John Mulholland (1946 – 12 October 2022) was an Irish politician who was the

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. The ...

from 1986 to 1987 and again from 1996 to 1997.

Life and career

Mulholland was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 1946, the eldest of six children of Ned Mulholland of

Kinnegad Kinnegad or Kinagad () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is on the border with County Meath, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital, Dublin ...

and Betty O'Donoghue of Ballingary,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

. The family moved to Galway in 1948. In 1968 he married Margaret Flynn of

Letterfrack Letterfrack or Letterfrac () is a small village in the Connemara area of County Galway, Ireland. It was founded by Quakers in the mid-19th century. The village is south-east of Renvyle peninsula and north-east of Clifden on Barnaderg Bay and l ...

, and moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he worked in a betting office and as a fingerprint officer at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. He returned to Galway to take charge of the family's

betting shop In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, a betting shop is a shop away from a racecourse ("off-course") where one can legally place bets in person with a licensed bookmaker. Most shops are part of chains including William Hill, ...

. He and Margaret have children Alan, Lisa, Eddie and

Aoife Mulholland Aoife Mulholland ( , ; born 29 May 1978) is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End. She has starred as Roxie Hart (twice) in ''Chicago'', at the Cambridge ...

. Mulholland expanded the business, and by the early 21st century owned ten betting shops. Influenced by

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

, Mulholland stood for

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

and was elected with a large majority for the city's South Ward in 1985, becoming mayor the following year. Highlights included welcoming home the Galway Minor's team, who were All-Ireland Champions, and included his eldest child, Alan. On 10 October 1986 he officially opened the city's first purpose built City Hall. He was again elected mayor in 1996, and oversaw occasions such as a civic reception for three-time Olympic Gold Medal winner, Michelle Smyth, leading Galway's highly successful business mission to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. As part of a fundraiser for Galway Hospice, Mayor Mulholland graciously allowed himself to be kidnapped, and ransomed from, "members of the notorious Galway Youth Federation." He was host to Chief Garry White Deer of the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

Nation on his official visit to Galway; one hundred and fifty years earlier, the Choctaw Nation had sent famine relief to the people of Ireland, despite at the time being in the process of banishment from their homelands. Mulholland died on 12 October 2022, at the age of 76.

References

Sources

* ''Role of Honour:The Mayors of Galway City 1485-2001'', William Henry, Galway 2001.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071119083053/http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/YourCouncil/HistoryofTheCityCouncil/PreviousMayors/ 1946 births 2022 deaths Fine Gael politicians Local councillors in Galway (city) Mayors of Galway {{Ireland-mayor-stub