1992-93 Sheila O'Malley Mulloy (No 40)

Sheila in 1988

Sheila as Guardian Chieftain in 2000 with her husband Johnny

Found in the files

Dr. Sheila O'Malley Mulloy (1923 - 2013) was one of the eight children of Professor Michael O'Malley of Galway and Christina Ryan of Wexford and grew up in Barna, Co Galway. Her father's O'Malley roots were in Kilmilkin, in the Maam valley, Co Galway. He was the 9th Chieftain of the Clan and four of his children were also Chieftains: Eoin (No 14), Ethna (No 23), Peter (No 32 and Sheila (No 40).

She studied at U.C.G. from 1939-1943 and graduated with a Double B.A. Degree in Arts & Commerce. She earned an M.A. and H. Dip.from U.C.D. in 1945 and spent several months at Dublin Institute for Advance Studies before attending the Sorbonne in Paris. There she received a prestigious international scholarship to Ecole Nationale des Chartes, honing her skills in archival research and translation pertinent to Franco-Irish relations. In addition to modern history she studied paleography & philology.

In August 1949 Sheila married John Mulloy, a  Westport businessman. They made their home at Carrabawn, Westport and went on to have a large family of eight children: Frank, Máire, Sheila, Eithne, Evleen, Onóra, John and Michael.

She was a relative of President Seán T. O 'Kelly who was a frequent visitor to her home at Carrabawn.   

Undeterred by traditional Irish role-models, she pursued an active career in research and publishing. She discovered a vast archive of correspondence between France & Ireland dating back to the Williamite wars. She worked on that for over forty years, first as a basis for her PhD in 1955, then as she edited, indexed and selected extracts for the three-volume Franco-Irish Correspondence (December 1688-February 1692), published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission in 1983-84. An extract in The Mayo News during 1955 carried the immortal headline Married Woman Gets Degree following the award of her Ph. D. 

Other major publications include O'Malley People and Places (1988), a genealogical study of the O'Malley clan,  and Victory or Glorious Defeat (2010), a collection of biographies of participants in the 1798 Mayo Rebellion. She also edited Cathair na Mart, the journal of the Westport Historical Society, and served as a contributor to the Dictionary of Irish Biography. She wrote numerous historical articles for various publications in Ireland.

She also served on the committee of the Military History Society of Ireland.  

Sheila's contribution to the O'Malley Clan was enormous. Her O'Malley People and Places hugely important in capturing and preserving the history of O'Malleys in Mayo, Ireland and the wider world. She served on the local committee for over 20 years, edited the O'Malley Journal, was Chieftain No 40 and finally served as Guardian Chieftain from 1999 - 2000.