Roger O'Connor: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[Connorville]], [[County Cork]], [[Ireland]]

| children = {{unbulleted list|Louise O'Connor|Roderick[[Roderic O'Connor (land commissioner)|Roderic O'Connor]]|Wilhelmina O'Connor|[[Francisco Burdett O'Connor]]|Arthur O'Connor|Mary O'Connor|Harriet O'Connor|[[Feargus O'Connor]]|George O'Connor}}

| relations = {{unbulleted list|[[Arthur O'Connor (United Irishman)|Arthur O'Connor]] (brother)}}

'''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 [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishman]] [[Arthur O'Connor (United Irishman)|Arthur O'Connor]], and the father of the [[Chartism|Chartist]] leader [[Feargus O'Connor]] and of [[Francisco Burdett O'Connor]] who was to fight in the [[Spanish American wars of independence]].

O'Connor was born in Connorville, County Cork, into an Irish protestantProtestant family.<ref name = "jim">James Dunkerley, ''Americana: The Americas in the World Around 1850'', Verso, 2000, pp.449-50.</ref> He studied law and was [[called to the bar]] in 1784. He married Louisa Anna Strachan, who died after thegiving birth ofto theirtwo sonchildren, Louise and RoderickRoderic.<ref name = "kim2">James Dunkerley, "The Third Man: Francisco Burdett O'Connor and the Emancipation of the Americas", ''University of London Institute of Latin American Studies Occasional Papers'', No. 20, 1999.</ref> He remarried in 1788, to Wilhamena Bowen, who bore him four sons and three daughters.<ref name = "jim"/>

Roger's younger brother [[Arthur O'Connor (United Irishman)|Arthur O'Connor]] was one of the [[United Irishmen]]. Roger was himself associated with the movement, editing the nationalist journal ''Harp of Erin''. His two other brothers, Daniel and Robert, were pro-British[[Unionism loyalistsin Ireland|Irish unionists]]. After his oldest brother Daniel got into debt, Roger bought out his inheritance for £5.000.<ref name = "jim"/> These political and financial conflicts were deepened by a family dispute following the suicide of his sister Anne, who had not been allowed by the family to marry a Catholic man she was in love with. This led to a long feud between Roger and his brother Robert.<ref name = "kim2"/> According to historian [[James Dunkerley]] Robert, who was the local sheriff, "even tried to have Roger executed" for treason because of his involvement with ''Harp of Erin''.<ref name = "kim2"/>

Roger and Arthur engaged in nationalist activities in London, building a network of contacts along with [[Jane Greg]] who was to return as an active "United Irishwoman" to Belfast.<ref Hename="Kennedy">{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=Catriona |title='Womanish Epistles?' Martha McTier, Female Epistolarity and Late Eighteenth-Century Irish Radicalism |journal=Women's History Review |date=2004 |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=660 |doi=10.1080/09612020400200404 |s2cid=144607838 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Roger went into hiding in the run -up to the abortive [[Expédition d'Irlande|1796 rebellion]]. He subsequently surrendered to the authorities and was released. In July 1797 he assisted in the defence of other accused persons. According to Roger, this act led to further plots against him led by his loyalist brother Robert. He and Arthur were arrested and held in various locations over a period of several years before being finally released. Though an avowed Irish nationalist, O'Connor denied that he had ever been party to treasonable conspiracies. In 1799 he published ''To the People of Great Britain and Ireland'', a booklet that detailed what he considered to be his mistreatment.<ref name = "DNB"/><ref>Roger O'Connor, ''To the People of Great Britain and Ireland'', Dublin, 1799.</ref> The O'Connors received considerable support from Whig politicians in Britain. MP and playwright [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]] wrote that "the usage of Roger O'Connor, who is one of the finest fellows I ever saw, has been merciless beyond example".<ref name = "jim"/> O'Connor was held in [[Fort George, Scotland|Fort George]] near Inverness until 1801, when he was moved to London, but was barred from travelling to Ireland.{{fact|date=August 2021}}

In 1803 O'Connor was finally allowed to return to Ireland. Following these troubles, O'Connor moved to [[Dangan Castle]], [[Summerhill, County Meath|Summerhill]], [[County Meath]] having acquired the property on a permanently renewable lease from Thomas Burrowes of the [[East India Company]]. The castle had been the childhood home of [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]], who later became the Duke of Wellington. O'Connor asserted that he had acquired it as "a suitable residence in which to entertain Napoleon" after the anticipated defeatsuccess of [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the BritishUnited Kingdom]].<ref name = "jim"/><ref>Donald Read & Eric Glasgow, ''Feargus O'Connor: Irishman and Chartist'', Edward Arnold, 1961, p.13.</ref> At this time he began his career as a writer, preparing commentaries on the Old Testament.<ref name=jpp>{{cite journal|last1=Prendergast|first1=John P.|authorlink1=John Patrick Prendergast|title=Dangan and Roger O'Connor|journal=The Irish Monthly|date=January 1884|volume=12|issue=127|pagepages=35-4735–47|url=http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20497088?sid=21105504556213&uid=70&uid=4&uid=2&uid=2129&uid=3738232&uid=2134|accessdate=24 December 201420497088}}</ref> He did so from a position of scepticism towards religion; he once said Voltaire was his God.<ref name = "DNB"/>

His wife Wilhamina died in 1806. DuringAfter thisher perioddeath O'Connor's behaviour apparently became increasingly eccentric and extravagant. In 1809 a large part of the Castle was destroyed by fire. O'Connor was suspected of insurance fraud, as he had recently taken out a policy on the house. Many years later his son Francis (then known as Francisco) wrote in his autobiography that he had accidentally started the fire himself when melting lead to make bullets.<ref name=kim2/><ref>Francisco Burdett O'Connor, ''Independencia Americana: Recuerdos de Francisco Burdett O'Connor'', 1895, reprint, La Paz, 1972, p. 5.</ref><ref name=kim2/>

In 1817 O'Connor and his son Arthur were arrested on a charge of having organised a mail robbery five years earlier, during which a guard was shot and killed. Two of the robbers had been apprehended after attempting to pass some of the stolen property, and had implicated O'Connor. The robbers were labourers employed on O'Connor's estate.<ref name=jpp /> It was alleged that O'Connor's steward Martin McKeon had conspired with him to organise the robbery, with McKeon recruiting the robbers. O'Connor was allegedly motivated by debt. Both men were put on trial. Arthur was also arrested, but later released. O'Connor stated that his only connection to the robbery was that his son Arthur had found the abandoned mailbags on his land. An endorsement of O'Connor's moral character was given by O'Connor's close friend the MP [[Francis Burdett|Sir Francis Burdett]], who stated that he was happy to lend any sum of money to O'Connor. O'Connor and McKeon were both acquitted, as the accusers' evidence was not considered credible.<ref name=jpp /> O'Connor and his supporters pointed out that the robbers had been spared the death penalty for testifying against him. O'Connor published his version of events, in which he argued that there had been a conspiracy to have him convicted. He claimed this was only the most recent of ten conspiracies to kill him, "being the first against my character—the tenth against my life in the past twenty-four years". Its real purpose was to destroy his reputation among the local people who "adored" him:

{{quote|Charged with a highway robbery, in custody of a single constable, I ride through my own country thronged with a population that adored me — this is my crime,— this is the genuine source of all the plots and conspiracies formed against my life and character.<ref>''The Irish Patriot!!'', London, Fairburn, 1817, p.12.</ref>}}

While these events were unfolding, O'Connor's teenage sons Feargus and Francis fled the family home, travelled to London and asked to be looked after by Francis Burdett. Burdett took them in.<ref name = "kim2"/> O'Connor's oldest son Roderic moved to Australia.

[[File:Roger OConnor via the NPG.png|thumb|O'Connor depicted by [[Abraham Wivell]], holding a crown signifying his claim to be the rightful king of Ireland]]

While in Paris, O'Connor prepared his best-known work, the ''[[Chronicles of Eri]]'' (1822), a book purporting to be a translation of ancient manuscripts detailing the early history of the Irish people. It was dedicated to his friend and supporter Sir Francis Burdett. The book was prefaced by a portrait of O'Connor holding a crown, the caption to which proclaimed that he was the "Head of his Race" and "Chief of the prostrated people of his nation", a position he claimed as the supposed lineal descendentdescendant of the 12th-century king [[Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair]].

According to O'Connor, he had attempted to write this book three times before, but had been frustrated by the machinations of his enemies, who stole his manuscripts. Another version of the book had been destroyed in the disastrous fire at Dangan in 1809.<ref name=jpp />

O'Connor returned to county Cork, but had by this time had lost much of his money. He lived for the rest of his life in a fisherman's cottage in [[Ballincollig]], cohabiting with a local young woman he called the "princess of Kerry".<ref name = "jim"/> According to [[Richard Robert Madden]], O'Connor genuinely believed that this "young girl of humble origin" was a really a princess: "The enthusiasm with which he is said to have been wont to speak of the exalted claims of this princess of Kerry to an ancient Irish regal origin, left no doubt on the minds of many who heard him expatiate on this subject, that he had worked himself up into a firm belief in his fondly-imagined discovery."<ref name = "mas">Richard Madden, ''The United Irishmen: Their Lives and Times'', Dublin, 1858, p.595-9.</ref> She inherited "a considerable sum of money" from him on his death."<ref name = "mas"/>

His oldest son [[Roderic O'Connor (land commissioner)|Roderic O'Connor]] emigrated to Australia with his two sons, where he became a significant landowner and public official in Tasmania.<ref>P. R. Eldershaw, O'Connor, Roderic, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 2, (MUP), 1967.</ref> Two of hisRoger's sons were brought up by Burdett. One of these was [[Feargus O'Connor]], one of the main leaders of the Chartists.<ref name = "jim"/> The other was [[Francisco Burdett O'Connor]], whoa foughtcommander in [[Simón Bolívar]]'s army and, later, a Bolivian politician.

[[Category:pseudohistoriansPseudohistorians]]

[[Category:PeopleWriters from County Cork]]