Not only did he top the poll with 1090 votes to spare and become part of a Fine Gael ticket that saw them take four of six seats available in the area, Patsy O'Brien also created an additional piece of history last weekend.
In the 2014 elections, Castlebar based Independent councillor, Michael Kilycone, smashed the quota and recorded 2,922 number one votes - 861 votes in excess of the quota - a record not many expected to see beaten. But come Sunday evening, a new name was put to the top of the list, when returning officer John Condon read out the results from the Claremorris Local Electoral area - with Fine Gael's Patsy O'Brien getting 2,955 number one votes - to burst the quota by over 1000 votes.
Achieving that kind of return and still seeing three more party colleagues over the line in a six-seater was either a brilliant bit of vote management or some very lucky general work. Even when you look at it as a percentage of the vote rather than the basic figures, O'Brien recorded 22.6 per cent of the vote compared to Kilcoyne's 18.9 per cent in 2014.
