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This page is reserved for resources dealing with family research and the exploration of individual family trees. It will give useful advice as to exploring your family tree and where to find sources of information. There are also links to sites of interest on the web.

We are beginning a major genealogiacal project. Using specialised software we want to collect as much genealogical information as possible on Gallaghers. This will involve a searchable database which, as information is added, can be used to make links not previously known. This is very important given  the scarcity of official records  as we extend back in time,. We need you to send us your family trees etc.

The preferred metod is in a digital form -e-mail attachment, CD, DVD etc. GEDCOM would be the preferred file format but any well laid out family tree will be acceptable. It need not be a complete family tree but where possible give dates for the various elemts of Births, Marriages and Deaths etc recorded. Also, if possible forward copies of any original material which you used to build up the family tree. Likewise state the sources you used e.g. official record, family lore, your aunt's testimony etc. This allows those examining the information later to weigh the value of the information e.g. an original government record might be better than family lore.

If you cannot put the information in digital format we will still be delighted to receive it in paper form.

E-mail to postmaster@gallagherclan.org

The Griffith Valuation Lists

1. What the Griffith's Valuation is:

This valuation records every landowner and householder in Ireland in a period shortly after the famine. An Act was passed in 1826 that allowed for a uniform valuation of property in all Ireland for levying of county charges and Grand Jury rates. Thus began an assessment of the whole country, county by county by Sir Richard Griffith. Amendments were passed to the 1826 Act, the first in 1831 excluded those houses under the annual valuation of £3, another in 1836 excluded house under £5.

The information given in the Griffith's gives: the Townlands address and householders name; the name of the person from whom the property is leased; a description of the property; the acreage and the valuation. If a surname was common in an area then the surveyors adopted the practice of indicating the fathers name to show the difference between two people of the same Christian name and surname (usually). So Tadgh O'Brien (Michael) is the son of Michael O'Brien and Tadgh O'Brien (James) is the son of James O'Brien. However, here in Ireland people of the same name could/can be distinguished simply by indicating the colour of their hair (as gaeilge - thru Irish ) so it would have been sufficient here to indicate that one Tadgh had red hair and one Tadgh black - calling them respectively Tadgh (Red) O'Brien and Tadgh (Black) O'Brien.

The main difference between the Tithe Applotment Books and the Griffith's Valuation is that all householders were listed in Griffith's.

Remember the different types of acres used in each, the Irish and English acre...this will account for difference in size of land held by a family from one valuation to the other if they appear in both. Remember also the fact that the house of less than £3 annual value were included up to the year 1831 and excluded from that point forward, and those with an annual value of £5 were included up to 1836 and excluded from then on.

(The above text was provided by Jane O'Brien and reproduced here with her permission)

The Lists are divided as follows:

• First Names A-C
• First Names D-E
• First Names F-I
• First Names J
• First Names K-M
• First Names N-P
• First Names R-W

The table below shows the number of Gallagher households in each county in the Griffith's Primary Valuation property survey of 1848-64. By clicking on any of county/city names you are brought to a list of the Gallagher households in that area.

2. Maps

In March 2009 a project was begun to add the exact position of Gallagher holdings as they appear in the maps that accompany the Griffiths' list. This will more readily enable the positioning of these holdings to be found as they alone will appear. It may later be possible to get a GPS fix to add increased usability. In order to speed up the process we ask assistance from people living within Ireland to assist by pinpointing holdings that may be in their own parishes. This is especially important where a large population of Gallaghers appear.

Boston Pilot

From October 1831 through October 1921, the Boston Pilot newspaper printed a “Missing Friends” column with advertisements from people looking for “lost” friends and relatives who had emigrated from Ireland to the United States. This extraordinary collection of 31,711 records is available there as a searchable online database, which contains a text record for each ad that appeared in the Pilot.

These “Missing Friends” advertisements provide a window on the world of Irish immigration. They also give a view of the many versions of the Gallagher name, which make their appearance, with sometimes different spellings being used by the one searcher for the one person. We get to see the geographic spread of the Gallaghers within Ireland. Above all it helps us to empathise  with these immigrants, who may have vanished into a great new land, perhaps never again to be in contact with their families and friends and the loss and heartbreak it brought to all involved.

We show a list of Gallaghers taken from the Boston Pilot Newspaper by surname listed alphabetically.

With kind permission of Boston College as the developer of the website dedicated to the Database of Advertisements for Irish Immigrants Published in the Boston Pilot Newspaper