William O'Malley (February/March, 1853 - September, 1939; aged about 86) was an Irish Member of Parliament, representing Galway Connemara, and a sportsman. He was born in Clifden, Ireland.
In 1895 he succeeded Patrick James Foley to the Galway Connemara seat in the British House of Commons, running for election with the Anti-Parnellite party. He continued to be elected to the seat in 1900 and 1906 (Irish Parliamentary Party), in January 1910 (Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)), and in December 1910 (IPP). In 1918, running again with the IPP, O'Malley lost to Pádraic Ó Máille of Sinn Féin with 23% of the vote.
Details surrounding O'Malley's actual date of birth are obscure. It could be that the recorded date of 31 February, 1853 was simply an error and that he was actually born in a month containing thirty-one days. Given that 1853 was not a leap year and thus February of that year only contained twenty-eight days, it could also be speculated that his actual date of birth fell on or around 3 March, 1853.
| General Election 1918: Galway Connemara | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Sinn Féin | Pádraic Ó Máille | 11,754 | 77.15 | ||
| Irish Parliamentary | William O'Malley | 3,482 | 22.85 | ||
| Sinn Féin gain from Irish Parliamentary | Swing | N/A | |||