File 14 - Studio portrait of Helena O’Malley née Ryan

Grace O’Malley was born in 1934 as the elder of two children of Charles Vincent O’Malley and Dr Sarah (Judy) née Walsh. Her father was a dentist and ran a successful dental practice in the heart of Limerick city at No. 4 Pery Square, while her mother worked as a doctor and ophthalmologist. Grace was educated at Mount Anville in Dublin and later entered University College Dublin, where her studies for a degree in French and Italian were interrupted by tuberculosis in 1956. Following her recovery, Grace worked in public relations in Shannon. In 1958 she met and married her husband, George Cantillon, and had four children with him. Grace’s lifelong interest in family history culminated in an MA in Art History at University of Limerick in 2004 and the publication of The Round House O’Malleys: The Power of One Woman! in 2014.