Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond

Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond

Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond KP (* 1726 , † February 10, 1808 in London ) was an Irish-British nobleman and politician .

Life

He was the older son of the House of Commons Lord James O'Brien († 1771) from his marriage to Mary Jephson. His paternal grandfather was William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin (1662-1719).

He served as a captain in the Grenadier Guards and fought in the War of the Austrian Succession , including the Battle of Lauffeldt (1747). In 1756 he left the British Army and went into politics.

From 1757 to 1760 he was for County Clare and from 1761 to 1768 for the Borough of Harristown Member of the Irish House of Commons . Upon the death of his uncle and father-in-law William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, he inherited this in 1777 as 5th Earl of Inchiquin , 10th Baron Inchiquin and 5th Baron O'Brien and thereby became a member of the Irish House of Lords . In 1780 he was also admitted to the Privy Council for Ireland and in 1783, as a founding member of the Order of St. Patrick, he was made Knight Companion of this order. From 1784 to 1796 he was also a member of the British House of Commons for the English borough of Richmond and from 1797 to 1800 for the English borough of Liskeard .

His family seats were Rostellan Castle near Cork in County Cork, Ireland, and Taplow Court in Taplow in Buckinghamshire, England .

On December 29, 1800 he was raised in the Peerage of Ireland to Marquess of Thomond . Since he had no sons, this title was conferred with the special addition that, in the absence of male descendants of his own, it could also be passed on to his younger brother Edward O'Brien († 1801) and his male descendants. Three days later, the Irish Parliament was dissolved by the Act of Union 1800 . On October 2, 1801 he was awarded the title Baron Thomond , of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom , which gave him an hereditary seat in the British House of Lords .

On February 10, 1808, he fell from his horse in Grosvenor Square in London and died on the same day of his injuries.

Since he had no sons, the Barony Thomond was extinguished on his death, the marquessate and his other titles fell to his nephew William O'Brien, 1st Baron Tadcaster , the son of his brother Edward O'Brien, as 2nd Marquess.

Marriages and offspring

He married his first marriage on March 5, 1753, his paternal cousin Mary O'Brien (around 1721-1791), daughter of William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin , who inherited her mother in 1756 as 3rd Countess of Orkney . With her he had a daughter who inherited her as Countess of Orkney when his wife died in 1791:

• Mary FitzMaurice, 4th Countess of Orkney ⚭ 1777 Hon. Thomas FitzMaurice, son of John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne .

After the death of his first wife, he married Mary Palmer, daughter of the Reverend John Palmer (1708–1779), on July 25, 1792. The marriage remained childless.

Web links

• Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond on thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
William O'Brien	Earl of Inchiquin 1777-1808	William O'Brien
New title created	Marquess of Thomond 1800-1808	William O'Brien
New title created	Baron Thomond 1801-1808	Title expired