Captain Gallagher (died 1818) was an Irish highwayman who, as one of the later Irish Rapparees (guerrillas), led a bandit group in the hills of the Irish countryside, armed with a blunderbuss, of the day, during the late 18th and early 19th century. Born in Bonniconlon, County Mayo he lived with his aunt in Derryronane, Swinford for much of his early life and was raised near the woods of Barnalyra. As he reached early adulthood, he and group of others began raiding

mail coaches A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. M ...

as well as wealthy landowners and travelers throughout eastern Mayo and parts of southern

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

and western County Roscommon. His attacks on landowners were especially widely known and, in one reported incident, Gallagher and his men raided the home of an extremely unpopular landlord in Killasser and forced him to eat half a dozen

eviction Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...

notices he had recently drawn up for nearly half a dozen

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

s before escaping with silver and other valuables. Although successfully evading British patrols for some time, he was finally apprehended by authorities in the parish of Coolcarney (or possibly Attymass) near the foothills of the

Ox Mountains The Ox Mountains or Slieve Gamph () are a mountain range in County Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. They are also known as Saint Patrick's Mountains after the saint who built churches on its slopes and left his name to some of its wells. Ge ...

while recovering from an illness at a friend's home during Christmas. He had been informed on by a neighbour, whom Gallagher had formerly helped, and who sent a message of Gallagher's whereabouts to the British commanding officer at

Foxford Foxford () is a village 16 km south of Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. It stands on the N26 national primary route from Swinford to Ballina and has a railway station served by trains between Manulla Junction and Ballina. Foxford lie ...

, who immediately sent for reinforcements from Ballina,

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. W ...

and Swinford. A force of 200 redcoats was sent after Gallagher and, upon arrival, proceeded to surround the home where the highwayman was staying. Gallagher, by then in poor health and not wishing to endanger his host nor his family, surrendered to the British. Taken back to Foxford, he was tried and convicted before being taken to

where he was executed. Shortly before his execution, he had claimed to the British commanding officer that his treasure had been hidden under a rock in the woods of Barnalyra. After Gallagher's execution, the officer quickly led several cavalrymen to Barnalyra and discovered that there were thousands of rocks in the wood; after a long search of all the rocks within the area they reportedly only recovered a jewel- hilted sword. It has been speculated that Gallagher may have been hoping to lead them to the site in the hopes his men would be able to rescue him from their hideout near the Derryronane-Curryane border, although the treasure, if he owned more than the sword, was never recovered.

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Stand and Deliver! - Captain Gallagher
Year of birth missing 1818 deaths Irish highwaymen 19th-century executions by the United Kingdom Executed people from County Mayo People executed for robbery People executed by Ireland by hanging People from Swinford, County Mayo {{crime-bio-stub

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