A TRIENNIAL family gathering crediting with giving “an economic boost” to Clare will receive a mayoral reception in Ennis.
This June, the twelfth international O’Dea Clan Gathering will be held at The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis from Friday June 13th to Sunday June 15th.
Ennis native, Shane O’Dea since 2022 has been the Chieftain of the O’Dea Clan. He previously estimated that the family gathering was worth a quarter of a million to the Clare economy. He hails from the New Rd in Ennis but is now based in Dublin.
O’Dea Clan members from throughout the world gathered at Dysert O’Dea in 1990 for the first time since the Flight of the Wild Geese in 1691. At a meeting in Ennis, these Clan representatives formed the Dysert O’Dea Clan Association to facilitate and encourage exchange between Clan members and to promote research into the history and genealogy of the O’Dea Clan. The O’Dea Clan is Registered with the Clans of Ireland.
More than 50 clan members travelled from California, Florida, Missouri and Ohio to attend the 2022 event which was without representatives from Australia and New Zealand due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In 2014, over 170 delegates attended the gathering, arriving in Clare from the US, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy advised colleagues, “it is a recurring event, we need to have a little mayoral reception”. Meetings administrator, Niamh O’Connor stated, “we have to get approval for a mayoral reception on Friday June 13th” which was proposed by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) and seconded by Cllr Pat Daly (FF).
“Was Eamon O’Dea the chief of the O’Deas,” quipped Cllr Daly in reference to the long-serving senior engineer with the Council, “he’s still the Chief,” responded Mayor Colleran Molloy, she added, “there is great PR and goodwill from the town to acknowledge the O’Dea Clan” and said “it was my pleasure to be Mayor of Ennis the last time to welcome them” in 2022.
O’Dea informed the meeting, “There is a clan chief but it is not me”. He said the gathering “brings quite a group of people into the town at the weekend from all over the world”.
Further detail on the O’Dea Clan Gathering was sought by Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF), “As a new councillor, could I get a history on it. What is it about,” she asked.
In response, Eamon O’Dea outlined that the gathering sees people travel from all over the world including New Zealand Australia, America, “from all over Europe and Ireland”. He said, “normally there is between 200 to 300 people attending, they go to Dysart O’Dea castle and do other things in the area”.
He said it reconnects O’Deas from different generations with Co Clare. “I know a gentleman comes from Gdansk in Poland, a group comes from New Zealand each time and from parts of the United States, there is a fair gathering of people”. He detailed that the gathering provides “an economic boost” to the county.
