TS-EMOG-0498

Record Date: 
19 January 2016
Graveyard: 
Emly
Exact wording of epitaph: 

MRS   O  BRIEN ,   BALLINVREANA , 

ERECTS    THIS  STONE  

AS  A  MARK  OF  CONNUBIAL   AFFECTION,  OVER 

  THE  MORTAL   REMAINS   OF  

HER   BELOVED   HUSBAND ,  

JOHN   O’BRIEN  

WHO  DEPARTED   THIS   LIFE  FEBY   23RD  1884, 

AGED   63   YEARS.

 R   I   P

 JOHN   J   HEELAN  

DIED   APRIL   6  - 1973. 

CATHERINE   FLYNN,  NEE  O’BRIEN ,  

OCT.   22  - 1941.  

MALACHY   O’BRIEN ,  

AUG.    2  -  1953.

 

BACK   OF   STONE  :

 

JOHN   O’BRIEN , 

CATHERINE   AND   TERENCE ,  

PATSY    APRIL   1933. 

MARY   A  HEELAN ,  NEE   O’BRIEN ,  

APRIL   30   1938.

 

Memorial Type: 
Cross
Grave location
County: 
Tipperary
Latitude: 
52.462633333333
Longitude: 
-8.35108
Additional details
Stonecutter/monumental sculptor: 
Meade of Bulgaden.
Inscription legible: 
Yes
Number of people commemorated: 
10
People commemorated: 
Name: 
Mrs
Surname: 
O'Brien
Address: 
Ballinvreana
Name: 
John
Surname: 
O'Brien
Date of birth - year: 
1821
Date of death - day: 
23
Date of death - month: 
February
Date of death - year: 
1884
Age: 
63
Name: 
John J
Surname: 
Heelan
Date of death - day: 
6
Date of death - month: 
April
Date of death - year: 
1973
Relationship with first person: 
Grandson
Name: 
Catherine
Surname: 
Flynn
Date of death - day: 
22
Date of death - month: 
October
Date of death - year: 
1941
Relationship with first person: 
Daughter
Name: 
Malachy
Surname: 
O'Brien
Date of death - day: 
2
Date of death - month: 
August
Date of death - year: 
1953
Relationship with first person: 
Son
Name: 
John
Surname: 
O'Brien
Relationship with first person: 
Son
Name: 
Catherine
Surname: 
O'Brien
Name: 
Terence
Surname: 
O'Brien
Relationship with first person: 
Son
Name: 
Patsy
Surname: 
O'Brien
Date of death - month: 
April
Date of death - year: 
1933
Relationship with first person: 
Son
Name: 
Mary A
Surname: 
Heelan
Date of death - day: 
10
Date of death - month: 
April
Date of death - year: 
1939
Notes: 

Ballinvreana /  Ballinvreena /  Ballinvrina,  Emly,  Co. Tipperary.

Catherine  O' Brien,  (nee)  Fogarty,  who  had  this  memorial  erected, died  at  Ballinvreena, Emly  on the  2nd Mar  1908.  Age  at  death  was  recorded  as being  80 yrs  old.  Informant  was  her  son  Patrick  O'Brien.

Malachy  O'Brien  ( 12  June  1867  - 2  August  1953 ),  was  born  in  Ballinvreena,  Emly,  Co.  Tipperary  to  parents  John  and   Catherine  O'Brien  ( née )  Fogarty.  After  leaving  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  found  employment  with  Cannock's  department  store  in  Limerick  City.  O'Brien  later  spent  a short  time  with  Clerys  in  Dublin  before  emigrating  to  the  United  States  where  he remained  until  1929  before  returning  home.

After  moving  to  Limerick  City,  Malachy  played   Gaelic  football  with  the  Limerick Commercials  club,  winning  three- in- a- row  County  Senior  championship  medals between  1887  and  1889.

He  made  his  inter - county  debut  during  the  1887  championship  when  the   Commercials  club  represented  Limerick  in  the  inaugural  All – Ireland  championship.  He  won  his  sole  All-Ireland  medal  that  year  as  Limerick  defeated  Louth  ( Dundalk  Young  Irelands )  in  the  final  by  1 - 4  to  0 -3. 

The  final  was  played  at  the  Big  Bank, Clonskeagh,  Dublin  on  the  29th  April  1888.  Malachy  O’ Brien, known  as  ‘The   Little  Wonder ‘  due  to  his  small  stature,  was  the  Man  of  the  Match  in  the  final.  The  medals  were  not  presented  until  25  years  later.  Malachy  O’ Brien  never  married.

His  9 ct  gold  medal  was  handed  down  through  four  generations  of  his  family  until  it  was  auctioned   by  Mary  Doran  of  Northampton, UK  in  November  2005.   Malachy  was  the  great  granduncle  of  her  father  Matthew  Malachy  Doran.

The  rare  medal  fetched  26,500  euros   at  Sotheby’s   on  the   16th  Nov  2005.  It  was  purchased  by  the  Limerick  Leader  newspaper  with  the  intention  of  putting  it  on  public  display.

NB.  This memorial  was  sandblasted  and  cleaned  in June  2022.