Bridget and her seven children left Castlecomer and Ireland in 1844. They probably sailed from Dublin or Cork.

Bridget and her seven children left Castlecomer and Ireland in 1844. They probably sailed from Dublin or Cork.

I think Thomas Large worked in the coal mines. Let’s make the case.
The Wandesforde Estate was smack in the middle of the Castlecomer coal fields. Coal provided Castlecomer’s wealth from the mid-1600s until the mid-1900s.


Patrick Gallagher left Ireland for Pennsylvania around 1850. There he met and married Ellen Large.
Ellen had immigrated too. She and her siblings and mother left Ireland in 1844.
Whereas our Gallaghers hailed from County Donegal, our Large grandparents were from County Kilkenny.
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Patrick Gallagher emigrated around 1850, at about age 23.
We don’t know the specific year Patrick left Ireland, or which ship he was on.
Continue readingWe found the Gallaghers, Roartys, Dugans, and Duffys in Meenderrynasloe and surrounding townlands. These townlands are in The Rosses and Gweedore Districts.


When you Google “The Great Famine,” accounts of starvation and death are numerous and overwhelming.
But as you read further and “go down the rabbit hole,” the story gets much more complex.
Continue readingJohn and Hannah Gallagher and their children lived a meager lifestyle in the northwest part of County Donegal. They and their families and neighbors weren’t much affected by the “outside” world.

We believe we’ve located the area where John Gallagher and Hannah Roarty lived in the early 1800s.
What was their life like?

We’ve used the Tithe Applotment Books of 1830 and Griffith’s Valuation of 1857 to find those townlands where Gallaghers and Roartys lived near each other.
If we’re correct, one of these townlands is the ancestral home of John Gallagher and Hannah Roarty.

We’re going to use the Tithe Applotment Books of 1830 and Griffith’s Valuation of 1857 to try to find where John Gallagher and Hannah Rhoorty lived.
