Motto: Forti et fideli nihil difficile (To the brave and faithful man nothing is difficult).
William Allen (also known as ‘Den’ or ‘Dene’) came to Galway from Bristol during the reign of Henry VI. A prominent civic leader, he became Provost, and his descendants served as early mayors and magistrates.
From 1500-1510, Edmund Deane was a member of the Corporation, and in 1503 he was elected Mayor of the city. The name does not appear in the records again until 1641 when Robert Deane is mentioned as a burgess. Around the same time Oliver Deane held two substantial houses in the city, both of which were forfeited to the Cromwellians. Three members of the family were member of the council of the corporation in the reign of James II, but like other Catholics, were removed when he was ousted by William III. One of them, Stephen Deane was empowered by the Jacobite Corporation in April 1688 to recover possession of several houses and other property in the city of Galway which had been taken over by the Warden of the Collegiate Church. The issue was one between the Catholic corporation and the Protestant Warden,
The last of the Deane family in Galway city may have lived in Middle Street, close to where the Taibhdhearch Theatre is today.
