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| - Ms O'Hanlon was born Margaret Joan D'Arcy in Dungannon. She is the sixth of nine children (five brothers and three sisters) born to Martin and Rosemary D'Arcy. Growing up, young Margaret excelled in the performing arts, and played piano for then-President Séan Donovan in 1968. She states this visit to the Áras as the even which first interested her in politics. She attended North Sea Catholic University from 1977 to 1980, where she met Patrick O'Hanlon, a visiting student from Ireland. They married on 6th July 1980, and moved to Dublin, Ireland. Mr O'Hanlon worked as a broadcaster for RTÉ, Ireland's national television and radio service, and the future President earned a law degree from Trinity College Dublin in 1984. The O'Hanlons moved to America soon after, where both worked at Rutgers University in New Jersey from 1984 to 1987. During this time, she had two children, Juliet in 1982 and Aidan in 1984. During the pregnancy of the couple's third child, however, the O'Hanlons decided to return to Sainte Genevieve, and son Colin was born the following spring. Resettled in her hometown of Dungannon in 1988, O'Hanlon spent the following three years at home to raise her children, while also contributing to North Sea Catholic University's Law Review publication. In 1991, she was invited to speak before Parliament regarding immigration law reform. Drawing on her experiences as an alien in Ireland and America, she put forth numerous proposals, several of which were incorporated into the Immigration Law Reform Act 1993. This marked the beginning of her political career. She served on various State Council subcommittees, and had considerable influence in determining the government's policies regarding various law reforms of the decade. Becoming more of a public figure came at the expense of her family life, however; in 1996, the O'Hanlons divorced. Ms O'Hanlon retained her married name, and continued to function in civic life despite being a single mother with three dependent children. Initially worried that public opinion of her would suffer because of this, it was instead given a boost, and she became something of a role model for the modern working mother in the late 1990s. She briefly considered a presidential run in 1997, but the high approval ratings of then-incumbent Christopher St. Bernard coupled with her young age (she was 37 at the time) ultimately dissuaded her from running.
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