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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
William Smith O'Brien |
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Oxford Dictionary of British History:
William Smith O'Brien |
O'Brien, William Smith (1803-64). Smith O'Brien was an unlikely, unwilling, and unsuccessful Irish rebel. the younger son of a protestant baronet from Co. Clare, with family links to the earls of Thomond, he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in Parliament 1828-31 and from 1835 when he was returned for Co. Limerick. He moved steadily into a nationalist stance, much influenced by Young Ireland, and in 1843 declared for repeal of the Union. A rising planned for August 1848 dwindled into a farcical riot at Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary, where O'Brien explained that he did not intend any violence to property. An attack upon 46 policemen, holed up in Widow McCormack's cottage, was unsuccessful. O'Brien was sentenced to death, but pardoned against his will and transported.
Oxford Companion to Irish Literature:
William Smith O'Brien |
O'Brien, William Smith (1803-1864), Young Irelander. Born at Dromoland, Co. Clare, he was educated at Harrow and Cambridge before becoming Conservative MP for Ennis, 1825, and later for Co. Limerick, 1835. He joined Young Ireland but did not share the anti-landlord politics of John Mitchel and James Fintan Lalor. In October 1848, he lead the only significant action of the young Ireland rising, and fought off a contingent of policemen at the Widow McCormack's house in Ballingarry. The death sentence passed on him was commuted and he spent five years in Tasmania before going to America. His political testament is Principles of Government or Meditations in Exile (1856). There is a monument in O'Connell St., Dublin.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
William Smith O'Brien |
Bibliography
See D. Gwynn, Young Ireland and 1848 (1949); biography by B. Touhill (1981).
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
William Smith O'Brien |
William Smith O'Brien (Irish: Liam Mac Gabhann Ó Briain; 17 October 1803 – 18 June 1864) was an Irish Nationalist and Member of Parliament (MP) and leader of the Young Ireland movement. He was convicted of sedition for his part in the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, but his sentence of death was commuted to deportation to Van Diemen's Land. In 1854, he was released on the condition of exile from Ireland, and he lived in Brussels for two years. In 1856 O'Brien was pardoned and returned to Ireland, but he was never active again in politics.
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Born in Dromoland, Newmarket on Fergus, County Clare, he was the second son of Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Baronet, of Dromoland Castle.[1] William took the additional surname Smith, his mother's maiden name, upon inheriting property through her. He was a descendant of the eleventh century Ard Rí (High King of Ireland), Brian Boru.[2] He received an upper-class English education at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3]
From April 1828 to 1831 he was Conservative MP for Ennis. He became MP for Limerick County in 1835, holding his seat in the House of Commons until 1848.
Although a Protestant, he supported Catholic Emancipation while remaining a supporter of British-Irish union. In 1843, in protest against the imprisonment of Daniel O'Connell, he joined O'Connell's anti-union Repeal Association.
Three years later, disillusioned by O'Connell, O'Brien withdrew the Young Irelanders from the association. With Thomas Francis Meagher, in January 1847 he founded the Irish Confederation. In March 1848, he spoke out in favour of a National Guard and tried to incite a national rebellion. He was tried for sedition on May 15, 1848 but was not convicted.[4]
On 29 July 1848, O'Brien and other Young Irelanders led landlords and tenants in a rising in three counties, with an almost bloodless battle against police at Ballingarry, County Tipperary.[1] In O'Brien's subsequent trial, the jury found him guilty of high treason. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Petitions for clemency were signed by 70,000 people in Ireland and 10,000 people in England.[5]
In Dublin on 5 June 1849, the sentences of O'Brien and other members of the Irish Confederation were commuted to transportation for life to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania in present-day Australia).
O'Brien attempted to escape from Maria Island off Tasmania, but was betrayed by Ellis, captain of the schooner hired for the escape. He was sent to Port Arthur where he met up with John Mitchel, who had been transported before the rebellion. The cottages which O'Brien lived in on Maria Island and Port Arthur have been preserved in their 19th century state as memorials.[6]
Having emigrated to the United States, Ellis was tried by another Young Irelanders leader, Terence MacManus, at a lynch court in San Francisco for the betrayal of O'Brien. He was freed for lack of evidence.[6]
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In 1854, after five years in Tasmania, O'Brien was released on the condition he never return to Ireland. He settled in Brussels.[7] In May 1856, he was granted an unconditional pardon and returned to Ireland that July. He played no further part in politics.[7]
There is a statue of him on O'Connell Street, Dublin.
His older brother Lucius O'Brien (1800–1872) was also a Member of Parliament for County Clare.
| “ | The new Irish flag would be Orange and Green, and would be known as the Irish tricolour | ” |
| “ | To find a gaol in one of the lovliest spots formed by Nature in one of her lonliest solitudes creates a revulsion of feeling I cannot describe | ” |
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—November 1849, when first sighting Maria Island. |
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Frankland Lewis |
Member of Parliament for Ennis 1828-1831 |
Succeeded by William Vesey-FitzGerald |
| Preceded by Standish Darby O'Grady |
Member of Parliament for Limerick County 1835-1849 |
Succeeded by Samuel Dickson |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Oxford Dictionary of British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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| Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article William Smith O'Brien. Read more |
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