Gallagher

An Irish surname of Donegal, Dublin, Mayo, and Sligo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 69,834 people, the 479th most common surname in the country.

Ó Gallchobhair

Where the name comes from

Ó Gallchobhair is descendant of Gallchobhar, foreign help. The family was numerous and once powerful in Tirconnell and descends from Maolchobha, King of Ireland in the 7th century. As marshalls of O'Donnell's forces the O'Gallaghers took a prominent part in all the military movements of Cinel Conaill during the 14th and later centuries, and many of them were distinguished as Bishops of Raphoe and Derry.

Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal
Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal

The Gallagher counties, photographed

Donegal

Slieve League is about 600 metres from clifftop to sea, one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Errigal is the highest mountain in the county at 751 metres, and it's quartzite, so it turns pink in low light. Glenveagh National Park covers about 16,000 hectares behind them.

Fanad Head Lighthouse at dawn with sunrise over Inishowen, Co. Donegal, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxFanad Head at Dawn, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal St. John's Point Lighthouse standing on the headland on a bright spring day with green grass, DonegalSt. John's Point Lighthouse, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal

Dublin

Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin Heron fishing at dawn on the Dublin coast — fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxHeron, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

Mayo

Achill is the largest island off the Irish coast and is joined to the mainland by a bridge. Clew Bay is full of drumlins that were drowned when the sea rose, which is where the story about an island for every day of the year comes from. Croagh Patrick stands over the south side of the bay. Mayo's population is still less than half what it was before the Famine.

Black and white view across Doo Lough towards Ben Gorm and mountains, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDoo Lough, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white view of Dun Briste sea stack from a sea cave, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste from the Cave Co. Mayo Black and white lone tree standing in bogland with the Partry Mountains behind, County MayoLone Tree, Partry Mountains, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo

Sligo

Benbulben is a limestone plateau with its sides cut away by ice, standing flat-topped over the plain. Knocknarea has a cairn on top, thought to be a passage tomb and never excavated. Strandhill and Mullaghmore get some of the biggest surf in Europe. Yeats is buried at Drumcliffe below Benbulben.

Mullaghmore, Co. SligoMullaghmore, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo Ruined cottage on a blustery day in the Ox Mountains, Co. Sligo, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxCottage, Ox Mountains, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo Aerial view of a stream winding across a beach to the sea, Co. Sligo, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBeach Detail, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo

All Donegal prints · All Dublin prints · All Mayo prints · All Sligo prints

Notable bearers

Noel Gallagher (born 1967), singer, composer, and singer-songwriter.

Liam Gallagher (born 1972), singer, musician, and composer.

Gallagher (1946-2022), actor and comedian.

Conor Gallagher (born 2000), association football player.

Peter Gallagher (born 1955), actor, singer, and screenwriter.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 488 births were registered under Gallagher in Ireland, most of them in Donegal, Dublin, Londonderry, Mayo, Sligo, and Tyrone.

Ulster 295
Connacht 144
Leinster 28
Munster 21
Ireland 488

Londonderry and Tyrone are the ones I haven't worked in.