Charles O'Conor ( ga, Cathal Ó Conchubhair Donn; 1764–1828) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
and historical
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
. He was chaplain and librarian to the Marchioness of Buckingham and catalogued many manuscripts, including the famous Stowe Missal, now in the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
. His grandfather was the historian
Charles O'Connor, his brother the historian
Matthew O'Conor.
Description
:''O’Conor was a man of mild and timid disposition, liked by every one who knew him, and possessing extensive historical and ‘bookish’ information. In appearance he was short and slight, of sallow complexion, with prominent but distinguished looking features, giving him as age advanced a most vulnerable appearance. His manners were a curious compound of Irish and Italian. He was known locally as ‘the Abbé,’ and was for many years daily to be seen walking between Stowe and Buckingham, with his book and gold-headed cane, reading as he walked.''
Life
Charles O'Conor was educated in
Ludovisi College, Rome from 1779–91 and was appointed parish priest of Kilkeevin,
County Roscommon
"Steadfast Irish heart"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Connacht
, subdi ...
(1792–98). In 1796 he published a memoir of his grandfather, the historian
Charles O'Connor which he later suppressed.
In 1798 he was invited to become chaplain to Mary Nugent, the
Marchioness of Buckingham and to organize and translate a collection of Gaelic manuscripts at
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
. With him he brought papers of his grandfather to Stowe, including fifty-nine Gaelic manuscripts. In Stowe O'Conor wrote Columbanus ad Hibernos (1810–13),a series of letters supporting the royal veto on Catholic episcopal appointments in Ireland. These were answered by
Francis Plowden and saw him suspended from duties of parish priest by
John Troy,
Archbishop of Dublin
The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
. In his duties as librarian he edited the Four Masters, and other chronicles from the Stowe Library as Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres (1814–26), an edition regarded as unreliable.
RICORSO: see O’Conor, Charles in Authors A-Z
/ref>
Connor experienced mental illness. After leaving Stowe in 1827, he was briefly confined in a Dublin asylum. He died in Belenagare and is buried in Ballintober.
Partial bibliography
* Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Late Charles O’Connor (1796)
* Columbanus ad Hibernos (1810-1813
part VI (1813)
* Narrative of the most Interesting Events in Irish History (1812)
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres (1814–26)
Volume II (1825)
Volume IV (1826)
Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Stowe Library
(1818)
References
External links
O'Conor Family Tree
Retrieved Oct. 09, 2007.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconor, Charles
1764 births
1828 deaths
18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests
Roman Catholic writers
18th-century Irish historians
19th-century Irish historians
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...