Morgan William II O'Donovan (1861–1940), The

O'Donovan The O'Donovan family is an ancient Irish nobility, Irish noble family. Their patronymic surname derives from Irish ''Ó Donnabháin'', meaning the grandsons or descendants of Donnubán, referring to the 10th century ruler of the Uí Fidgenti, ...

, and assumed the designation of '' The O'Donovan'' from 1890 to his death in 1940. He was the son of Henry Winthrop O'Donovan, The O'Donovan, and Amelia O'Grady, daughter of Gerald de Courcy

O'Grady ''O'Grady'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Tom Snyder, Carl W. Adams, and Holly Schlesinger for Noggin's teen programming block, The N. The show features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin, Melissa Bardin Galsky, P ...

, The O'Grady, and Anne Wise. O'Donovan was a descendant of

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, the last such to be formally 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 the

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.

Career

O'Donovan graduated from

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

with a Bachelor of Arts. His first civic office, following his accession to the chiefship, was that of High Sheriff of

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 ...

in 1892. He was an officer in the 3rd (

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 ...

) Battalion of the

Royal Munster Fusiliers The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...

(until 1881 known as the South Cork Light Infantry), where he was appointed

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 4 December 1891. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

in October 1899, the battalion was embodied in December 1899, and embarked the ''SS Sumatra'' for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on 23 February 1900. From arrival in March 1900 until 1902, he took part in operations in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

, and

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, 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 ...

.Crisp, p. 56 From 1903 to 1914 O'Donovan was Colonel of the 4th Battalion (Extra Reserve),

. He was also justice of the peace and deputy lieutenant for County Cork. In 1911 he was invested as a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(Civil Division).

Marriage and issue

O'Donovan married Mary Eleanor Barton, daughter of Reverend John Yarker Barton, and they had issue: * Morgan John Winthrop O'Donovan, The O'Donovan, his successor * Eleanor Melian Frances O'Donovan, Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery, died unmarried. * Miles Henry O'Donovan, Captain of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, 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 ...

, killed in action 1916. * Victor Teige O'Donovan, Lieutenant in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

, fought in the First World War and was invalided. Issue one son and one daughter.

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 * Crisp, Frederick Arthur,
Visitation of Ireland, Volume 4
'. Privately printed. 1904. Pedigree of O'Donovan of Clan Cathal, pp. 55–6 * Curley, Walter J.P., ''Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families''. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004. * O'Donovan, John (ed. & tr.), '' Annála Ríoghachta Éireann. 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 William

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy lieutenants of County Cork Royal Munster Fusiliers officers High sheriffs of County Cork Irish justices of the peace 1861 births 1940 deaths Irish chiefs of the name