Quoted Source: “Clinton County’s First Irish Settlement” written by Melissa Ferenish, published in the Mar 31, 2021 edition of NorthCentralPA.com
Gallagher Township is in eastern Clinton County and is bordered to the northeast by Lycoming County. First known as the “Irish Settlement”, it was started in the early 1830s by five Irish men: John Thomas Lovett, George Lovett, Andrew Nolan, John Hennessey, and Michael Welsh.
These men, like others who eventually came to the settlement, arrived in Lock Haven in the early part of the century to work on the West Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. The canal, which was completed by the 1830s, ran from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, according to the Irish America website.
The men who worked for the canal’s West Branch were indentured servants for the canal company. The company fed and housed them, but abandoned them once the canal was completed, according to the Clinton County Historic Site Survey, by Jean May and Lisa Bender.
Some of the men returned to Ireland, but a few married local Irish girls and settled in Clinton County in hopes that they could farm potatoes, like they did in Ireland. The quest for farmable land and open space led five men to 10 miles north of Lock Haven in an isolated area that had uncleared forest.
The five settlers and their families each had their own plot of land. Hennessey was possibly the first land owner, according to May and Bender’s historic survey. Brothers John and George Lovett owned adjoining land.
Map of Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Published by: Way, Palmer & Co., 1862. Photo Source: Library of Congress
The area in which they settled was not an easy area to live. It was isolated with lots of uncleared forest land which was far from the nearest road. Chatham’s Run was close, but the nearest mill was several miles away. The early settlers had to carry their grain on their backs as they walked to the mill.
“At the time that settlement was formed, there was not a road within five miles, and not even a tree had been cut on the land taken by them,” according a township history section on the Clinton County Genealogical Society website. “The howls of the wolf, the scream of the panther and the cry of the ferocious wild cat disturbed the midnight slumber of the sturdy settlers. Wild animals were very numerous, while herds of deer could be seen at one time, and panthers and bears would boldly carry off domestic animals in open daylight.”
As time went on, the more Irish families joined the original five settlers at the Irish settlement. Children married within the settlement. Other family names in the settlement included Relahan, Cree, Nangle or Naugle, Seezy, Smithers, Greaney, Krider or Cryder, and Bruyan or Brion, according to May and Bender.
Many of the Irish settlers were Catholic. However, in the early days there was not a Catholic church close by. The settlers often made overnight trips to Bastress, Howard, or Bellefonte to attend Mass. By 1852, the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church opened in Lock Haven. The settlers walked the 10 miles to attend church in Lock Haven, according to May and Bender.
By 1850, the settlement’s first school, Mountain Spring School, was built. By the 1895-1896 school year, a total of 18 pupils attended. Although the settlers grew up in poverty, most of these pupils went on to obtain professional positions such as teachers, according to May and Bender.
Although the Irish Settlement is no more, except for a few remnants of foundations. However, Gallagher Township is an important piece Clinton County’s history and even today, you will find many of the original family names can still be found in Clinton County.