Count Patrick Keyes O'Clery, The O'Clery (1849 – 23 May 1913), was a soldier and barrister, he was also Home Rule M.P. for

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

. Patrick Keyes O'Clery was the son of John Walsh O'Clery, The O'Clery. He was born near

Kilfinane Kilfinnane or Kilfinane () ( or , ) is a small market town in County Limerick, Ireland. The town's name comes from the Irish (church) and (Finnian), making its meaning "Church of Saint Finnian". Kilfinnane is located approximately 40&nbs ...

in County Limerick. He received his secondary education at

St Munchin's College St. Munchin's College is a boys–only Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded by The Most Reverend John G. Young (bishop), John Young, Bishop of Limerick in 1796. As of January 2020, a total of 657 boys were enrolle ...

and later attended

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. He was called to the bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1874. Keyes O'Clery joined the Papal Zouaves and participated in the defence of the Papal States. He was present at the defeat of the Garabaldian army at the

Battle of Mentana The Battle of Mentana was fought on November 3, 1867, near the village of Mentana, located north-east of Rome (then in the Papal States, now modern Lazio), between French-Papal troops and the Italian volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. Gariba ...

. He later participated in the defence of Rome when it fell to the nationalist forces. For this The O'Clery received the Papal Orders of St. Gregory (Military Cross) and of Pius IX. The Order of St Gregory also conferred upon him the title of chevalier. Keyes O'Clery served as Home Rule M.P. from 1874 to 1880. In the 1874 election he took the second seat beating out the Liberal and Conservative candidates. At the general election of 1880, although he was backed by the Catholic clergy, he was defeated by the Parnellite candidate Garrett Byrne. During the campaign, there was a serious outbreak of violence at a meeting at

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountains and Ireland's longest beach, Curracloe. The Plac ...

on Easter Sunday, 28 March 1880, in which Parnell himself was physically attacked. In the election the following month, Byrne was elected by a majority of over 2,000. In 1903, he was created a Count by Pope Leo XIII. He was also a Private Chamberlain at the Vatican Court and a Knight Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic. By coincidence, Sir George Bowyer, Bt., with whom he shared the representation for Co. Wexford, also had a number of Papal decorations. Keyes O'Clery wrote two books about Italy. He died at Twyford Abbey near Ealing. His widow, Katherine Countess O'Clery, died aged 77 on 4 August 1919 at St. John's Villa, St. Leonards-on-Sea.Death notice, The Times Saturday, 9 August 1919; pg. 1; Issue 42174; col A

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oclery, Patrick Keyes 1849 births 1913 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1874–1880 Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Middle Temple Papal counts