On the day that O'Malley was born, his father, Donogh O'Malley, an Engineer, was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time. Donogh O'Malley served as a TD for Limerick East from 1954 to 1968 and as his country's Minister for Health and later as Minister for Education, introducing a revolutionary Free Secondary and Third Level education system in Ireland, which is credited with the subsequent large upsurge in the Irish economy. On Donogh O'Malley's sudden death, aged 47, O'Malley became one of just a select few Irishmen who have been given a full Irish state funeral – others have included Michael Collins. O'Malley's funeral was attended by the then President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera who presided at the graveside.