By Marc O’Sullivan Vallig
The O’Sullivan/Sullivan clan plans to establish a new world record for the largest gathering of people with the same surname in Castletownbere on 30 May 2026. The world record attempt will be hosted by the chieftain of the O’Sullivan clan, Kelly Sullivan from Waterloo, Iowa. It will be part of a three-day celebration of heritage and kinship, featuring a full programme of family-friendly activities throughout the Cork and Kerry sides of the Beara peninsula over the May Bank Holiday weekend (30 May–2 June 2026).
Those interested in participating in setting the new world record must register their attendance through the official website (osullivanclan.org). To date, more than 1,320 have already registered, raising high the clan’s expectations of beating the current world record established on 9 September 2007, when 1,488 members of the Gallagher clan gathered in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
There are two major branches of the O’Sullivan/Sullivan clan: the O’Sullivan Mór, who are associated with the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, and the O’Sullivan Beare, who are associated with the Beara peninsula in counties Cork and Kerry. It is expected that both branches will be represented at the event, along with O’Sullivan/Sullivans from all over the world.
Many O’Sullivan/Sullivans who left Ireland settled in America. Kelly Sullivan is descended from some of those who emigrated from Adrigole, on the Beara peninsula, in the Famine era. They settled in Iowa. Kelly’s grandfather, Albert, was one of the five Sullivan brothers—along with George, Francis, Joseph and Madison—who lost their lives when the USS Juneau was sunk in the naval Battle of Guadalcanal during the Second World War. Kelly is sponsor of the US Navy ship named in their honour, USS The Sullivans DDG 68, and accompanied the vessel when it visited the Beara peninsula in 2003. Twenty years later, in September 2023, Kelly was presented with the O’Sullivan/Sullivan clan chieftain chain of office by the Cork and Kerry county mayors on the steps of City Hall in Boston.
The 2026 O’Sullivan/Sullivan clan gathering will feature tours to various sites associated with the O’Sullivan Beares, including the ruins of their stronghold at Dunboy, a few miles west of Castletownbere, and the site of their second castle in Ardea, Tousist. After the Irish defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, Dunboy Castle was levelled by the English, and the clan chieftain, Dónal Cam O’Sullivan Beare, led his people on the long march to Leitrim. This event is commemorated in the 500km Beara/Breifne Way, the longest walking route in Ireland.
Dónal Cam later settled in Spain and became the de facto leader of the Irish community in Madrid. King Philip III made him Count of Berehaven and awarded him a generous pension. Dónal Cam’s two sons, Dónal and Dermot, were reared at the Spanish court as companions to Philip III’s eldest son and namesake. Young Dónal died in 1617 when a pistol exploded in his face during firearms training. Dónal Cam died a year later from a dagger wound to the neck, sustained while attempting to break up a brawl between his nephew, Philip O’Sullivan, and a Dubliner named John Bath in the Plaza de Santo Domingo in Madrid. The title of Count of Berehaven passed to his younger son, Dermot, who became a significant figure at the Spanish court, serving as chamberlain, councillor of the exchequer and major-domo to Philip IV.
Dónal Cam’s portrait (above/below) was completed by a Spanish court painter around 1613. The painting is the earliest known portrait of an Irish chieftain. It hung at the Irish College at Salamanca until its closure in 1950, when the last Jesuit rector, Fr Joe Ransom, is reputed to have rolled it up and brought it to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, on the back seat of his Volkswagen. It is now the centrepiece of the Salamanca Archives exhibition at the college.
Some of the O’Sullivan line from Ardea later settled in America. John Sullivan, born in New Hampshire in 1740, became a major-general in the Continental Army and participated in George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River. He later served as governor of New Hampshire and was appointed a district court judge. His brother James, born in 1744, became governor of Massachusetts.
Some other famous O’Sullivan/Sullivans include the bareknuckle fighter John L. Sullivan, the composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan, the television host Ed Sullivan, the actress Maureen O’Sullivan, the singer Gilbert O’Sullivan, the astronaut Kathryn Sullivan and snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Further information at osullivanclan.org.
Marc O’Sullivan Vallig is a writer, artist and curator from Eyeries, Beara.