Sir Lucius Henry O'Brien, 3rd Baronet PC (Ire) (2 September 1731 – 15 January 1795) was an Irish baronet and politician for 34 years. He was a man of quite different parts to his father, an intellectual, a Greek and Latin scholar and a brilliant politician. He entered S.C. at Trinity College, Dublin, on 9th. July 1748, at the age of sixteen. He became a B.A. Vernon in 1752. Joined the Irish bar in 1758, and succeeded his father, as 3rd. Baronet of Dromoland, becoming a Privy councillor and M.P.

Background

O'Brien was the son of Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet and his wife Mary Hickman, inheriting the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1765. He was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in 1753, later becoming a barrister.

Career

In 1761, 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 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

as the member for

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

, sitting until 1768. Subsequently O'Brien successfully ran for

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

, a seat previously held by his father, holding it until 1776. He was then again elected for Ennis, but following the unseating of Hugh Dillon Massy as Member of Parliament for Clare, O'Brien returned to represent that constituency in 1778. In the election of 1783, he became the representative for Tuam. O'Brien was sworn of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execu ...

in 1786. He served for the latter constituency until 1790, when he was re-elected for Ennis. He held this seat finally until his death in 1795. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in 1773. In 1787 he was appointed a Privy Counsellor and from 1788 to 1795 was

Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper The Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper was a civil servant within the Irish Chancery in the Dublin Castle administration. His duties corresponded to the offices of Clerk of the Crown and Clerk of the Hanaper in the English Chancery. Latterly, the of ...

in the Irish Chancery.

Family

O'Brien married Anne French, the daughter of Robert French, in 1768 and had by her seven children, three sons and four daughters. He was succeeded in the baronetcy as well as in the constituency of Ennis by his oldest son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

. His grandson James FitzGerald (1818–1896) was a prominent politician in New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Lucius 1731 births 1795 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Middle Temple Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

Politicians from County Clare Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Clare constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies