CASTLETOWN BEARHAVEN: Almost 2,000 people with the last names O’Sullivan and Sullivan travelled from around Ireland and the world to meet in County Cork on Saturday, in the largest ever recorded gathering of people with the same surname.

Guinness World Records representatives verified the milestone at the event in the picturesque southwestern town of Castletownbere. “With a total of 1,848 the O’Sullivan clan are the new Guinness World Record holders, congratulations!” an official told a cheering crowd.

The feat knocked another common Irish family name — Gallagher — off the top spot won in 2007 with a gathering of 1,488 participants in County Donegal, northwestern Ireland. The surnames O’Sullivan and Sullivan are commonplace in County Cork and southwestern Ireland.

Many from the large international Irish diaspora also arrived to bolster the numbers, presenting passports as proof of their name. “Where I come from in Boston, there’s plenty of us Sullivans, but this is unbelievable,” said Kevin Sullivan, 75, looking around at the crowds filing through a primary school where the event was coordinated.

“Everyone I look at here I know is a Sullivan or an O’Sullivan, so it’s an incredible feeling,” the retired IT executive said with a smile. Participants passed through turnstiles to provide a preliminary tally before officials circulated through the assembled groups on the school’s football pitch for a final count.

Mary Sullivan, one of many Americans of Irish ancestry who attended, said she had “travelled over 3,000 miles” to join the record attempt.

The gathering was hosted by the chieftain of the clan, Kelly Sullivan, who was presented with the chain of office in Boston in 2023. “I feel blessed to have grown up as part of the wider Sullivan-O’Sullivan family, we make a team that can’t be beat,” she told the crowd.

The world record bid organiser Jim O’Sullivan from Castletownbere said wet weather early in the day raised doubts about whether enough namesakes would show up.

“But people turned out in their numbers, and we did it. So we’re asking the Gallaghers, back on your shoulders now. Next time up, you’ll beat us!” he said.

Among the participants who travelled the farthest was Michel Sanchez O’Sullivan who said his grandfather was an O’Sullivan from New York who later settled in Mexico.

“As far as we know, we’re the only O’Sullivans in Mexico, it’s great to be here to get to explore my Irish roots and meet the rest of the family!” the 35-year-old said on Castletownbere’s main street, holding his daughter Olivia on his shoulders.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2026