Valentine James O'Hara (8 February 1875 – 8 October 1941) was a noted Irish author and authority on

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

in the 1920s.

Early life

Valentine James O'Hara was born on 8 February 1875 in Bernere,

Portarlington, County Laois Portarlington, historically called Cooletoodera (from ), is a town on the border of County Laois and County Offaly, Ireland. The River Barrow forms the border. Portarlington is around west of Dublin. The town was recorded in the 2022 census ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Son of Thomas O'Hara, he had one brother (Charles (1871–1955)) and two sisters (Mary b 1877 and Elizabeth b 1879). His early education was at

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

, near

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

in rural

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He spent two years at Stonyhurst studying Rudiments and Grammar at this

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

College. He finished his education at

Queen's College, Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

. Ten years later he returned to Stonyhurst College and taught languages before leaving to devote himself to literary work.

Later career

Valentine was a long-term resident of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He travelled extensively around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and served on the Anglo-Russian Committee in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and the Inter-Allied Trade Commission in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He was imprisoned under the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

regime and left Russia in 1918, later enlisting in the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

for their North Russian Expedition. He was demobilised in 1919 at the request of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

, and was appointed to the British Political Mission to the

(

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). His two best-known books are ''Anthony O'Hara, Knight of Malta'', an account of a distinguished kinsman, during the writing of which O'Hara had access to the

Tyrawley Tirawley ( Irish: ''Tír Amhlaidh''),` archaically known as Tyrawley, is a barony extending southward from the north coast of County Mayo, Ireland. It was created during the shiring of County Mayo out of the Gaelic túath or territory of Tír Am ...

papers at Annaghmore House, near

Collooney Collooney or Coloony () is a town in County Sligo, Ireland. Toponymy Collooney is thought to derive from . Reverend Terrence O'Rorke has previously also suggested ''Culmaine'', as Collooney is designated this way in such works as the ''Annal ...

, County Sligo. He also wrote ''Russia'' in 1925 in collaboration with Nikolai Makeev. This was a much-quoted and authoritative history of late 19th-century Russia. He was a frequent contributor to ''Nineteenth Century'', ''Contemporary'', ''Empire'', and ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''s, ''

Review of Reviews The ''Review of Reviews'' was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890–1893 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912). Established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893), ...

'', ''Studio'', among others, and a member of the Press Club, London, E.C.4. He regularly wrote letters to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. On 25 June 1919 he married Florence Annie Butt, daughter of William Butt, a farmer in

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. They had no children. He lived the remainder of his life in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

and died on 8 October 1941 at

Princess Beatrice Hospital The Princess Beatrice Hospital was a London hospital located in Earl's Court, which operated from 1887 to 1978, latterly as a maternity hospital. History The hospital was founded in 1887 as part of the celebrations of Golden Jubilee of Queen Vic ...

, Kensington. The cause of death was

pneumonitis Pneumonitis describes general inflammation of lung tissue. Possible causative agents include radiation therapy of the chest, exposure to medications used during chemo-therapy, the inhalation of debris (e.g., animal dander), aspiration, herbicide ...

of both lungs with

cardiac failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pre ...

. His lengthy obituary in the ''Stonyhurst College Magazine'' (July 1943) states: "He was the donor to Stonyhurst of a collection of valuable books, and it was through him that the late Mr. Hamilton Minchin gave us his large collection of books on art in 1933. Mr. O'Hara was also the donor of the unique painting of

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

in Coronation robes." O'Hara has an entry in the

British Biographical Index ''British Biographical Index'' is the key to the British Biographical Archive. It was edited by David Bank and Anthony Esposito, published by K.G. Saur in London in 1990. The collection includes 330,000 biographical entries from 324 reference b ...

reprinted from the ''Catholic Who's Who and Year Book'' 1930.

Bibliography

Books and general articles

* ''Esthonia: past and present''. 1922. * ''The Lithuanian Forest''. 1922. * ''The Foreign Office And Lithuania''. Contemporary Review, Vol. 125 (June 1924): 745-752. * ''Russia'' pp. xii. 346. Ernest Benn: London, 1925. In collaboration with Nikolai MAKEEV. * ''Anthony O'Hara, Knight of Malta, Memoir of a Russian Diehard'', pp. xii. 228. Richards: London, 1938. * ''An historical sketch on Poland'', 1863-1923, by Valentine J. O’Hara. pp. xix. 441. T. Fisher Unwin: London, 1923. contained within Poland by William Richard MORFILL

Oxford Journal articles

* The Lithuanian Bison: A Dying Race - 1921; S12-Ix: 509 - 510. * Lazenki Palace, Warsaw: Latin Inscriptions - 1922; S12-X: 151. * The English "H": Celtic, Latn And German Influences - 1922; S12-X: 32. * Inscriptions On An Icon - 1922; S12-X: 117 - 118. * Use Of "At" Or "In" With Placenames - 1922; S12-X: 234 - 235. * ‘A Literary Find’ - 1922; S12-X: 487 - 488. * English Travellers' References To Carrara - 1923; S13-I: 152 - 153. * Inscriptions On Misericord Seats In Whalley Parish Church - 1923; S13-I: 31. * Ct. Pietro Verri - 1923; S13-I: 153. * Roodlofts - 1923; S13-I: 235. * Lillingstone Dayrell, Ancient Monumental Brass - 1923; S13-I: 252. * Heraldic Beasts - 1925; Cxlix: 369. * Religion And Common Speech - 1926; Cl: 117. * Pierre De Coulevain - 1930; 158: 331. * Order Of The Holy Sepulchre - 1932; Clxiii: 207. * "The Thief Of Touchino" - 1934; Clxvi: 316. * Lazenki Palace, Warsaw: Latin Inscriptions - published posthumously 1965; 12: 151.Notes and Queries, Oxford Journals

References

External links

Stonyhurst College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohara, Valentine 1875 births 1941 deaths People educated at Stonyhurst College Alumni of the University of Galway Scholars and academics from County Laois Irish non-fiction writers People from Portarlington, County Laois