Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal in 1948. His father Daniel was employed by the Irish Electricity Supply Board, who were constructing Cathaleen's Fall hydroelectric power station on the Erne River above the town. The family moved, first to Derry City, where his younger brother Donal was born in 1949. His mother, Monica, and the two boys then moved to Cork, where the brothers were raised.

Gallagher played a worn sunburst 1961 Stratocaster (Serial Number 64351) for some years. It was reputedly the first in Ireland,and was ordered from Fender by Jim Connolly, a member of The Irish Showband. In 1961, Connolly ordered a cherry red Stratocaster through Crowley's music shop of Cork's McCurtain Street. When Fender shipped a sunburst Stratocaster instead, it was put up on sale in 1963 as a second-hand instrument, which Gallagher bought in August 1963 for just under PS100. Speaking about Gallagher's purchase, his brother Donal recalled: "His dream ambition was to have a guitar like Buddy Holly... This Stratocaster was in the store as a used instrument, it was 100 pounds... in today's money you couldn't even compare you might as well say it was a million pounds... my mother was saying we'll be in debt for the rest of our lives and Rory said well actually with a guitar like this I can play both parts, rhythm and lead, we won't need a rhythm player so I can earn more money and pay it off so the Stratocaster became his partner for life if you like."  The guitar was extensively modified by Gallagher. The tuning pegs and the nut were replaced, the latter interchanged a number of times. The pickguard was also changed during Gallagher's time with Taste. Only the middle pick-up is original. The final modification was the wiring: Gallagher disconnected the bottom tone pot and rewired it so he had just a master tone control along with the master volume control. He installed a 5-way selector switch in place of the vintage 3-way one.  Most of the paint was removed from the guitar in 1967 or 1968 during the Taste period, as evidenced from contemporary photographs. Although the Strat was left abandoned in a rainy ditch for days after being stolen from the back of a tour van in Dublin, this is not believed to have caused any ill effect. A borrowed Telecaster was also stolen at the same time but never recovered. When the Strat was recovered two weeks later, Gallagher swore he would never sell it or paint it. The paint removal and appearance of extensive road wear was in keeping with Gallaghers public persona and image.  It also had a period of time of having a replacement neck, with the original neck bowing due to the amount of moisture it absorbed during continuous touring. The neck was taken off and left to settle, and was eventually reunited with the Strat after returning to its correct shape. Other quirks include a 'hump' in the scratch plate which moves the neck pick-up closer to the neck on the bass side, and a replacement of all of the pick-ups, though this replacement was due to damage rather than the perception of a tonal inadequacy. One final point of interest is that one of the clay double-dot inlays at the 12th fret fell out and was replaced with a plastic one, which is why it is whiter than the other clay inlays. On 21 and 22 October 2011, Rory's brother Donal brought the guitar out of retirement to allow Joe Bonamassa to perform with it on his two nights at the London Hammersmith Apollo. Bonamassa opened both night's performances with his rendition of "Cradle Rock" using Gallagher's Stratocaster. CANNOTANSWERAnswer this question using a quote from the following article:

Who did Gallagher look up to?
"His dream ambition was to have a guitar like Buddy Holly...
Gallagher föddes i Ballyshannon, County Donegal 1948. Hans far Daniel var anställd vid Irish Electricity Supply Board, som höll på att uppföra Cathaleens Fall-vattenkraftverk vid floden Erne ovanför staden. Familjen flyttade, först till Derry City, där hans yngre bror Donal föddes 1949. Hans mor, Monica, och de båda pojkarna flyttade sedan till Cork, där bröderna uppfostrades. Gallagher spelade en sliten solbränna 1961 Stratocaster (Serial Number 64351) under några år. Det var enligt ryktet den första på Irland, och beställdes från Fender av Jim Connolly, medlem i The Irish Showband. 1961 beställde Connolly en körsbärsröd Stratocaster genom Crowleys musikbutik på Cork's McCurtain Street. När Fender istället skeppade en solbränna Stratocaster sattes den upp till försäljning 1963 som ett begagnat instrument, som Gallagher köpte i augusti 1963 för strax under PS100. På tal om Gallaghers köp erinrade hans bror Donal: "Hans drömambition var att ha en gitarr som Buddy Holly... Denna Stratocaster var i butiken som ett begagnat instrument, det var 100 pund... i dagens pengar kunde man inte ens jämföra kan man lika gärna säga att det var en miljon pund... min mamma sa att vi kommer att vara i skuld för resten av våra liv och Rory sade väl med en gitarr som denna jag kan spela både delar, rytm och bly, vi kommer inte att behöva en rytm spelare så jag kan tjäna mer pengar och betala det så Stratocaster blev hans partner för livet om du vill." Gitarren modifierades flitigt av Gallagher. Man bytte stämpinnar och mutter, den senare växlade ett antal gånger. Pickguarden byttes även under Gallaghers tid med Taste. Endast den mellersta pick-upen är ursprunglig. Den slutliga modifikationen var ledningarna: Gallagher kopplade bort bottentonen potten och kopplade om den så han hade bara en master tonkontroll tillsammans med master volymkontroll. Han installerade en 5-vägs växel i stället för årgång 3-vägs ett. Större delen av färgen togs bort från gitarren 1967 eller 1968 under Smakperioden, vilket framgår av samtida fotografier. Även om Strat lämnades övergiven i ett regnigt dike i flera dagar efter att ha stulits från baksidan av en turnébuss i Dublin, tros detta inte ha orsakat någon dålig effekt. En lånad Telecaster stals också samtidigt men återfanns aldrig. När Strat återfanns två veckor senare svor Gallagher att han aldrig skulle sälja den eller måla den. Färgborttagningen och utseendet på omfattande väg slitage var i linje med Gallaghers offentliga persona och image. Den hade också en period av att ha en ersättningshals, med den ursprungliga nacken bugning på grund av den mängd fukt den absorberade under kontinuerlig turnerande. Halsen togs av och lämnades att bosätta sig, och återförenades så småningom med Strat efter att ha återgått till sin rätta form. Andra uddar inkluderar en "hump" i repplattan som flyttar nacken plocka upp närmare halsen på bassidan, och en ersättning av alla pick-ups, även om denna ersättning berodde på skador snarare än uppfattningen av en tonal otillräcklighet. En sista punkt av intresse är att en av lerdubbelpunktsinläggen vid 12:e freten föll ut och ersattes med en plastig, varför den är vitare än de andra lerinläggningarna. Den 21 och 22 oktober 2011 förde Rorys bror Donal gitarren ur pensionen för att låta Joe Bonamassa uppträda med den på sina två nätter på London Hammersmith Apollo. Bonamassa öppnade båda nattens föreställningar med sin överlämnande av "Cradle Rock" med hjälp av Gallaghers Stratocaster. CANNOTANSWERAnswer denna fråga med hjälp av ett citat från följande artikel: Vem såg Gallagher upp till?
Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal in 1948. His father Daniel was employed by the Irish Electricity Supply Board, which was constructing Cathaleen's Fall hydroelectric power plant on the Erne River above the city. The family moved, first to Derry City, where his younger brother Donal was born in 1949. His mother, Monica, and the two boys then moved to Cork, where the brothers were raised. Gallagher played a worn tan in 1961 Stratocaster (Serial Number 64351) for a few years. It was reputedly the first in Ireland, and was commissioned from Fender by Jim Connolly, a member of The Irish Showband. In 1961, Connolly ordered a cherry red Stratocaster through Crowley's music store on Cork's McCurtain Street. When Fender instead shipped a sunburn Stratocaster, it was put up for sale in 1963 as a second-hand instrument, which Gallagher purchased in August 1963 for just below the PS100. Speaking of Gallagher's purchase, his brother Donal recalled: "His dream ambition was to have a guitar like Buddy Holly... This Stratocaster was in the store like a used instrument, it was £100... in today's money you couldn't even compare you might as well say that it was a million pounds...my mom said we're going to be in debt for the rest of our lives and Rory said well with a guitar like this I can play both parts, rhythm and lead, we won't need a rhythm player so I can make more money and pay it so Stratocaster became his partner for life if you want." The guitar was extensively modified by Gallagher. The tuners and nut were changed, the latter switched a number of times. The pickguard was also traded during Gallagher's time with Taste. Only the middle pick-up is original. The final modification was the wires: Gallagher disconnected the bottom note pot and rewired it so he had only one master tone control along with master volume control. He installed a 5-way gear instead of vintage 3-way one. Most of the paint was removed from the guitar in 1967 or 1968 during the Taste Period, as evidenced by contemporary photographs. Although Strat was left abandoned in a rainy ditch for several days after being stolen from the back of a tour bus in Dublin, this is not believed to have caused any bad effect. A borrowed Telecaster was also stolen at the same time but was never recovered. When Strat was recovered two weeks later, Gallagher vowed he would never sell it or paint it. The paint removal and appearance of extensive road wear were in line with Gallagher's public persona and image. It also had a period of having a replacement neck, with the original neck bowing due to the amount of moisture it absorbed during continuous touring. The neck was taken off and left to settle, eventually reuniting with Strat after returning to its proper form. Other capes include a "hump" in the rope plate that moves the neck pick up closer to the neck on the base side, and a replacement of all pick-ups, although this replacement was due to injuries rather than the perception of a tonal inadequacy. A final point of interest is that one of the clay double point inserts at the 12th fret fell out and was replaced with a plastic one, so it is whiter than the other clay inlays. On 21 and 22 October 2011, Rory's brother Donal brought the guitar out of retirement to allow Joe Bonamassa to perform with it on his two nights at London Hammersmith Apollo. Bonamassa opened both night's performances with his rendition of "Cradle Rock" using Gallagher's Stratocaster. CANNOTANSWERANSwer this question using a quote from the following article: Who saw Gallagher up to?
"Hans drömambition var att ha en gitarr som Buddy Holly...
"His dream ambition was to have a guitar like Buddy Holly...