Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Morgan John Winthrop O'Donovan, The O'Donovan, MC (2 May 1893 – 28 April 1969) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who held the position of O'Donovan of Clan Cahill from 1940 to his death in 1969. He was the son of Morgan William II O'Donovan and Mary Eleanor Barton, and was a descendant in the male line from

Donal II O'Donovan Donal II O'Donovan (), The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail, Lord of Clancahill ( – 1639), was the son of Ellen O'Leary, daughter of O'Leary of Inchigeelagh, Carrignacurra, and Donal of the Skins, The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail. He is most commonly r ...

, The O'Donovan of Clancahill, who was the last chief of his sept inaugurated in the ancient

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

manner, with the

White Rod The White Rod, White Wand, Rod of Inauguration, or Wand of Sovereignty, in the Irish language variously called the slat na ríghe (rod of kingship) and slat tighearnais (rod of lordship), was the primary symbol of a Gaelic king or lord's legitima ...

, by his father-in-law

MacCarthy Reagh The MacCarthy Reagh (Irish: ''Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach'') dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept. History The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach seated themselves as kings of Carbery in ...

, Prince of Carbery, circa 1584.

Career

O'Donovan attended

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and then the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, being commissioned in 1913. He fought in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and in 1917 was decorated with the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. Between 1919 and 1920 he fought in the Iraq Campaign and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. From 1937 to 1940 O'Donovan commanded the 1st Battalion,

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light infantry) regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess ...

, which served in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

during the

Arab revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

. He later fought in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and commanded the 125th Infantry Brigade, part of the

42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (East ...

. In January 1942 he took command of the

210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) The 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army organised during the Second World War to command a group of newly raised Home Defence battalions. It was later converted to a frontline brigade tha ...

as it was being converted into

38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade The 38th (Irish) Brigade, is an administrative headquarters of the British Army that served in the Second World War as a fully functional infantry brigade. It was composed of North Irish line infantry regiments and served with distinction in the ...

.Joslen, p. 373. He retired in 1944 with the rank of

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. O'Donovan was then with the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

and

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

in 1945.

Marriage and issue

O'Donovan married Cornelia Bagnell, daughter of William Henry Bagnell and Florence May Burrowes, and they had issue: * Katharine Mary O'Donovan * Morgan Gerald Daniel O'Donovan married Frances Jane, daughter of his father's old friend from the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer

Notes

References

* Burke, Bernard, and Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, ''Burke's Irish Family Records''. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 5th edition, 1976. * Butler, W. F. T., "The Barony of Carbery", in
Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume X, Second Series
'. 1904. pp. 1–10, 73–84. *

Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet PC (25 March 1650 – 3 May 1733) was an Irish lawyer and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland from 1701 to 1703, Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1703 to 1707 and as Lord Chief Justice ...

, ''Carberiae Notitia''. 1686. extracts published in
Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume XII, Second Series
'. 1906. pp. 142–9 * Curley, Walter J.P., ''Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families''. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004. * O'Donovan, John (ed. & tr.), '' Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616''. 7 vols. Dublin:

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. 1848–51. 2nd edition, 1856
Volume VI
Appendix, Pedigree of O'Donovan, pp. 2430–83. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Morgan John 1893 births 1969 deaths Morgan John Irish chiefs of the name Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Irish Fusiliers officers British Army brigadiers of World War II British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine People educated at Marlborough College