Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet (7 April 1705 – 26 November 1765) was an Irish politician and

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Life

Born in England in 1705, he was the eldest surviving child of Lucius O'Brien (1675–1717 d.v.p) and Catherine Keightley (1676- c. 1733). He would be followed by a younger brother Thomas and two sisters Anne and Lucia, who both died as children. He inherited the baronetcy from his grandfather

Sir Donough O'Brien, 1st Baronet Sir Donough O'Brien, 1st Baronet of Leameneh (1642 – 17 November 1717) was an Irish politician and baronet. He was the son of Conor O'Brien (died 1651), Conor O'Brien of Leamanah and Máire Rua O'Brien, Máire Rua McMahon. He was the first m ...

as his own father had pre-deceased him. His maternal grandmother, Lady Frances Keightley (née Hyde) was the sister of Anne Hyde Duchess of York who in turn was the mother of

Queen Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. She was also Princess of Orange following her marriage on 4 November 1677 ...

and Queen Anne. Edward was raised first in Ireland, before attending Oxford. He entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

in 1727, sitting for

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, the same constituency his grandfather had also represented, until his death in 1765. Edward lived extravagantly and gambled heavily on horse races, destroying the wealth which his grandfather had so carefully built. When the last Earl of Thomond Henry O'Brien died he left his large estates to Murrough, the son of

William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, Order of the Bath, KB, Privy Council of Ireland, PC(I) (1700 – 18 July 1777) was an Irish Peerage, peer, Chief of Clan O'Brien dynasty, O'Brien, and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons, ...

, with remainder to Percy Wyndham. Murrough in died in 1741 and the reversion became effective. When the Earl of Thomond was seeking an heir amongst his kinsmen, he could not select the Marshal of Thomond as he refused to turn Protestant. He did not choose Edward as his heir as he was living too extravagantly and thus left him out of his will. The fortunes of the Dromoland O'Briens would have been greatly enhanced had they inherited the Thomond estates.

Issue

He married Mary Hickman in 1726 and together they had eight children: * Sir Lucius O'Brien, 3rd Baronet. *Donough O'Brien, married Mary, daughter of Richard Henn of Paradise, County Clare. Progenitor of Canadian branch of the family. *Captain Edward O'Brien, married Charlotte, daughter of Thomas Hickman of Brickhill, County Clare and died in 1787. *Henrietta, died unmarried. *Anne, married Richard Dawson of Atherdee, brother of the 1st Viscount Cremorne. *Mary, who married John Quin of Rossbrien and died in 1782. *Katherine, who married Charles MacDonnell of Newhall (Killone). *Lucy O'Brien, married Thomas Arthur of Glanmore in 1766.

Life

Issue

Ancestry

References

Further reading