“Do you have the money?”asked Rita Shea Connolly,grabbing my hand and look-

ing me squarely in the eye. “I do, Rita, butit’s overpriced,” I explained. “’Tis no mat-ter,” she said. “You must get it now, or youwill surely lose it forever.”

Rita Shea Connolly was a quiet, gentlesoul who seldom spoke above a whisper.But, in this case, she knew both the play-ers and the stakes, and she was determinedto communicate the urgency. I treasuredher friendship and respected her judg-ment, and I knew she was right. She waslike a mother to me, especially since myown dear mother was slipping away, rav-aged by Alzheimer’s disease. They had thesame maiden name.

So, on the Tuesday after Easter in 2000, Iset out for Roscommon, a woman on a mis-sion with less than 24 hours to spare beforemy flight back to America. Rita had suc-ceeded in lighting a fire in my heart, and Iwas determined to strike a deal and save the

remaining half of the orig-inal Killian farm from realestate development.

When I was growingup in Yonkers, NY, mymaternal grandparents,Denis and Katie KillianO’Shea, both of whomwere born in Ireland,lived in the sameapartment house asmy family did. Theywere an integral partof our everyday lives,and whenever theybabysat, my broth-ers and I would begthem to tell us sto-ries of their child-

50 enterprising Women

BY JOAN K I L L IAN GALLAGHER

Going Home:

The Killian cottage before restoration

The Killian sisters in New York in 1901

in a photo taken to reassure their family

in Ireland that they were alive and well

in America.

Copyright 2005, Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com).

hoods in Ireland. With their gifted story-telling, Irish farm life in the 1800s camealive for us, and we spent many happyhours, listening to stories and picturing ourgrandparents with their large families, hap-pily tucked away in Irish cottages and doingtheir daily chores on the land.

Sadly, my grandfather’s ancestral homein Tipperary went out of the family in theearly 1980s and soon was demolished.The old farmhouse was torn down and thestones dispensed for stone walls in thearea. His children in America were the onlydescendants of that branch of the O’Sheafamily, and it seemed no one was able tomaintain the property. It was heartbreakingto me that my Grandfather O’Shea’s cot-tage was lost forever because there were noO’Shea descendants in Ireland, and noone in America in a position to preservethe family’s heritage.

Now, at the turn of the new century, theKillian Homeplace was facing the samefate, and I believed with all my heart that itmust be saved and that it was up to me tosave it.

A LIFELONG DREAMFor as long as I can remember, it has

been my dream to have a little stone housesomewhere. I had saved photographs frommagazines and articles from newspapers,fueling my imagination and creating thevisual details.

On Sept. 19, 1996, I had even writtenin my journal, “Who knows what mystone cottage will look like, or where it willbe …maybe Ireland. It may be old, but forsure it will be in a beautiful, peaceful place,and I will be content there.”

In March 1998, less than two years afterwriting that, I was the successful, mysterybidder at a packed land auction in thetown of Longford, Ireland. The buildingboom had not yet hit, and it was the firstsale of a family-held farmland in threeyears. My purchase included 24 lush acresof magnificent rolling hills and a derelictfarmhouse that had been uninhabited formore than six decades. But, I had foundmy dream.

The magic for me flowed from the factthat it was a Killian farmhouse, the other

half of the ancestral Killian Homeplacewhere my great-grandfather, LaurenceKillian, was raised, the eldest of the ninechildren of Luke and Anne Furey Killian.

The purchase was thrilling, but at thesame time, immensely challenging. Whenall the excitement had died down, I foundmyself grateful to have had the winningbid, but a bit overwhelmed by the condi-tion of the cottage and the prospect ofrehabilitating it. Little did I know that twoyears later, I would do it again, purchasingthe other half of the Killian Homeplaceand completing the ancestral homesteadas a unified whole.

IRELAND, MY IRELANDAs the widowed mother of a seven-year-

old child, I had come to the realizationthat Ireland was the perfect solution to mynever-ending holiday-destination dilemma.

In addition to being a business owner, Iwas responsible for caring for both my 82-year-old mother, who was suffering fromAlzheimer’s, and my 85-year-old father,whose heart was slowly breaking as he

enterprising Women 51

THE KILLIAN Homeplace

An Ancestral HomePlace in Ireland

The Killian cottage as it looks today after the restoration.

Copyright 2005, Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com).

watched his wife fade and also battledphysical ailments of his own.

I needed to take a vacation where Icould rest and relax and where CarolineKillian Gallagher, my precious little girl,would not get bored. Ireland seemed likejust the place. In addition to its otherattractions, it was home to our Irishcousins, who had children the same age asmy daughter—four fresh-faced little oneswho were intrigued by their newly discov-ered Yankee relative.

As the years passed, the bond betweenthe American and Irish sides of our familystrengthened. With each visit, we learnedmore about one another and also aboutour common heritage.

I was moved to tears imagining my owndear grandmother, Katie Killian O’Shea,coming to the Homeplace to bid farewellto her grandmother, Anne. I pictured Anneoffering words of encouragement and reas-surances of love as one after another of hergrandchildren set out for a better life, trav-eling from the warmth of her hearth intothe uncertainty of their new worlds.

My grandmother was the tenth of 12children of Laurence Killian and his wife,Sarah Connolly Killian. By the time sheturned 19 in 1898, there were alreadythree nuns and a Capuchin priest amongher 11 siblings. Peter Killian, her youngerbrother, had just announced that he, too,wanted to become a priest. So Katie,strong and quick-witted, made plans toleave the farm and travel to America toearn the money for his seminary educa-tion. After all, she reasoned, five of her sis-ters were already in America, and theywould show her the ropes.

In Ireland at the time, it was customaryfor the relatives to gather at an “Americanwake” to bid the traveler goodbye. In AnneKillian’s case, that goodbye was perma-nent, since most of her grandchildren wholeft Ireland never came home again. Theybuilt their lives in America and England,raising their own families with the samevalues of honesty and hard work they hadbeen taught on the farm in Ireland.

Some of Anne’s grandchildren losttheir lives at an early age.

52 enterprising Women

Top photo: Joan KillianGallagher stands at thehearth of the cottage.

Center photo: workmenrestoring the cottage onthe lush farmland thathas been in Joan's familyfor more than 200 years.

Bottom photo: the Killiancousins at the cottage in1998, including Joan'sdaughter CarolineGallagher (left), withLouise Martin, AineHanley, and MaryMartin.

Copyright 2005, Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com).

Mary Flanagan, 21, made the front pageof The New York Times in April 1899. Shewas one of six Irish servants that died tragi-cally in a Fifth Avenue townhouse fire,trapped by the flames in the basement. Herbrother, James, 26, died four years later ofblood poisoning, leaving behind two youngchildren in Ireland. Katie’s sister, Maggie,became a nun, but died of tuberculosis at24 in a convent in Newark, NJ. Peter didenter the seminary, but died in 1908 at theage of 25, also from tuberculosis.

For me, the pieces of the puzzle thatcompose the story of the descendants ofAnne and Luke Killian are just now fallinginto place. They are coming to light slowly,gathered from divergent sources and unex-pected places. It is fascinating to connectthe dots and discover new connections.

The Killians were brave and determinedsouls. Some died before their time; somenever married, and some married, butremained childless. Those who becamepriests and nuns firmly believed in theircalling and gave boundlessly of their ener-gy to educate the young. There is no oneleft to speak on their behalf, so I havebecome the self-appointed keeper of thefamily flame, the one who will write theirstory and remember their contributions tothe world and the Killian legacy.

In the course of the nine years we havebeen returning to Ireland on holiday, wehave nurtured a growing love of the peopleand the place.

With my purchase of the two halves ofthe Killian Homeplace (the first in 1998,the second in 2000), the original farm has

been made whole again, and it once againencompasses the nearly 50 acres of lush,green fields that the Killian family has cul-tivated for the last two hundred years.

It is a source of pride that the Killianownership of the land began when myGreat, Great Grandmother Anne had thetenacity and the vision to take a stand forher family in 1893 and buy the family’slease holding from the English landlords.As tenant farmers in British-ruled Ireland,the Killian family had few rights, but AnneFurey Killian was determined to takeadvantage of the newly enacted land actand change that. In 1893, at the time ofher purchase, she was widowed and atleast 80 years old, but she was unwaveringin her desire to get the land for her family,and so she did.

When I bought each of the two halves

of the original farm, I, too, was a widowdetermined to give my child the best thatlife had to offer. I wanted my daughter,Caroline, to know the place her greatgrandparents left and to understand howthey struggled against all odds when theyleft home in Ireland to begin a new life inthe New World. The simplicity and good-ness with which our ancestors lived theirlives is captured in the rooms of these tinystone cottages and in the folds of the rich,green fields.

COMING FULL CIRCLELooking back at the sequence of events,

it still amazes me that the stone cottage Ibuilt in my mind so many times hasbecome a reality. Not only do we have onestone cottage, we have two, and they arethe original homes of our Killian ancestors.In Ireland, as in most of Europe, the fami-ly home remains in the family, passingfrom generation to generation. It is rarely,if ever, sold on the open market the way Iacquired both pieces.

Strangely, the American dream that mygrandmother, Katie Killian O’Shea, soughtin 1898 helped make it all possible for me.

In the New World, I was able to startand build a thriving business that provid-ed the capital to make this dream a reality.Having founded and run my own compa-ny for 28 years, I was not intimidated by

enterprising Women 53

In Ireland at the time, it was customary forthe relatives to gather at an “Americanwake” to bid the traveler goodbye. In AnneKillian’s case, that goodbye was permanent,since most of her grandchildren who leftIreland never came home again.

THE KILLIAN Homeplace

Joan Killian Gallagher, founder and president of Warden-Brooks, Ltd., says the success of her companyhelped make it possible for her to realize her dream of purchasing and restoring the Killian Homeplacein Ireland, a 50-acre farm with two cottages.

Copyright 2005, Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com).

the challenges of acquiring and renovatingthe Homeplace as they appeared. Thedogged determination that helped mycompany, Warden-Brooks, become wellknown and respected in the corporate giftindustry made me a fearless opponent atthe auction that day in Longford.

I suppose serendipity also played a role.In 1991, recognizing the potential marketin Europe, I had exercised my right, as agrandchild of Irish-born grandparents, toapply for dual citizenship. Little did Iknow at the time that being an Irish citizenwould facilitate my taking legal title to theKillian Homeplace a few years later.

Having put the “two farms under mearm” by the summer of 2000, the next yeara wonderful and unexpected eventoccurred in my life. I met and married awidower who soon shared my passion forthe project. Christopher Clark and I joinedforces, and we kicked the KillianHomeplace restoration project into highgear. We planned, we schemed, and weovercame hurdles, finally getting thebuilders to agree to preserve the old,unique features of the Homeplace, notmodernize it at the expense of authenticity.

Five long years later, on July 29, 2005,we turned the key, walked through thedoor, and stayed in our little stone cottagefor the first time. We were home at last! We

set about welcomingall the cousins and allthe neighbors. Wemade endless pots oftea, shared our livesand our laughter, andspent three weeksenjoying the beauty of Ireland and thewarmth of its people.

Our Killian cousinshave been a big part ofthe project, contribut-ing their energy and

keeping the dream alive after we return toAmerica each year.

Since 1997, we have shared our liveswith our cousins. Together, we havewatched each other’s children grow up,grandchildren be born, and parents passaway. We have shared all the other joysand sorrows that are part of the rich tex-ture of life.

The Killian cousins have welcomed uswith open arms and open hearts, and theyhave given us the love and safety we wereseeking. After my marriage to Chris, theymade a point of gathering the clan andwelcoming him, making him feel at homethere, as well. My daughter, Caroline, andher four cousins simply pick up wherethey left off on the last visit each time theysee one another. They share a strong bondand a lasting friendship.

One day, in a quiet momentwhile walking from one cottagedown the lane to the Homeplace,it struck me that it was exactlyone hundred years after my grand-mother Katie left Ireland forAmerica that I pursued my “Irishdream” and purchased the firsthalf of the farm in Longford.

Could Katie ever have imag-ined that one hundred years aftershe bravely volunteered to leavehome, her own granddaughterwould return to the place whereher father was born and call ithome?

The Homeplace, the actual cot-tage where the Killian children

were born and reared, has an adjoiningcompound of out buildings and gardens.The nine children of Anne and Luke allsurvived the famine there and then livedinto adulthood, most of them into old age.

In the main room, the original slatefloor and stone hearth remain intact. It isin this room, the heart of the Homeplace,that the Killian spirit is most alive. Lookingout the back window, past the garden tothe fields, the presence of the past sur-rounds the cottage.

And so it goes.The Homeplace remains a labor of love

and a work in progress for all the Killiandescendants to behold and cherish in thistopsy-turvy world that sometimes spinsout of control. We can all go home toFermoyle in County Longford, Ireland,now and forevermore…to get our bear-ings…to breathe in the spirit of our ances-tors’ strength and goodness, and to cele-brate their memory._________________________________________JOAN KILLIAN GALLAGHER is the founderand president of Warden-Brooks, Ltd.(www.wardenbrooks.com), a New Canaan,CT-based firm that designs, manufacturesand sells corporate gift products. She is alsoa member of the Enterprising WomenNational Advisory Board. She can be con-tacted at 203-972-1111 (e-mail: jkg@wardenbrooks.com).

THE KILLIAN Homeplace

54 enterprising Women

The Killian cousins all grown up as teenagers inthis shot taken in August: From left, AineHanley, Joan's daughter Caroline Gallagher,Louise Martin, Mary Martin, and Deirdre Leavy.Frequent visits to Ireland make it possible forCaroline to stay close to her Irish cousins.

The Killian Homeplace has an adjoining compound of outbuildings and gardens.

Copyright 2005, Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com).