The O’Malley Clan from all round the world set to descend on Limerick

LIMERICK city will play host to the 65th annual O’Malley Gathering over the weekend of June 21 to 23.

Clan chieftain Brendan O’Malley, from Castletroy, welcomes all O’Malleys, Mailles, Maleys, Malias, Malleys, Mealeys, Melias, O'Máilles, O'Malias, O'Mailes, O'Mealys and any other variants, as well as their families, descendants and friends to Limerick, where O’Malleys have been living since at least the 12th century.

Several hundred O’Malleys from all over Ireland, Europe and the world are expected to converge on Limerick city for the festivities. Events include walking and bus tours of the city and environs, genealogy workshop, evening of song and dance, an afternoon of family fun and the annual clan lunch at the Hunt Museum where the new chieftain will be inaugurated.

Mayor Michael Sheahan will kick things off at 6pm on Friday, June 21 by opening an exhibition in City Hall to celebrate O’Malleys in public life, recounting contributions to politics, sport and the arts around the world. The exhibition includes Limerick Ceramic Artists’ exploration of the family motto – Terra Marique Potens (powerful by land and by sea).

It features such colourful characters as King O’Malley, whose career took him from Kansas to California and then to Australia where he entered politics and became the Minister for Home Affairs in the first Australian federal government.

Brendan said: “He was a lifelong campaigner against alcohol and at one point tried to have attractive barmaids banned from Australian public houses. He was responsible for the selection of Canberra as the site of the new federal capital, where the suburb of O’Malley is named after him. King O'Malley's Irish Pub is also named after him – a tongue-in-cheek reference to his sponsorship of the unpopular alcohol ban in the Australian capital territory during Canberra's early years. So it wasn’t just in Ireland that the O’Malleys have been prominent in local and national politics.

Brendan is a third generation chieftain, his father and grandfather having been chieftains in 1967 and 1955 respectively.

“It’s a great honour to be elected chieftain of the O’Malley Clan. In the year since my appointment, I’ve had the opportunity to make contact with O’Malleys from all over he world, and I look forward to welcoming many of them to Limerick in June. Already, we’ve had bookings from as far away as Australia and the west coast of the USA,” said Brendan.

He says that even if you only have a distant connection to the O’Malleys, everyone is welcome to book a place and join the fun. Full details at www.ireland101.

com/omalleyclan