Donogh O'Malley

Donogh Brendan O'Malley (17 January 1921 – 10 March 1968) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and rugby union player who served as Minister for Education from 1966 to 1968, Minister for Health from 1965 to 1966 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1961 to 1965. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick East constituency from 1954 to 1968.[1]

Donogh O'Malley
Minister for Education
In office 13 July 1966 – 10 March 1968
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	George Colley
Succeeded by	Brian Lenihan
Minister for Health
In office 21 April 1965 – 13 July 1966
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Seán MacEntee
Succeeded by	Seán Flanagan
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance
In office 11 October 1961 – 21 April 1965
Taoiseach	Seán Lemass
Preceded by	Joseph Brennan
Succeeded by	Jim Gibbons
Teachta Dála
In office May 1954 – 10 March 1968
Constituency	Limerick East
Personal details
Born	Donogh Brendan O'Malley 17 January 1921 Limerick, Ireland
Died	10 March 1968 (aged 47) Limerick, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s)	Hilda Moriarty (m. 1944; d. 1968)
Relations	Desmond O'Malley (Nephew) Tim O'Malley (Nephew) Fiona O'Malley (Grandniece)
Children	2, including Daragh
Education	Clongowes Wood College Crescent College
Alma mater	University College Galway

He played rugby for Connacht, Ulster and Munster.

Early and private life

O'Malley was born in Limerick in 1921. Born into a wealthy middle-class family, he was educated by the Jesuits at Crescent College and later at Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare. He later studied at University College Galway (UCG),[2] where he was conferred with a degree in engineering in 1943. He then returned to Limerick, where he worked as an engineer before becoming involved in politics.

O'Malley married Dr. Hilda Moriarty (1922–1991) in August 1947. The couple had two children: the actor Daragh O'Malley, and Suzanne, a fashion designer. O'Malley's wife is famous as Patrick Kavanagh's ideal love in the poem "On Raglan Road".[3][4][5]

Early political career

O'Malley was born into a highly politicised family who supported Cumann na nGaedheal until a falling-out with the party in the early 1930s. He first became involved in local politics as a member of Limerick Corporation. He became Mayor of Limerick in 1961, the third O'Malley brother to hold the office (Desmond O'Malley was mayor from 1941 to 1943, and Michael O'Malley from 1948 to 1949).

Donogh O'Malley was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick East at the 1954 general election;[6] Fianna Fáil was not returned to government on that occasion. He spent the rest of the decade on the backbenches; however, his party was returned to power in 1957. Two years later, the modernising process began when Seán Lemass took over from Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach. Lemass introduced younger cabinet ministers, as the old guard who had served the party since its foundation in 1926 began to retire.

In 1961, O'Malley joined the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, in the most important and prestigious ministry. O'Malley was part of a new, brasher style of politician that emerged in the 1960s.

Cabinet career

Following Fianna Fáil's retention of power in the 1965 general election, O'Malley joined the cabinet as Minister for Health. He spent just over a year in this position before he was appointed Minister for Education, a position in which he displayed renowned dynamism.

Having succeeded another dynamic young minister, Patrick Hillery, O'Malley acted swiftly to introduce the recommendations of an official report on education. Shortly after he was appointed, he announced that from 1969 all education up to Intermediate Certificate level would be free, and free buses would bring students in rural areas to their nearest school. O'Malley seems to have made this decision himself without consulting other ministers; however, he did discuss it with Lemass. Jack Lynch—who as Minister for Finance had to find the money to pay for this—was not consulted and was dismayed at the announcement. O'Malley's proposals were hugely popular with the public, and it was impossible for the government to go back on his word.[7]

As Minister for Education, O'Malley extended the school transport scheme and commissioned the building of new non-denominational comprehensive and community schools in areas where they were needed. He introduced Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), now called Institutes of Technology, in areas where there was no third level college. The best example of this policy is the University of Limerick, originally an Institute of Higher Education, where O'Malley is credited with taking the steps to ensure that it became a university. His plan to merge Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin aroused huge controversy, and was not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan. Access to third-level education was also extended, the old scholarship system being replaced by a system of means-tested grants that gave easier access to students without well-off parents.[8]

It is accepted in Ireland that O'Malley's extension of education, changing Ireland from a land where the majority were schooled only to the age of 14 to a country with universal secondary school education, led to the Celtic Tiger boom of the 1990s-2000s[9] when it was followed for some years by an extension of free education to primary degree level in university, a scheme that was launched in 1996 by the Labour Party and axed in 2009 by Fianna Fail's Batt O'Keeffe.[10]

Death

O'Malley's reforms made him one of the most popular members of the government; he was affectionately known as 'the School Man' for his work in education. His sudden death in Limerick on 10 March 1968, before his vision for the education system was completed, came as a shock to the public. He was buried with a full Irish state funeral.

Following his death, his widow, Dr. Hilda O'Malley, did not run in the subsequent by-election for the seat he had left vacant. It was won narrowly by their nephew Desmond O'Malley. Hilda sought the Fianna Fáil nomination for the 1969 general election, but Fianna Fáil gave the party nomination to Desmond, as the sitting TD. Hilda O'Malley ran as an Independent candidate in that election; after what proved a bitter campaign against her nephew, she failed to get the fourth seat in Limerick East by just 200 votes.

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas
• List of Irish state funerals

References

1. "Donogh O'Malley". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. Culliton, Gary (29 May 2008). "Memories of a charismatic minister, Donogh O'Malley". Irish Medical Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. A new book, Unfulfilled Promise, outlines how Donogh was educated by the Jesuits in the Crescent School in Limerick and also Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare. He was both a bright student and a talented rugby player and he went on to play rugby for Connaught, Ulster and Munster before qualifying as a civil engineer at UCG.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. https://blog.nli.ie/index.php/2012/02/14/yours-fondly-patrick/
5. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/raglan-road-turn-off-1.1347732
6. "Donogh O'Malley". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
7. Dwyer, Ryle (29 November 2016). "O'Malley 'bombshell' most effective policy by any minister ever". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 November 2019. O’Malley stole the Blueshirt thunder and, as a result it was virtually impossible for his Cabinet colleagues not to support his initiative. O’Malley had forewarned Seán Lemass of his plans. When the Taoiseach did not object, O’Malley took this as approval. TK Whitaker, the influential secretary of the Department of Finance, protested to the Taoiseach that O’Malley had not consulted the department. “While he did not expressly say so, I deduced from what he said (and the smile on his face) that he had personally authorised Donogh O’Malley to make this announcement,” Whitaker noted.
8. http://eprints.maynoothuniversity.ie/5169/1/Sean_O_Dubhlaing_20140708083500.pdf
9. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bruton-attributes-economic-boom-to-o-malley-1.202465
10. http://www.independent.ie/life/family/learning/okeeffe-to-end-free-thirdlevel-education-26522433.html

External links

• Donogh O'Malley file at Limerick City Library, Ireland