Sir James Michael Gallagher (1860–1925) was an Irish businessman who was

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

for two terms. Gallagher was born in

Kiltyclogher Kiltyclogher () is a small village in County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the border with County Fermanagh, close to the hamlet of Cashelnadrea. Population The population of the Electoral division (Ireland), electoral divisi ...

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, the son of Patrick Gallagher. By 1889 he had moved to Dublin and opened a business as a cigar importer; by 1905 the business had four shops in the city. On 15 January 1908 he was elected to the

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660–1661, even more si ...

for Fitzwilliam ward for the

United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...

, and he continued to represent the ward until the corporation was suspended by the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

government in 1924. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1913. Gallagher was elected to serve two consecutive terms as Lord Mayor of Dublin as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

between 1915 and 1917. His tenure coincided with the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

and the resulting general instability in Dublin. He emphasised to the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

the need for British government compensation for Dubliners as a result of the destruction of much of the city, commenting "They blew up the best portion of our city and... it is their duty to replace it". His lobbying, and that of the Dublin Fire and Property Losses Association, led to the establishment of the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee by the Lord Lieutenant in June 1916. In July 1916, he travelled to London to petition the British government for assistance in rebuilding Dublin and for workable town planning regulations. This resulted in a £700,000 loan to the Dublin Corporation and in the Dublin Reconstruction (Emergency Provisions) Act 1916 passing into law in December 1916. From London, Gallagher proceeded to Paris to visit the Exposition de la Cité Réconstitutée – an urban planning exhibition of plans for rebuilding areas in France and Belgium destroyed during the First World War. At the quarterly meeting of the Dublin Corporation in October 1916 Lord Mayor Gallagher made a lengthy statement defending the corporation's management of the city in reference to criticisms of the administration by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

''. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

at the end of his second term in 1917. He was the last knighted person to be Lord Mayor of Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, James Michael 1860 births 1925 deaths 20th-century Irish politicians Irish justices of the peace Knights Bachelor Lord mayors of Dublin Businesspeople from County Leitrim United Irish League people 20th-century Irish businesspeople