Helen O'Clery

Helen O'Clery (née Gallagher) (1910 – 11 October 2006) was an Irish writer specializing in children's books.

Early life O'Clery was born as Helen Gallagher in Stranorlar, County Donegal, the middle child of three born to Henry Thomas Gallagher and Eileen Cullen Gallagher. Her father was Crown Solicitor for County Donegal. Her mother came from County Wexford. Her mother started several small industries to employ local girls and Belgian refugees. A confectionery proved very successful. Her father joined her mother in the business, and they established Urney Chocolates in Dublin; it developed into one of the largest confectionery manufacturers in Europe.

Helen Gallagher attended schools in Dublin and France, and trained as a nurse at St Vincent's Hospital in Stephen's Green. Her writing was a family business: some of her books were illustrated by her elder daughter Ann, and her manuscripts were typed by her sister-in-law, Una Coonan. Her Pegasus books included maps drawn by her son Edward. The Mystery of the Phantom Ship (Franklin Watts. Inc., New York, 1961) Mysterious Waterway (Allen Figgis, Dublin, 1963) Rebel Sea Queen (Franklin Watts, New York, 1965) The Pegasus Book of Ireland (Dennis Dobson, London, 1967) The Pegasus Book of Egypt (Dennis Dobson, London, 1968) The Pegasus Book of the Nile (Dennis Dobson, London, 1970) The Pegasus Story of Atlantis (Dennis Dobson, London, 1971) The Pegasus Book of East Africa (Dennis Dobson, London, 1972) Athgreany Stone Circle: The Stones of Time (Al Morrison, New York, 1990) Zodiacal Archetypes in Celtic Myths (Al Morrison, New York, 1992)

Edited readers Helen O'Clery also compiled and edited readers, including The Ireland Reader (1963), The Mermaid Reader (1964), and Queens, Queens, Queens (1965).

Personal life In 1936, Helen Gallagher married Dermot O'Clery, a civil and mechanical engineer who later taught at Trinity College Dublin. There is a collection of her manuscripts in the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.