- Arthur O'Connor
Arthur O'Connor (
July 4 ,1763 –April 25 ,1852 ), was aUnited Irishman and later ageneral inNapoleon 's army.Biography
Born near
Bandon, County Cork , O'Connor embraced the Republican movement early on as he was encouraged by theAmerican Revolution overseas. From 1791 to 1796 he was a member of the colonial parliament inCollege Green . In 1796 he became a member of theSociety of United Irishmen . He andLord Edward Fitzgerald petitionedFrance for aid in support of an Irish revolution. While traveling to France he was arrested alongside FatherJames O'Coigly and three other United Irishmen. O'Coigly, a Catholic priest, was hanged whereas O'Connor was acquitted. He was re-arrested immediately and imprisoned atFort George inScotland , until he was released in 1802 under the condition of ‘banishment’. [ [http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/index.htm] O'Connor at Princess Grace Irish Library. Retrieved Oct. 09, 2007.] He traveled to Paris, where he was regarded as the accredited representative of the United Irishmen by Napoleon who, in February, 1804, appointed himGeneral of Division in the French army.General Berthier , Minister of War, directed that O'Connor was to join the expeditionary army intended for the invasion of Ireland at Brest. When the plan fell through, O'Connor retired from the army, later marrying the daughter of scholar Marquis deCondorcet , Eliza, in 1807. The rest of his life was spent composing literary works on political and social topics. [ [http://www.iol.ie/~fagann/1798/bios.htm] Extracts from A Biographical Dictionary of Irishmen in France. By Richard Hayes. Published by MH Gill & Sons Ltd. Dublin 1949. Retrieved Oct. 09, 2007.]References
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