They may not be as numerous as the Murphys and the Kellys, but the O’Sullivans are celebrating this week after writing themselves into the Guinness World Records for the largest gathering of people with the same surname in one place.The O’Sullivans were hoping to break the record set by the Gallaghers on September 9th 2007 when 1,488 of them gathered in Letterkenny in Co Donegal and they did it in style when some 1,848 O’Sullivans or Sullivans gathered together in Castletownbere in West Cork.Organiser Jim O’Sullivan explained the actual verification was a rigorous affair with every O’Sullivan or Sullivan having to prove their credentials over a four-stage process before they qualified to make it to the final count on Castletownbere GAA pitch on Saturday afternoon.“We began at 1.30pm and everyone had to first sign in where their birth cert, passport or driving licence was checked to prove they were a Sullivan or O’Sullivan and then they received a numbered card with a number between 1 and 3,000,” he said.“Then they went down to the turnstile people where each card was recorded going through and the last count then was on the pitch where everyone was together and everyone was counted in groups of 100 and they were all adjudicated by officials for the Guinness Book of World Records.“We had over 3,000 register to say that they wanted to come but the weather wasn’t great so we didn’t know how many would turn up and it wasn’t until the Guinness Book of Records people decided the final figure that we knew we had broken the world record.”Guinness World Records adjudicator Pravel Patel broke the news from a podium on the pitch, declaring: “The record stands at 1,488 so with a total of 1,848, you, the O’Sullivans, are the Guinness record title holders for the largest gathering of people with the same surname – congratulations.”Participants bearing the surnames O'Sullivan and Sullivan celebrate after breaking the world record for the largest gathering of people with the same surname in Cork. Photograph: Sean Moriarty O’Sullivan said: “It was about 3.30pm before we knew we had broken the world record but it worked out very well – it was an achievement to get people down here from all over Ireland because we are peripheral but got people from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and America too so we’re very happy.“We made it – I don’t know how long we’ll hang on to the record – we’ll get a week out of it anyway I suppose,” laughed O’Sullivan. “Somebody else might take it on next year so we might have to come back and do it all again next year but we’ll enjoy the record for the moment, for sure.”[ O’Sullivans gathering in Cork aims to break record for most people with same surname in one placeOpens in new window ]