Art Ó Laoghaire (IPA:ˈaɾˠt̪ˠoːˈl̪ˠiːəɾʲə, also Airt Ó Laoghaire or Art O'Leary; 1746 – 4 May 1773), a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

member of the

Gaelic nobility of Ireland This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others bei ...

, was a captain in the Hungarian

Hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

s Regiment of the army of Holy Roman Empress

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

.O'Leary, 1998

Life

He married

Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill (also known as Eileen O'Connell, ) was a member of the Irish gentry and a poet. She was the main composer of '' Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire'', a traditional lament in Irish described (in its written form) as the grea ...

(aunt of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

) in 1767; she had been a widow from the age of 15 and was now 23. They had three children, Cornelius, Fiach and a third who apparently did not survive infancy. Having returned home to Rathleigh House near

Macroom Macroom (; ) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork (city), Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of war, ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the hot-tempered Art became involved in a feud with a Protestant landowner and magistrate, Abraham Morris of Hanover Hall, Macroom. When Morris was High Sheriff of County Cork in 1771, he laid charges against Art following Art's alleged attack on Morris and the wounding of his servant on 13 July 1771 at Hanover Hall. In that October, Art was indicted his absence, and Morris offered a 20 guinea reward for his capture.Brennan, 2000 The feud between the two men continued and in 1773, Morris demanded that Art sell him the fine horse that Ó Laoghaire had brought back from his service in the Austro-Hungarian army for £5. The Penal Laws stated that no Catholic might own a horse worth more than £5 and could be forced to sell a more valuable one on demand to any Protestant at this price. Art refused to sell and challenged Morris to a duel, which Morris declined. Morris used, or misused, his position as magistrate to persuade his fellow magistrates to proclaim Art an outlaw, who could then legally be shot on sight. Morris led a contingent of soldiers that tracked Ó Laoghaire down to Carrignanimma on 4 May 1773, and he gave the order to fire on Art. The first shot, which killed Art, was fired by a soldier called Green. Morris and the soldiers were held to be guilty of Art's murder by a coroner's inquest on 17 May, but Morris was acquitted of the murder by Cork magistrates on 6 September 1773. (Under the Penal Laws, no Catholic could be a magistrate, or a lawyer.) Morris was shot in Cork on 7 July by Art's brother Cornelius, who saw Morris at a window of a house in Hammond's Lane where he was lodging and fired three shots, wounding Morris. The shots were not immediately fatal, but Morris died in September 1775: this was believed to have been as the result of the shooting. The soldier Green was decorated for his "gallantry". His wife

composed the long poem "

Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire or the ''Lament for Art Ó Laoghaire, Arthur O' Leary'' is an Irish Language, Irish Keening, keen composed in the main by Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, a member of the Gaelic gentry in the 18th century, who was born in C ...

" (Lament for Art O'Leary), mourning his death and calling for revenge. Ó Laoghaire's tomb at

Kilcrea Friary Kilcrea Friary () is a ruined medieval abbey located near Ovens, County Cork, Ireland. Both the friary and Kilcrea Castle, located in ruin to the west, were built by Observant Franciscans in the mid 15th century under the invitation of Cormac ...

has the epitaph (probably composed by his widow): "Lo Arthur Leary, generous, handsome, brave, / Slain in his bloom lies in this humble grave."

Notes

References

*O'Leary, Peter (1998) "The Life and Times of Art O Laoghaire". Journal of the Ballingreary & Inchigeela Historical Society 1998, online at www.ballingearyhs.com *Brennan, Brian Anthony (2000) "Songs of an Irish Poet: The Mary O'Leary Story. pp. 128–9". The Collins Press, Cork

External links

*The Life and Times of Art O Laoghaire by Peter O'Lear

*Extract from series Voices of a Hidden Ireland about Ó Laoghaire and his murder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F02VhJ_g3xY {{DEFAULTSORT:O Laoghaire, Art People from Macroom 18th-century Irish people Irish soldiers in the Austrian Army Irish expatriates in Austria-Hungary Irish folklore Irish outlaws Legendary Irish people 1773 deaths Year of birth unknown 1746 births