15 September 2015
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Rosemary O’Neill, daughter of the late Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Tip O’Neill, will arrive in Cork from Boston this week.
Her hosts Michael and Rose O’Neill, originally from Mallow and now resident in Dublin, will accompany her to Cork City. She will pay a courtesy visit to the Lord Mayor Cllr Chris O’Leary this Thursday at 2.30pm. She will also attend the Thomas Kent State Funeral on Friday.
A highlight of Rosemary O’Neill’s visit will be her trip to Mallow, where her ancestors came from. Indeed, her father Tip O’Neill always called himself
“a proud mallow man”. On Saturday she will officially open a Tip O’Neill Exhibition at Mallow Library at 3.00pm.
Rosemary O’Neill will spend the rest of her Irish visit in Co Donegal, the ancestral home of Tip O’Neill’s maternal ancestors, attending various
commemoration events.
Factfile: Who was Tip O’Neill?
Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr. (1912 – 1994) was an American politician and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. O’Neill was an outspoken liberal Democrat and influential member of the House, serving for 34 years and representing two congressional districts in Massachusetts.
He served as Speaker of the House from 1977 until his retirement in 1987, making him the only Speaker to serve for five complete consecutive Congresses, and the second longest-serving Speaker in U.S. history after Sam Rayburn.
In 1985 Tip became a Freeman of Cork.
