O’Sullivans break Guinness World Record for gathering most people with same surname in one place

Published on 01/06/2026 - 12:34 GMT+2

The world record for most people with the same surname gathered in the same place has been broken.

Previously held by the Gallaghers, wrote themselves into the Guinness World Records on 9 September 2007 - when 1,488 Gallaghers gathered in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Ireland – the record has been smashed by the O’Sullivans in County Cork.

O’Sullivan Clan Gathering organiser Jim O’Sullivan, from Castletownbere in west Cork, told The Irish Times that more than 3,350 O’Sullivans or Sullivans registered to attend the gathering, which began on Saturday and lasts until tomorrow.

“Our numbers are looking good if people turn up. Even if half turn up, we’re still going well – we’ve got a great response from Sullivans and O’Sullivans all over Ireland and from much further afield too, so it’s looking good.”

Indeed, some O’Sullivans and Sullivans have come from far and wide, including New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US.

On Saturday, the O’Sullivan clan beat the record, with a total of 1,848 people showing up on the grounds of a primary school in the port town of Castletownbere.

Guinness World Records representatives verified the record, with headcounts and passport verifications.

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.

There are said to be more than 500,000 O’Sullivans and Sullivans in the world, according to British genealogy database Forebears – primarily in the south-west of Ireland and in the Irish diaspora in North America.

The name comes from the Gaelic “O’Suileabhain” - which can be translated as “hawk eyed”.

Ball’s in your court, Gallaghers.