A woman who was a stalwart of the Irish community in Huddersfield has died.
Maureen Gallagher, née Russell, of Carrickboy, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal died on November 1 after a long illness, surrounded by her family at home.
Large numbers of people paid their respects at the funeral at St Joseph’s Church, The Rock, Ballyshannon.
Maureen was born in May 1940, the third of seven children to William and Catherine Russell.
The first two, Anne and Joe, were born in Aughnacloy, Co. Tyrone. Like many people in their community, they left Northern Ireland due to the lack of employment opportunities for Catholics.
Maureen was the first to be born in Huddersfield, followed by Eileen, Danny, Gerard and Paul.
In common with many working class families of the time, they experienced times of hardship but the parents worked hard and survived the struggles.
Maureen was child number three, but it did not take too many years for her to become established as ‘Second in Command’ to mum in helping run the home and care for the babies.
Her sister Eileen said: “I think it would be fair to say she even outranked dad in the family hierarchy, he being happy to take a back seat among the household chaos.
“This tendency to bossiness did not sit well with the rest of us siblings, especially me. I was the next in line to Maureen, arriving almost five years after her.
“While in adult life a gap of five years is nothing, at certain times of life it is huge. So the need to share a bedroom and indeed a bed was not conducive to happy sisterhood.
“Maureen’s treatment of me during these years could be best described as character building. So, in a nutshell, Maureen as a girl was a bossy sister but also a diligent and dutiful daughter”.
The next phase of her life could be described as the romantic years and relates to the time when a certain young man from County Donegal by the name of Michael Gallagher arrived in Huddersfield. Whether it was his dark good looks, his smooth Irish chat-up lines or his fabulous footwork on the dance floor, Maureen was smitten and Michael became and remained the love of her life.
They married in St. Joseph’s Church in Huddersfield in 1960. In 1961 Clare, the first of their beloved daughters arrived and by 1970 she had been joined by Anne, Sarah, Marie and Kate.
Maureen devoted herself to being a good wife, mother and homemaker. It was also during these years when that pesky younger sister came into her own as baby-sitter, nappy changer and bottle feeder and so was formed a bond between Maureen, myself and her five girls that has lasted ever since.
Maureen was justly proud of her daughters and took every opportunity to show them off. She was delighted that four of them entered the nursing profession (sorry Kate!)
She was also very proud of her 14 grandchildren, again taking pleasure in all their achievements both great and small. I think Michael could have happily lived his life in Huddersfield but Maureen’s love of Ireland and all things Irish was the driving force that brought them back to Ballyshannon.
With more time on her hands, Maureen enjoyed travelling and holidays with Michael and also with Clare and her daughters. She also developed her love of painting and in a relatively short time became an accomplished artist,
Three and a half years ago, Maureen was diagnosed with the illness that ended her life and given a year to live she set about proving the experts wrong.
With enormous courage she fought the disease. Throughout this time she was supported and cared for by medical teams both as inpatient and outpatient. But most of all, it was the loving care of beloved husband and cherished daughters which enabled her to live out her life at home which she very much wanted.
There is one other person who deserves a special mention, Maureen’s very dear friend Ann Holmes. For many years Maureen and Ann were friends and colleagues in Huddersfield.
Fr Eugene McGillicuddy, a great family friend, will say Mass to celebrate the life of Maureen Gallagher in St Patrick’s Church, New North Road on December 12 at 7.30pm followed by refreshments afterwards in The Irish Centre, Fitzwilliam Street.
