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 as well as wealthy landowners and travelers throughout eastern Mayo and parts of southern
County Sligo 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 notices he had recently drawn up for nearly half a dozen
tenant farmers 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 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, who immediately sent for reinforcements from
Ballina,
Castlebar 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, Gallagher was hastily tried and convicted, then taken to
Castlebar, 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 be asked to lead the soldiers to the site in the hopes his men would be able to rescue him from their hideout near the Derryronane-Curryane border; the treasure, if it consisted of more than the sword, was never recovered. ==See also==