside, leaving many of my ancestors yearning for a new life and new jobs in America. They were tired of farming potatoes, and decided instead to immigrate to Scranton, Pennsylvania. History reveals that my great-grandfather on my father's side was a blacksmith, others owned a bar. The women stayed at home and looked after the house and the children. That is often portrayed in various scenes of the Titanic.