Charles O'Gara (born 1699 in Saint-Germain, d. 1777) was a French-born

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

of Irish parentage who rose to prominence in the service of

Leopold, Duke of Lorraine Leopold the Good (11 September 1679 – 27 March 1729) was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1690 to his death. Through his son Francis Stephen, he is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperor ...

and later his son

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor Francis I (Francis Stephen; ; ; ; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, List of rulers of Austria#Dukes and archdukes of Austria under the House of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, List of ...

. Like the rest of his family he was a Jacobite who supported the return of

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rule to the British and Irish kingdoms. His father was the Irish Colonel and Member of Parliament

Oliver O'Gara Oliver O'Gara was an Irish politician and soldier of the 17th and 18th centuries who was closely identified with the Jacobite cause. Family background He was descended from the Ó Gadhra's of Luighne Connacht. After the Reformation his family h ...

who was one of the Wild Geese who left Ireland following the

Treaty of Limerick The Treaty of Limerick (), signed on 3 October 1691, ended the Williamite War in Ireland, a conflict related to the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). It consisted of two separate agreements, one with military terms of surrender, signed by commander ...

at the end of the

Williamite War The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobite supporters of James II and those of his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflic ...

which ended in defeat for the Jacobites. Colonel O'Gara settled in France at the Saint-Germain court of the exiled James II. Charles was the fourth of five children born to Colonel O'Gara and his wife Mary Fleming. He was baptised at Saint-Germain on 16 July with the exiled King James as his Godfather. His three elder brothers, including John Patrick O'Gara, all joined the

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. O'Gara was appointed

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

to the two sons of Leopold, the

Duke of Lorraine The kings and dukes of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were ...

. When Francis the elder of these became

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

in 1745, O'Gara was appointed an Imperial Counciller and a Chamberlain at the court in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. O'Gara was rewarded for his service by being made a

Count of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

and a

Knight of the Golden Fleece This article contains a list of knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Burgundian Golden Fleece 15th century !Year of induction!!Name!!Born!!Died!!Notes , - , rowspan=25, 1430, , Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, , 1396, , 1467, , Founde ...

. He became very wealthy and retired to

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, where he died, unmarried and childless in 1777.O'Connor & Lyons p.148 In his

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, his

heirs Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Official ...

were his older half sisters three grandchildren - Randell Plunkett, 12th Baron Dunsany and his two sisters Rose and Bridget Plunkett as well as his second cousin Charles O'Conor.

References

Bibliography

* Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny Et Raineval. ''The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Grants of Honour''. Genealogical Publishing, 2003. * Thomas O'Connor & Mary Ann Lyons. ''Irish communities in early modern Europe''. Four Courts Press, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:OGara, Charles Irish Jacobites 1699 births 1777 deaths French people of Irish descent French emigrants Immigrants to the Holy Roman Empire