Political fire still burns for 'John O'

To many he is known as 'The Councillor', to others he is 'John O’, the farmer, the horse dealer, the pub singer, the man with the cowboy hat and 'The Yank' – all monikers well earned from a colourful life spent in his native Westport, punctuated by spells in England and across the Atlantic Ocean in the United States.

At the age of 18, like many young of his generation, John O’Malley left his native shores to make his fortune in England before travelling further afield two years later to America, where he landed his first job as an elevator man in a New York City apartment block full of wealthy people. 

“They all owned their apartments and had superintendents looking after the building. I can tell you 570 Park Avenue was a very rich place," John recalls.

Six months on, after accepting an offer of landscaping work, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, going on to become a foreman with a company there. Taking full advantage of the Land of Opportunity, John also enrolled in agricultural college to further his knowledge on working the land.

“I had left school in Westport at 16 so I attended night school and sat the High School diploma test for the state of Ohio, and that got me into agricultural college in Wooster, Ohio. I was still working every evening, landscaping, and snow ploughing in the winter, and after three months it was too much to keep going with the education.

"Around then I also met my wife-to-be, Karen McKee, from Cleveland, whose grandmother was from Achill and grandfather from the North of Ireland. She was a social worker in a big hospital and once I became legal to stay, I went out on my own in construction and set up my own business, while continuing to do my own landscape and concrete work on the side. I also bought a house in a great neighbourhood in Fairview Park in Cleveland and we settled there.” 

Over the next three years, the couple welcomed daughters Tara and Lauren into the world, before making the big move home as a family to Westport in 1980. 

“My father had asked me to come back to the farm, and from a young age I loved the land and working with animals. I was 28 then and while I found it hard to settle, Karen loved everything about this country, especially the people, who were so nice to her.” 

The couple set up home on the family lands at Carraholly, a few kilometers outside Westport, enjoying blissful family life for a number of years until tragedy struck.

“Everything was going grand and next we had a son born, Sean and then we had Barry. He was only two years old when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987.”

While Karen recovered, 20 months later the cancer came back in her spine and her rib.

“We knew then we were in trouble and I was devastated. Karen got 32 rounds of radiation and several rounds of chemo and was home and working and walking with a cane. A year and a half on the cancer came back with a vengeance, and she died three months later, in January 1993. She was 39 and the children were 16, 14, 10 and seven.” 

The adjustment was difficult and John was very grateful to his mother who stepped up to help him.

“My mother down the road was the main support I had, she came up every evening, to bake and clean up. She was great, we all just got on with it.” 

John concentrated on the farm, building a cowshed, a hayshed, a slatted house and then a new milking parlour, while adding sheep and horses to his stock. A love for music provided further refuge as the children grew. 

“I started playing music when I came back to Mayo. My father was in a céilí band years before and I love singing, mostly ballads and a bit of country and western. My late wife bought me a guitar and said you should be out playing music, you can sing as good as anyone. I did three months of lessons with John Hoban and was very dedicated and practised for an hour every night. It’s amazing how it comes to you.” 

Over the years, John went from playing with fellow musicians to going out on his own as ‘John O’. 

“It was great playing and singing in front of people and when my wife was still alive we enjoyed it all. I went on to get a bit of backing music if people wanted to dance and that got me to know an awful lot of people in different areas and I did a lot of charity gigs in aid of people that were sick. When I was going for election all of that was a big help and boosted my profile.” 

The showbiz side expanded further once John discovered line dancing in the 1990s. 

“I did a lot of line dancing when it became popular here and took to it like you wouldn’t believe, I was good at it, loved it, and then I used to teach it, down in Kilmeena and out in Cushlough. I used to line dance five nights a week, meeting people and the craic was great. Then a bunch of us would go to different venues, Belmullet and Castlebar every week. One night there was 500 on the floor and 10 were being picked to go on RTÉ on the Marty Whelan afternoon show and I was one of them.” 

The cowboy hat became part of the image and is an accessory John still sports today. 

“I would never go without the hat, I bought them in America, any time I would go. I always got the cowboy boots as well.” 

A familiar mover and shaker by now, once John developed an interest in local politics and started attending local Fine Gael meetings in Westport, his path was set. 

“The late Vincent Reilly from Carraholly was very involved in the Fine Gael party here and brought me along to the meetings. I took to it like a duck to water and was getting up to say this and that. Eventually I was chairman of the Fine Gael district executive and then an opportunity arose when Michael Ring became a TD and had to step down from the county council due to the dual mandate rule. I ran in 2004 and remember well I got 1,250 first preference votes and got elected.” 

Entering politics was another smooth transition for the versatile farmer.

“I loved helping people, and to be fit to help. I could see people weren’t getting the services they should and thought, if I am in the council, I will make sure to make that happen. It’s just something I get a kick out of.” 

On his second outing in 2009, the outspoken rural councillor was readily elected again, winning just shy of 1,700 first preferences, and went on to become Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council by the time the next local elections rolled around in 2014, a point when things weren’t looking too good for his party.

“Fine Gael were going down the tubes fast because they were in power and had brought in water charges. Every single Fine Gael councillor that was chairman in their county lost their seat, including me.” 

Five years in the political wilderness didn’t bother John too much, as while he got on with family life and farming, locals were still ringing him for help and he did whatever he could. Opting to run again in 2019, at the Fine Gael selection convention he was beaten by one vote and following a number of failed requests to still be added to the party ticket, John made the decision to run as an Independent.

“There was no candidate north of Westport to Newport so I got a good team of guys canvassing with me, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and we won.” 

The next time out in 2024 when Fine Gael did reach out to him to run, John stuck to his guns and stayed Independent. 

“I sized it up and knew a lot of Fianna Fáil supported me and would not if I ran Fine Gael, so I decided it would be a wrong move.” 

Upping his first-preference vote as an Independent candidate from 950 to 1,350, John claimed a seat again.

“The previous term the Independents were joined up with Fianna Fáil but this time Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil went together so that left us out and so we can vote against things if we want and that makes it easier.” 

He remains as committed as ever to local politics.

“I’m still enjoying it, fighting for people for their rights and the services they rightly deserve and will keep going for another while.” 

The cowboy hat also remains perched on his head, especially outside of public life when he indulges in his growing passion for horses.

“After my wife died I bought the kids a horse, and later a foal, that I kept until she was 27 years of age. Carraholly Shadow we called her, a fabulous mare, very tall at 18 hands and beautiful. She won any place she went.

"That really got me into the horses and I got a few Connemara ponies then, one of which qualified for the RDS show last year. It’s a great day when you hear your name called out as the dealer.” 

His dedication to his horses is a daily affair.

“Every day I get up and clean out from seven horses and feed them morning and evening. I also have a sport horse and a thoroughbred and am breeding them now. There is an expense with it but if you get a good one you get paid back.” 

John welcomes the physical toll involved in all his outdoor pursuits.

“I used to box in England and also used to run. Out in America I always went to the YMCA and just loved fitness and being fit. I don’t smoke, I do have a drink and while I don’t run or go to the gym now, a lot of the work I do still is physical.”

Meanwhile, the political task list grows and grows.

“I want to see the marina at Westport Quay developed, also the Newport Water Treatment Scheme and as for the roads going off the N59 into the inlets of Kilmeena, they are in a terrible state and falling into the sea..."

The political fire still burns for the inimitable 'John O'.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.