During the Irish famine the area was badly affected and many perished. In November 1850, Robert Savage who was the postmaster at Bangor Erris wrote to Dublin Castle reporting that eighteen sheep on his farm at Cill Ghallagáin had been destroyed and several others badly injured. The police investigated but found no truth in the claim. It turned out that Mr Savage's objective was to have a police barracks built at Cill Ghallagáin. Mr. Savage intended building a fishing industry on his land at Cill Ghallagáin which he described as "a wild and mountainous district and with very disturbed neighbours and he is very scared of doing so until a police station is built on his lands". This wild townland was seen in a different light by Samuel Lewis, who claimed that "Kilgalligan Head is unrivalled in beauty and grandeur".