Conor O'Brien, 18th Baron Inchiquin

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Right Honourable
The Lord Inchiquin
Baron Inchiquin
In office
1982–2023
Preceded by Phaedrig O'Brien, 17th Baron Inchiquin
Personal details
Born Conor Myles John O'Brien
(1943-07-17)17 July 1943
Surrey, England
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Dromoland, Ireland
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Helen O'Farrell, (m. 1988)
Children Slaney O’Brien, Lucia O’Brien
Parents Fionn Myles Maryons O'Brien
Josephine Reine O'Brien
Education Eton College
Mons Officer Cadet School
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 1962–1975
Rank Captain

Conor Myles John O'Brien, 18th Baron Inchiquin (17 July 1943 – 3 June 2023), The O’Brien (Chief of the Name), Prince of Thomond, and 10th Baronet of Leamaneh, was an English-born Irish clan chief and holder of an Irish peerage. Although his family's ancestral home, Dromoland Castle, was sold, he remained owner of a large house and substantial estate in Dromoland, County Clare until his death.[1]

Early life and education

O'Brien was the son of Hon Fionn Myles Maryons O'Brien (28 October 1903 – 2 August 1977) and Josephine Reine O'Brien née Bembaron (circa 1913 - 27 October 2011).[2] He had a sister.[2] Fionn was the son of Lucius William O'Brien, 15th Baron of Inchiquin and Ethel Jane Foster.

O'Brien was educated at Eton.[2] He succeeded to the peerage on the death of his uncle, Phaedrig O'Brien, 17th Baron Inchiquin, in 1982.[3][4]

Career

O'Brien was commissioned into the 14th/20th Kings Hussars of the British Army in 1963. He served as a troop commander in Benghazi, Tripoli, Cyprus on Operation Tosca, Tidworth, Paderborn (as assistant adjutant), Singapore, and Tidworth as adjutant of the regiment. He became Aide-de-Camp to Commander British Forces Gulf in Bahrain and left the army in 1975, retiring with the rank of Captain.[2]

Although the ancestral seat of Dromoland Castle, and some of its demesne, had since left family hands, O'Brien continued to run the lands on the remaining estate. O'Brien operated an exclusive guest house in the new family home, Thomond House, adjacent to the former seat, from 1984 until 2008. He also turned the residual Dromoland Estate into a sporting and leisure venue.[citation needed] In April 2010, he was awarded €7.9m in damages by the High Court over the repudiation of an agreement to buy 377 acres out of the 600 acres of the Dromoland estate which his family still owned.[5]

In 2012, in a long-running dispute with the management of Dromoland Castle, O'Brien was refused an initial application to the High Court for them to immediately return 37 paintings that were loaned several decades prior (after discovering the hotel had allowed damage to occur to many of the paintings, O’Brien requested their prompt return). The hotel, however, scanned and reprinted all the paintings before O’Brien could get them returned and the copies now hang on the walls of Dromoland.[6][7][8]

Other work

In 1998, O'Brien visited Antioch, California for St. Patrick's Day and Antioch's first St. Patrick's Day Crinniu, hosted by then-Councilman Allen Payton and the city's council proclaimed "Sir Conor O'Brien Day".[9]

File:Dromoland Castle, from, A series of picturesque views of seats of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland (1840).jpg
Dromoland Castle, the former ancestral seat

Conor O’Brien formed the O’Brien clan foundation, which claims to connect over 800,000 O’Briens worldwide.[citation needed] He also was at one point the chairman of the Standing Council of Irish Chief and Chieftains.[citation needed]

Marriage and children

O'Brien married Helen O'Farrell in 1988. They had two daughters, Slaney Alexandra Anne O'Brien (1989) and Lucia Josephine O'Brien (1991).[2][10]

Death

Lord Inchiquin died in Dromoland on 3 June 2023, at the age of 79.[10] He is succeeded by his distant cousin and heir, Conor John Anthony O'Brien [11]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lord Inchiquin dies in Dromoland
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Baron Inchiquin
1982–2023		 Succeeded by
Conor O'Brien
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Conor_O%27Brien,_18th_Baron_Inchiquin&oldid=727345557"