Owen Gallagher

On St Patrick’s Day, 2013, Owen Gallagher , Currane, died and the parish of Achill lost one of her favourite sons.

Owen was born in Currane in 1925 to Johnny Owen Bhiddy and Catherine a’ MhΡistir (both Gallaghers) and was one of eight children. He grew up in a time of economic deprivation and mass emigration. He worked in his parents’ shop,  which for decades stocked sufficient goods to supply the needs of the Currane community  and Achill Beg and Clare islands.

From his teens, Owen w as a shopkeeper, farmer and fisherman. He helped his father on the boat collecting supplies from Westpor t harbour and delivering to the islands of Clew Bay, Achill and Belmullet. Both men shared a love and knowledge of the sea and boats . Owen’s stories on trips to the islands were legendary.  ‘The White Heather’, his father’s fifty foot hooker  featured in many of his stories. His choice of reading right up to his death related to sea faring and boats.

Owen only left Currane once – in the early 50’s – and his stay in England only lasted a couple of months. When he returned home he continued to work in the business and in addition to all his other activities, he set up a hackney service.  A stone thrown at his window was usually sufficient to waken him. He took people to dances, to trains and sometimes to planes as people left for Shannon to go to America. During those years he saw many of his good friends leave and set up home hundreds and thousands of miles away. However, those ties of friendship remained  in spite of time and distance. When those friends returned for holidays, Owen was the first person they visited and he was always hugely welcoming of them and their families.

More than any man I have known, he understood the true meaning of the word “dúchas”. He loved people and was full of ‘mórtas cine’ and ‘mórtas clainne’ for those whom he had known through his life. When he shook the hands of the sons and daughters of those Currane people who had emigrated, he appreciated the links of friends and family. Having stayed at home he knew ‘muintir a muintir’ and would regale many with stories of old. His memory of people and knowledge of ancestry was truly amazing.

He was an avid follower of GAA sports. He was heavily involved in playing Gaelic football with Currane and won a West Mayo Junior medal with a team that went under the name of Mulranny.

Owen was a gifted storyteller and his conversation was peppered with Irish words and sayings. He had a love for the Irish language and culture and a wealth of knowledge and history of the parish of Achill. He also had a great love of song and music. A wonderful dance with an elaborate waltz style, he could often be seen at weddings ‘taking the floor’ with great flourish.

In the 1960s he set about developing his parents’ business further. He obtained a publican’s licence and opened a pub behind the shop. He began a travelling shop that served the community from Polranny to Cushlecka. Throughout those years he would take time to teach his younger relations how to drive  - sometimes with limited success at initial attempts -  and would ignore scrapes and crashes benignly.

He married Maureen Moran from Ballycroy in 1966 after she had come to work in the business a few years earlier. Achill was a popular tourist destination in the late 60s and 70s. The pub Owen had opened was small and would be full on many nights. Owen and Maureen decided to build a bigger extension to the front of the shop and in 1974 ‘The Compass Bar’ opened for business. The combination of Maureen’s bar management skills and Owen’s role as genial host meant that the venue became a very popular social venue in the area.

After all his many roles, Owen’s role of that as husband and father were to be his most important. He was very much a family man and always loved children, treating them all with unfailing patience and kindness. In recent years he become a grandfather and his grandchildren were a source of great joy to him.

However, it was in recent years that his health began to deteriorate and this involved lengthening stays in hospital. Throughout all those years of ill health, which unfortunately impacted on his mobility and vision, he stayed cheerful and uncomplaining. He welcomed all visitors as he enjoyed ‘cuideachta’. He particularly enjoyed having his family come – the nieces, the nephews, cousins and neighbours to whom he had always been so good – so that he could tel his stories and catch up on all that was happening in their lives. “Any gΡrdai?” was his usual opening line to get all the latest news.

He had an enduring faith in God that nurtured and sustained him throughout his life. He also had a generosity of spirit that is extremely uncommon  - particularly in an age like this. In his passing, his community has lost a good neighbour, friend, cousin, brother, uncle, husband, father and grandfather. The respect, esteem and genuine affection in which he was held was evidenced by the hundreds who attended his wake and funeral.

To his wife Maureen, sons Séamus and Prionsias, daughters Maura and Noreen, son-in-law Paul, daughter-in-law Anne, grandchildren Camilla, William, Ewan and Órna we offer our sincerest sympathy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal i gcuideachta no cuideachta.