Where did a bunch of Malarkey come from?

The phrase a bunch of malarkey meaning a lot of nonsense or foolish talk comes from American slang with Irish-American roots and has an interesting etymology. The word malarkey itself, also spelled malarky, first appeared in American English in the early 1920s, with the earliest known use in 1922 in the work of American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius Dorgan, known as Tad Dorgan, who was a famous sports and humor cartoonist for New York newspapers and is credited with popularizing many slang terms. Dorgan used malarkey to mean nonsense or bunk. The origin is uncertain but is believed to come from Irish-American slang, possibly from the Irish surname Mullarkey or Malarkey, which was used as a placeholder for a typical Irishman and then became associated with Irish blarney or tall tales, meaning exaggerated talk. Another theory links it to Greek malakia meaning softness or nonsense, but Irish surname origin is more accepted. The phrase a bunch of malarkey adds bunch meaning a lot to malarkey meaning nonsense, similar to a bunch of baloney or a bunch of bunk. It became widely used in mid-20th century American English and was popularized in recent years by President Joe Biden who frequently says that's a bunch of malarkey as his catchphrase to dismiss false claims. Today, a bunch of malarkey is a mildly humorous, non-offensive way to say that's nonsense or lies, used in politics, media, and everyday conversation.