I am not sure how accurate this is, but it seems relatively authoratative so I am inclined to believe it. If you would like to read more about Gallaghers, history and otherwise, click here.

Gallagher is derived from the word(s)gall-cobhair. Cobhair is the Irish word for help, although now spelt comhair, but pronounced the same.
The Gallcobhair (or the Galloglaic in some regions) were Scottish troops sent to Ireland between 1200 and 1600 to aid the Irish against their common enemy; the English. The name did not exist until this time.
Most of the Gallcobhair married and settled in Ireland,thus the name came about from the Gaelic naming system which still exists today that is:
NiGhallachoir,

pronounced; nee yallacore, meaning the daughter of Gallagher
The male is oGallachoir,meaning ‘from’ or ‘out of’the Gallagher.
When a woman marries a Gallagher you become uiGallachoir, meaning ‘onto’ or ‘wed to’ Gallagher. The original Ballcobhair came from many many different Scottish clans, including Macs, O’s etc…
The reason for the high population of Gallaghers in Donegal is that they(the first Gallcobhairs) were part of a dowry of an Ulster (Donegal) princess and so the earliest Gallcobhair settled there.

By Michael Gallagher

My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.

3 thoughts on “Gallagher History: Apparently we are displaced Scots”
  1. I believe this is accurate, because I’m related to the Gallaghers of Donegal. However, my DNA shows no Irish DNA, only Scottish.

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