Prof. Gary O’Brien, Vice President of Governance & Strategy at Mary Immaculate College, pictured with Mariah and Michaela Kennedy Cuomo, granddaughters of Robert F. Kennedy, on the occasion of the presentation of a commemorative photo collage marking MIC’s presentation of the McAuley Medal to their great-aunt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in 2008.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, was the inaugural recipient of MIC’s McAuley Medal, awarded in recognition of her outstanding and inspirational contribution to the establishment and development of the Special Olympics movement.
The late Prof. Peadar Cremin, then President of Mary Immaculate College, travelled to Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s home in Cape Cod to present the Medal in 2008. Members of the Kennedy and Shriver families gathered for the occasion, including Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife Vicki, Ethel Kennedy (wife of the late Robert Kennedy), Maria Shriver, Mark Shriver and Tim Shriver, as well as Michaela and Mariah.
Mariah and Michaela were in Ireland to attend the 5th Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Autumn School, held in Bruff, Co. Limerick, from 23 to 25 October 2026. Prof. O’Brien, whose research interests include American politics and foreign policy, joined Mariah Kennedy Cuomo for a panel discussion, “America Today: Congressional Elections Loom,” chaired by Dan Mulhall, former Ambassador of Ireland to the United States.
Mariah and Michael’s grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968), was an American politician and lawyer who served as US Attorney General from 1961 to 1964 under his brother, President John F. Kennedy, and later under President Lyndon B. Johnson. A prominent Democratic Party figure, he became known for his civil rights advocacy and opposition to poverty and social inequality.
