William Nassau Alley (1808 – June 1849) was an Irish

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

. Alley was a native of Ballinasloe and is credited with much of the responsibility for the erection of the Methodist chapel of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, at what was later to be known as Victoria Place. In 1836 he and his wife Mary had only recently set up business as merchants in the town, where he was acknowledged as one of the leading members of the community. Thanks mainly to their efforts, the chapel was opened in 1839. Galway was one of the worst affected areas in Ireland during the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...

, and members of the community risked their lives in attempting to save the lives of their fellow Irish. While assisting the sick and hungry, Alley became infected with fever and died in June 1849. His wife, Mary, died in 1863, aged 62. Both of them were buried at the back of chapel at Victoria Place, over which an impressive monument with a Corinthian pillar was erected. He was an older brother of George Alley.

References

* ''Methodisim in Galway'', Dudley Levistone Cooney,

, 1978 People from Ballinasloe 1808 births 1849 deaths Businesspeople from Galway (city) Irish Methodists {{Ireland-reli-bio-stub