Conor Myles John O'Brien, 18th Baron Inchiquin (born 17 July 1943) is an
English-born
Irish clan chief and holder of an
Irish peerage. Although his family's ancestral Irish residence has been sold, he remains a landowner in
County Clare.
Early life
He is the son of the Fionn Myles Maryons O'Brien (28 October 1903 – 2 August 1977) and Josephine Reine O'Brien ''Bembaron'' (''circa'' 1913-27 October 2011).
Fionn was the son of
Lucius William O'Brien, 15th Baron of Inchiquin and Ethel Jane Foster. O'Brien was educated at
Eton College.
Career
O'Brien commissioned into the
14th/20th Kings Hussars of the
British Army in 1963. He served as a
troop commander in
Benghazi
Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...
,
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
,
Cyprus on
Operation Tosca,
Tidworth,
Paderborn (as assistant
adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...
),
Singapore, and Tidworth as adjutant of the regiment. He became
Aide-de-Camp to Commander British Forces Gulf in
Bahrain and left the army in 1975, retiring with the rank of
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
.
Although the
ancestral seat
A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...
of
Dromoland Castle has since left family hands O'Brien has continued to run the lands on the estate left in family hands. O'Brien ran an exclusive guest house in the new family home, Thomond House, adjacent to the former seat, from 1984 until 2008. O'Brien also turned the residual Dromoland Estate into a sporting and leisure venue. In April 2010, he was awarded €7.9m in damages by the High Court over the repudiation of an agreement to buy 377 acres out of the 600 acres of the Dromoland estate which his family still owned.
In 2012, in a long-running dispute with the management of Dromoland Castle, O'Brien was refused an initial application to the High Court for them to immediately return 37 paintings that were loaned several decades prior; the hotel wanted to copy the paintings and then return them, possibly on a phased basis.
Other work
In 1998, Conor O'Brien visited
Antioch, California for St. Patrick's Day and Antioch's first St. Patrick's Day Crinniu, hosted by then-Councilman Allen Payton and the city's council proclaimed "Sir Conor O'Brien Day".
O'Brien has also served as chairman of the
Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains.
Family
O'Brien succeeded to the peerage on the death of his uncle,
Phaedrig O'Brien, 17th Baron Inchiquin, in 1982.
O'Brien has a sister.
He married Helen O'Farrell in 1988, and together they have two children.
The family seat of
Dromoland Castle was sold after financial strains required
Donough O'Brien, 16th Baron Inchiquin
Donough Edward Foster O'Brien, 16th Baron Inchiquin (5 January 1897 – 19 October 1968) was an Irish peer and 29th direct descendant of Brian Boru.
Early life
Inchiquin was the first of five children born to Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiqu ...
to sell a large part of the estate (c. 350 acres) to billionaire industrialist Bernard McDonough. The castle today functions as a luxury hotel and is owned by a number of
Irish-American businessmen.
[Dermot Walsh: ''Mr. Shannon' ... All His Dreams Come True''. - in: Clare, Our People Our Place, Special Diamond Jubilee Edition. - The Clare Association. . Original publication in Yearbook 2009 of The Clare Association.]
The 16th Baron built a smaller residence adjacent to the estate, Thomond House, which he moved into in 1965. Conor O'Brien continues to reside in Thomond House.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inchiquin, Conor Obrien, 18th Baron
People educated at Eton College
Living people
Conor
Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other hero ...
1943 births
Barons Inchiquin
Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School
Irish Anglicans
Irish chiefs of the name