Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

George O'Callaghan-Westropp JP (18 February 1864 – 30 July 1944), also known as The O'Callaghan, was an Irish landowner, soldier and political figure of the early 20th century.

Biography

He was born George O'Callaghan, son of Colonel John O'Callaghan and Mary Johnson Westropp, and raised in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. He lived at Coolreagh, an Anglo-Irish big house in

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 ...

. In 1885, he added "Westropp" to his name under the terms of a bequest by his aunt Catherine's husband Ralph, who left him an estate at Fortanne. In 1895, he married Henrietta Cecile Rose Godbold; they had four children. He was commissioned as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

on 9 September 1882 and rose to the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 19 September 1888 before retiring. He then took a captain's commission on 20 February 1889 in the Clare Artillery (Southern Division, Royal Artillery), a part-time

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

unit. He was promoted to

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 18 August 1897, and then to Lieutenant-Colonel in command on 3 December 1898. He remained in command of the unit (which became the

Clare Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) The Clare Militia was an Irish Militia regiment from 1798 to 1909. It was based in County Clare (now in the Republic of Ireland). At first an infantry unit, it was converted to artillery in 1882, making it the last artillery militia unit raised ...

in 1902 and the Clare Royal Field Reserve Artillery in 1908) until its disbandment in 1909. In 1905, O'Callaghan-Westropp was named honorary Aide de Camp to

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

in the

1905 Birthday Honours The 1905 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 30 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII on 9 November. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, w ...

. He inherited his father's estate in 1912, and five hundred tenants. He styled himself "The O'Callaghan", claiming chieftainship of the Gaelic

O'Callaghan O'Callaghan or simply Callaghan without the prefix (anglicized from two separate surnames and clans, '' Ó Ceallacháin,'' Munster Clan. ''Ó Ceileacháin,'' Oriel Clan'')'' is an Irish surname. Origin and meaning Munster The surname means desc ...

(''Ó Ceallacháin'') sept. They had lost their land in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

during the 17th-century

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

and were transplanted beyond the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

. The

Chief Herald of Ireland The Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland (), the authority in Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Herald authorises the granting of arm ...

in 1943 ruled that the rightful heir to the Chiefship was an O'Callaghan living in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. O'Callaghan-Westropp was politically a Unionist and a leading member of the County Clare Unionist Club. In 1911, he addressed a meeting of the Hollywood Unionist Club in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. He issued a pamphlet, ''Notes on the Defence of Irish Country Houses''. In 1919, O'Callaghan-Westropp was named as

High Sheriff of Clare The High Sheriff of Clare was a High Sheriff title. Records show that the title was in existence from at least the late 16th century, though it is not used today in the modern Republic of Ireland. The title existed within County Clare in the west ...

. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

, O'Callaghan publicly condemned British troops as "running wild" and "recruiting for

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

by their crimes"; he eventually changed to supporting

dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

. In reprisal,

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

burned a hay barn and cattle shed on his property and issued a threatening letter. He was nominated to the short-lived

Senate of Southern Ireland The Senate of Southern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland, established in 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The Act stipulated that there be 64 senators, but only 39 were selected and the Senate met onl ...

in 1921. In 1925, O'Callaghan-Westropp was proposed for election to the Seanad, but lost the by-election. He was a member of the Farmers' Party. O'Callaghan-Westropp's wife died in 1929. He remarried in 1937 to Muriel Haidee Battley and died in 1944. He was buried at the family plot in the church of St Mochulla,

Tulla Tulla () is a market town in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated in the east of the county, on the R462 and near its junction with the R352, 18 km from Ennis. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. Etymology Tu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OCallaghan Westropp, George 1864 births 1944 deaths Royal Ulster Rifles officers Clare Militia officers High sheriffs of Clare Politicians from County Clare Irish landlords 19th-century Irish landowners 20th-century Irish landowners