Tom O’Callaghan; Travel Agent to Manning, Mahony

Tom O’Callaghan, who arranged trips to Rome for Cardinals Timothy Manning and Roger M. Mahony and tours of Ireland for such entertainers as Bob Newhart and Edward Mulhare, has died. He was 68.

O’Callaghan, founder of O’Callaghan Travel Ltd., died Tuesday in Los Angeles of cancer, said his son, attorney Michael T. O’Callaghan.

Often arranging travel for hundreds of members of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, O’Callaghan was the official tour operator for trips to Rome for Manning’s elevation to cardinal in 1973 and for Mahony’s in 1991.

The travel agent also arranged archdiocese pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Mexico, Ireland and Lourdes, France; and to Toronto and Chicago for visits by the pope.

Born and reared in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, O’Callaghan used his expertise about his native country after immigrating to Los Angeles in 1957. He worked with several actors to teach them Irish accents.

He started his own travel agency in 1972 and later added a charter company specializing in travel to Ireland.

O’Callaghan provided travel arrangements to Ireland for Newhart and his sitcom wife Mary Frann, Michael and Dan O’Herlihy, Thomas MacGreevy and Mulhare of “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” among others.

O’Callaghan is survived by his wife of 41 years, Hannah; three children, Siobhan Robinson of Newport Beach, Margaret Gould of Santa Cruz and Michael of Santa Monica; two brothers, Michael of Alhambra and Pat of Dublin, Ireland; two sisters, Marie Brazil of Hancock Park and Antoinette McNamara of Dublin, and four grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at St. Bede Church in La Canada Flintridge.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Providence Hospice, 3414 Pacific Ave., Burbank, CA 91505.