Meet 11-year-old Ollie from Clare: Is he Ireland's smartest kid?
Ollie O'Meara with his goat Carmel Cookie on the farm near Gallows Hill, Cratloe, Clare. Picture : Eamon Ward
At just 11-years-old, Ollie O’Meara is already holding his own among an elite group — the smartest people in the country, as judged by Mensa.
The bubbly kid from Clare will be among hundreds attending the Irish Mensa Annual Gathering at the Rose Hotel, Tralee, this Saturday. The event is also inviting individuals to participate in a testing session to determine their IQ, and potentially earn them an invitation to join the exclusive club.
Ollie is humble about his academic promise and said he dreams of one day becoming a goat farmer. He is the proud owner of pet pygmy goat Caramel Cookie, whom he refers to as his best friend.
“My dad is an accountant but that would be far too boring for me," Ollie said.
Yvonne and Padraic O’Meara say they first realised their son was gifted when he was just three-years-old.
“I’m a primary school teacher, so I was quite aware of this from the time Ollie was very young,” Yvonne explained.
“I can remember when he was doing his older sister Josie’s maths homework.
"He would be looking over her shoulder and telling her the answers to what she was doing. It used to annoy her a bit, because she was two years ahead of him. Up until that point, we just thought he had a good vocabulary.”
The young boy never ceases to amaze his parents.
“In the car, I might be wondering something aloud that he would know the answer to. He would give this very random answer, but there was no way I thought it could be accurate.
"As soon as I’d go home to Google it, I’d realise he was spot on. This could be related to anything — nature or cloud cycles. No matter how random the subject was, he pretty much always had the right answer for us.
"The funny thing was, it was never related to anything we had spoken about before or watched on television.”
Ollie, who attends Parteen National School, admits he is easily bored.
“I find school a little boring, because everything’s just a little easy,” he said.
However, the whiz kid says his IQ is hardly ever up for discussion.
“I don’t really think about it. Outside of school, I’m normally horse riding, playing video games ,or minding my pet goat."
The beloved pet has become like a member of the family.
“My parents thought it would be a good idea to get me a goat for my 11th birthday, so I had a new friend."
Yvonne outlined the challenges of raising a gifted child.
“Sometimes it can be a challenge. This is particularly the case when you are having an argument with him, because he always wins.
"Ollie will out-talk you no matter what. It can be difficult to keep him stimulated at times. We just have to be as creative as possible. That seems to be the key.”
She said that fast-tracking Ollie’s education is not something they ever considered.
"From a social point of view, we would never have been interested in that. Education is only part of the reason children go to school. It’s also beneficial for building social skills. All these things are very important, and we could never interfere with the friendship circles or move him on.
“To me, all that matters is that Ollie is happy and content. Some days, he says he wants to be a zoologist. Other days, he talks about having his own ice-cream van. Really, we don’t care what he pursues in life. As long as Ollie is happy, then that’s us happy as well.”
Ollie is encouraging anyone who might be interested in Mensa to take the test.
“There are multiple days and multiple events on each day,” he said.
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“It’s really fun to be in Mensa, because the organisation is so unique.”
Meanwhile, Patricia McGrath, who hails from Kerry and is a test invigilator, said it is exciting to see an event like this taking place in Tralee.
The events have become something of a family affair for Patricia, whose 23-year-old son Cian is also a Mensa member.
Ms McGrath said: "Mensa family events have always been really interesting.
"If there is something you feel is missing from the list of events, you can just set it up yourself.”
She explained that Mensa forms just one aspect of her and Cian’s social lives.
“I’ve always encouraged him to take part in activities such as sport too. If there was something he was particularly interested in I made sure I gave him help and support. In other ways he is just like everybody else which is important because you have to live in the real world and have things in common with people from all walks of life”.
Patricia’s wealth of knowledge was also obvious from an early age.
“I always enjoyed school. The teacher decided after three months of junior infants that I should go directly into first class.
"My parents decided against this, as it would have meant me going into secondary school at the age of 10. I was happy with the way things were.
"My son was also happy to go with the flow. You have to remember that everyone is different. I spoke to one mum who said they had to get their child a special teacher, because they were so frustrated. Sometimes the personality is so intense they need more.
"A lot of schools don’t tend to focus on how to support the above average children, and this could cause frustration for some parents. Mensa is great because it is so beneficial socially. It’s an organisation that people tend to stay within.”
