Family background
Michael O’Riordan was born 16 November 1860 at Cork, Ireland, the son of John O’Riordan. Michael O’Riordan immigrated to Australia on board the ship ‘Northampton’ which arrived at Sydney on 7 November 1881. He married Julia Ellen Clifford (1867-1935) on 17 November 1885 at Botany, NSW, and they had three sons. He died at Randwick, NSW, on 25 September 1918, aged 59 years; he was buried at Waverley Cemetery, NSW. He left a Will and his estate and assets were assessed at £36,387. Michael O’Riordan lived at O’Riordan Street, Alexandria.
Occupation & interests
Michael O’Riordan spent his first few years in Australia, farming with his uncle on the NSW North Coast; later he moved to Botany and worked with his brother-in-law before starting his own business of Tallow Refiners and Manure Manufacturers, in Alexandria. Alexandria Council honoured Michael O’Riordan with a banquet in 1906. It was recorded that he began humbly but built up one of the most thriving concerns in Alexandria by sheer grit, honesty and integrity.
Community activity
Michael O’Riordan was one of the trustees of St Bernard’s Church, Botany, and the South Sydney Hospital.
Local government service
Michael O’Riordan was an alderman on Alexandria Council 1896-1916 representing the Beaconsfield Ward. He served as mayor four times: 1898, 1901, 1905 and 1912-13.
References
Municipal Elections’, The Daily Telegraph, 10 February 1896, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238698583
‘Three times mayor’, Freeman’s Journal, 11 March 1905, p. 17, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108022652
‘Mayor O’Riordan Honoured’, Freeman’s Journal, 20 January 1906, p.13. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119937744
‘Obituary’, The Late Mr M O’Riordan’, Freeman’s Journal, 3 October 1918, p.23. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116786319