Arthur O'Connor (4 July 1763 – 25 April 1852), was a

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

who was active in seeking allies for the Irish cause in England and in France. A proponent of radical democratic reform, in Ireland he was distinguished by publishing political appeals to women. Arrested on the eve of the

1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...

, in 1802 he went into exile in France where, after being raised to the rank of General in a force that was to invade Ireland, fell out of favour with

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Among the positions he maintained publicly in his final years were a defence of the July Revolution in Paris and opposition to what he saw as the clericalism of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

's movement in Ireland.

Early life

O'Connor was born near

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

on 4 July 1763 into a wealthy Irish Protestant family. Through his brother

Roger O'Connor Roger O'Connor (1762-1834) was an Irish nationalist and writer, known for the controversies surrounding his life and writings, notably his fanciful history of the Irish people, the '' Chronicles of Eri''. He was the brother of the United Irishma ...

, who equally enthused by events in America was to share his republican politics, he was an uncle to Roderic O'Connor,

Francisco Burdett O'Connor Francisco Burdett O'Connor (12 June 1791 - 5 October 1871) was an officer in the Irish Legion of Simón Bolívar's army in Venezuela. He later became Chief of Staff to Antonio José de Sucre and Minister of War of Bolivia. Aside from Simón ...

, and

Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...

among others. His other two brothers, Daniel and Robert, were pro-British loyalists. A sister, Anne, committed suicide, after having been forbidden by the family from marrying a Catholic man with whom she was in love. O'Connor graduated with a law degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and was called to the bar in 1788. But intheriting a fortune worth £1,500 a year, he never practiced.

United Irishman

From 1790 to 1795 O’Connor was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

for Philipstown. He attached himself to the patriot party of

Henry Grattan Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...

, joining in the calls to advance the

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

of the

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

majority and for other reforms. At the time, this did not debar him from the influential

Kildare Street Club The Kildare Street Club is a historical member's club in Dublin, Ireland, at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy. The Club remained in Kildare Street between 1782 and 1977, when it merged with the Dublin University Club to become ...

, a bailiwick of the landed Protestant Ascdendancy. But the accommodation was short lived. In 1796 O'Connor joined the Society of United Irishmen, whose purpose was to overturn the Ascendancy and establish a representative national government independent both of sacramental tests and of dictation from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In January 1797, with United Irish support, he contested what had been his uncle Lord Longueville's parliamentary seat in Antrim. To the "free electors" of the county he commended the "entire abolition of religious distinctions" and the "establishment of a National Government", while protesting the "invasion" of the country by English and Scottish troops and the continuation of the war with the French Republic. Arrests, including his own in February for seditious libel, frustrated his attempts to canvass. The government, he explained to "those who were electors", had "destroyed every vestige of election by martial law". With

Lord Edward Fitzgerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

and others in the United Irish leadership in Dublin his thoughts now turned to securing French support for a republican insurrection. In a final address "To the Irish Nation" (February 1798) he asked:

Shall beggary and famine stalk through your country, so blessed with a temperate climate and a fertile soil, without the strongest suspicion that the people have not been done justice? Shall a brave, healthy, intelligent and generous people, be doomed to the most squalid misery at home, and be famed for enterprise, activity and industry in every country but their own, without the strongest suspicion that they have been made prey to peculation, injustice, and oppression. Shall a country ... be most advantageously placed on the globe between the old and the new world, yet posses such inconsiderable foreign trade ... without the strongest suspicion of perfidy in her government, and treason in her legislature?

He called for a "representative democracy", based on "universal suffrage", and tasked with breaking all "monopoly"—in property as well as in religion.

Appeal to the women of Ireland

In London, with his brother

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

, O’Connor had moved in the same radical circles as the United Irish agent

Jane Greg Jane "Jenny" Greg (1749 - 1817) in the 1790s was an Irish republican agitator with connections to radical political circles in England. Although the extent of her activities are unclear, in suppressing the Society of United Irishmen the British c ...

. Greg—possibly in the company of O'Connor—returned to Belfast where she was reported to the authorities as being "very active at the head of the Female nited IrishSocieties" in the town. O”Connor himself made a political appeal to women. In Dublin he had founded a paper, ''The Press.'' Writing in its pages in December 1797 as "Philoguanikos", he called on women to take sides in the coming conflict. He assured them that “the youth of this country have totally changed their mode of thinking” regarding women and were ready to seek their “society”, their “friendship” and “alliance”. It was now only "brainless bedlams” that recoiled from “the idea of a female politician". In February 1798, O'Connor's paper published a second address, signed signed "Marcus" (

William Drennan William Drennan (23 May 1754 – 5 February 1820) was an Irish physician and writer who moved the formation in Belfast and Dublin of the Society of United Irishmen. He was the author of the Society's original "test" which, in the cause of ...

). In this it was equally clear that women were being appealed to as "members of a critically-debating public":

Arrest and imprisonment

While traveling to France in March 1798 he was arrested alongside Father

James Coigly Father James Coigly (''aka'' James O'Coigley and Jeremiah Quigley) (1761 – 7 June 1798) was a Roman Catholic priest in Ireland active in the republican movement against the British Crown and the kingdom's Protestant Ascendancy. He serve ...

, a Catholic priest, and two other United Irishmen Benjamin Binns (also of the

London Corresponding Society The London Corresponding Society (LCS) was a federation of local reading and debating clubs that in the decade following the French Revolution agitated for the democratic reform of the British Parliament. In contrast to other reform associati ...

), and John Allen. Coigly, found to be carrying clear evidence of treason (an address from "The Secret Committee of England” to the Directory of France), was hanged. O'Connor, able to call

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

, Lord Moria and

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as '' The Rivals'', '' The ...

to testify to his character, was acquitted but was immediately re-arrested and imprisoned. On his way to confinement, he handed on a poem, which seemed to recant his republican beliefs. If the first line of the second stanza is read following the first line of the first stanza, and the alternating process is continued the opposite is the case: it is a ringing affirmation of his

Painite Painite is a very rare borate mineral. It was first found in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain who misidentified it as ruby, until it was discovered as a new gemstone in the 1950s. When it was confirmed as a new miner ...

convictions:

(1) The pomp of courts, and pride of kings,
(3) I prize above all earthly things;
(5) I love my country, but my king,
(7) Above all men his praise I'll sing.
(9) The royal banners are display'd,
(11) And may success the standard aid:
(2) I fain would banish far from hence
(4)
The Rights of Man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...
and
Common Sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...
.
(6) Destruction to that odious name,
(8) The plague of princes,
Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
,
(10) Defeat and ruin seize the cause
(12) Of France, her liberty, and laws.

O'Connor was held at Fort George in Scotland with other leading United Irishmen, among whom he was not fondly regarded. He frequently quarrelled with his associates, and made clear his dislike for

Thomas Addis Emmet Thomas Addis Emmet (24 April 176414 November 1827) was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary Irish republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s. He served as Attorney General of New York from ...

, William MccNeven and

William Lawless General William Lawless (20 April 1772 – 25 December 1824) was a Dublin-born surgeon and important member of the Society of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary Irish republicanism, republican organisation in late 18th century Kingdom of Ire ...

Exile in France

O'Connor was released in 1802 under the condition of "banishment". He travelled to Paris, where he was regarded as the accredited representative of the United Irishmen by

. In February 1804, the future

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

appointed him

General of Division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army co ...

for the

Irish Legion The Irish Legion (french: Légion irlandaise) was a light infantry regiment in service of the French Imperial Army established in 1803 for an anticipated invasion of Ireland. It was later expanded to a four battalions and a depot, the legion won ...

being readied in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

for an invasion of Ireland. According to the ''Nouvelle biographie générale'' (Paris, 1855) the “openness of his character, and his unalterable attachment to the cause of liberty rendered him little agreeable to Napoleon" who, after abandoning plans for Ireland, did not again employ him. O'Connor, whose appointment has been resented by many of his compatriots in the Legion, had had no military experience.

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...

did not entrust O’Connor in Paris with representing his plans for a renewed insurrection in Ireland. When Britain re-opened its war with France in May 1803, Emmett sent his own emissary, Patrick Gallagher, to Paris ro ask "money, arms, ammunition and officers" but not, as O'Connor had urged, for large numbers of troops. After his rising in Dublin misfired in July, and he could no longer indulge his hostility to Napoleon's imperial ambition, Emmet entrusted his plea for a French force to the rebel veteran Myles Byrne. After Napoleon's final defeat, O'Connor cecame a naturalised French citizen. He supported the 1830 insurrection in Paris which overthrew the increasingly absolutist

King Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

, publishing a defence of events in the form of an open letter to General Lafayette. After the revolution, he became mayor of

Le Bignon-Mirabeau Le Bignon-Mirabeau () is a commune in the Loiret department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Originally called simply ''Le Bignon'', the small village is approximately south of Paris, situated between the communes of Montargis to t ...

. He edited a paper of advanced/heterodox religious opinions—''Journal de la Liberté Religieuse''—and published a number of works on political and social topics. He also assisted his wife and her mother,

Sophie de Condorcet Sophie de Condorcet (1764 in Meulan – 8 September 1822 in Paris), also known as Sophie de Grouchy and best known as Madame de Condorcet, was a prominent French salon hostess from 1789 to the Reign of Terror, and again from 1799 until her death i ...

(an accomplished translator of

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

and Adam Smith), to prepare a revised edition of the works of his father-in-law, the Marquis de Condorcet (published in twelve volumes between 1847 and 1849). In 1834, O’Connor had been permitted to visit Ireland with his wife, to dispose of his estates that had been managed by his brother. Daniel O'Connell was then transforming what had been the Catholic Association into a movement for repeal of the Act of Union. O'Connor was highly critical of what he perceived as the continued mobilisation (heavily reliant on the co-operation of the clergy) of a distinct Catholic interest. In his last wor
''Monopoly: The Cause of all Evil'' (1848)
a largely theological treatise in which he rejects the exclusionary claims of a "corporate priesthood", he accused "O'Connell and his jesuit priests" of working to undo all that he, and the United Irish, sought to achieve in overcoming "religious hatred" and securing "union, love ndfraternity" between Irishmen.

Personal life

In 1807, although more than twice her age, O'Connor married Alexandrine Louise Sophie de Caritat de Condorcet (b 1790/1-1859), known as Eliza, the daughter of the French

philosophe The ''philosophes'' () were the intellectuals of the 18th-century Enlightenment.Kishlansky, Mark, ''et al.'' ''A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished Legacy, volume II: Since 1555.'' (5th ed. 2007). Few were primarily philosophe ...

the Marquis de Condorcet and the celebrated salon hostess,

(Sophie de Grouchy)."Arthur O'Connor"
Retrieved 29 December 2012. Following his marriage he borrowed money from fellow United Irish exile William Putnam McCabe to acquire a country residence. O’Connor's tardiness in repaying the debt to McCabe, whose own investments into cotton spinning in Rouen failed, resulted in a lawsuit. Cathal O'Bryne suggests that the debt was behind O'Connor's later suggestion to R. R. Madden that McCabe had been a double agent, a charge to which, Madden notes, the French government lent no credence. O'Connor's wife gave birth to five children, three sons and two daughters, almost all of whom predeceased him. Only one son, Daniel, married and had issue.http://www.condorcet-tourcoing.fr/spip.php?article149 "The O'Connor-Condorcet couple had five children, only one of whom, Daniel O'Connor, left a posterity: two sons, including General Arthur O'Connor, who married Marguerite Elizabeth de Ganay in 1878. From this union, two daughters were born: the first, Elizabeth O'Connor, married Alexandre de La Taulotte; the second, Brigitte O'Connor, to Count François de La Tour du Pin who gave her three children: Philis, Aymar and

Patrice de La Tour du Pin Patrice de La Tour du Pin (16 March 1911, Paris – 28 October 1975, ibid) was a French writer and poet. He was the winner of the Grand prix catholique de littérature in 1971 for ''Une Lutte pour la vie''. * Daniel O'Connor (1810–1851), who married Ernestine Duval du Fraville (1820–1877), a daughter of Laurent-Martin Duval, Baron Duval du Fraville, in 1843. She died at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

in 1877. O'Connor died on 25 April 1852. His widow died in 1859.

Descendants

His descendants continued to serve, as officers, in the French army and still reside at Château du Bignon. Through his only surviving son Daniel, he was a grandfather of two boys, Arthur O'Connor (1844–1909), who served in the French army, and Fernand O'Connor (1847–1905), a Brigade General who served in Africa and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. His grandson, Arthur, married Marguerite de Ganay (1859–1940), a daughter of Emily and Etienne, Marquis de Ganay, in 1878. They had two daughters, Elisabeth O’Connor, the wife of Alexandre de La Taulotte; and Brigitte Emilie Fernande O'Connor (1880–1948), who in 1904 married the Comte François de La Tour du Pin (1878–1914), who was killed ten years later at the Battle of the Marne.

Publications

* ''The Measures of Ministry to Prevent a Revolution: Are the Certain Means of Bringing it on'' (1794) * ''A Letter to the Earl of Carlisle, Occasioned by His Lordship's Reply to Earl Fitzwilliam's Two Letters, Exhibiting the Present State of Parties in Ireland'' (1795) *
The State of Ireland
' (1798) * ''Paddy's Resource: Being a Select Collection of Original and Modern Patriotic Songs: : Compiled for the Use of the People of Ireland'' (1798) * ''The Portrait of an Irish Executive Director, by Himself and His Friends'' (1799) * ''État actuel de la Grande-Bretagne'' (1804) * ''Lettre du général Arthur Condorcet O'connor au général La Fayette: sur les causes qui ont privé la France des avantages de la révolution de 1830'' (1831) * ''État religieux de la France et de l'Europe d'après les sources les plus authentiques avec les controverses sur la séparation de lÉglise et de l'État, Volumes 1 à 2'' (written with François-André Isambert and Charles Lasteyrie, 1844)
''Monopoly: The Cause of all Evil'' (1848)
''Le monopole, cause de tous les maux'' (1849)

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

Arthur O'Connor, M.P. (1763-1852), United Irishman

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Arthur 1763 births 1852 deaths French generals Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish political writers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for King's County constituencies Politicians from County Cork United Irishmen Irish soldiers in the French Army French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars