of Lord Dillon was assailed merely for being the medium of conveying a loyal address from the Catholics to the Lord Lieutenant.

"LOUGHGLIN HOUSE, 5th Nov., 1793.

"DEAR SIR,

"I have the honour to send you a copy of a letter which I received yesterday from Lord Hobart, which you will please to communicate to the R. Catholic gentlemen and freeholders of this county.

"I find that the spirit of persecution, which seems to be systematically established by some characters in this county against those of your persuasion, has been lately directed with uncommon virulence against me; and the friendly intercourse which has taken place between us, has drawn upon me the malice and inveterate rancour of our opponents. I shall not content myself with a mere refutation of charges too absurd to gain credit; but I am determined to drag forth from their lurking-places such slanderous villains; and if anything could bind me more firmly to your support, it would be a circumstance of this sort, because it convinces me at once of the malignant disposition and injustice of your opponents.

"I have the honour to be, dear Sir,

"Your most faithful and most obedient Servant,

"DILLON."

In striking contrast to the bigotry here referred to was the conduct of Dr. Law, the Protestant Bishop of Elphin; than whom the Catholics had no greater friend or more earnest advocate. To him an address of thanks, and congratulation on his recovery from a dangerous illness, was presented in the beginning of the year 1795, from a meeting of the Catholics of the county of Roscommon, at which Denis O'Conor presided. In acknowledging this address, Dr. Law wrote: "Many joined the Catholics when they thought them likely to succeed, but I was a friend, when a friend only can be known, in their adversity. Shocked at the abominable severities to which I saw them subjected, I considered their cause the cause of justice and humanity, and as such have supported it, having ever acted, as I trust I shall act, in conformity to the mild and benevolent precepts of the Christian religion, which equally discountenances a spirit of oppression and of ambition, and which neither designs men to be slaves nor allows them to be rebels."

In the same year, 1795, the hopes of the Irish Catholics were raised to the highest pitch by the appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam as Lord Lieutenant, and addresses poured in from every quarter in Ireland. Amongst others, an address was presented from the county of Roscommon, Denis O'Conor being

again selected as the presiding chairman of the meeting at which it was adopted. This address was presented through Mr. Arthur French, of Frenchpark, one of the representatives of the county in parliament, who in acknowledging it, wrote to Mr. O'Conor as follows:

"DEAR DENIS,

"I this day received the Lord Lieutenant's answer to the address from the Catholics of our county. He desires me to make known to you his particular approbation of it, and he seemed more pleased with it than with any other that has been presented. He also desired I would inform the Roman Catholic gentlemen, that there is nothing he has more at heart than the completion of the Irish Catholic brigade, and he hopes it will receive their countenance. I send the answer.

"5th February, 1795.

"Believe me, dear Denis,

"Your most obedient servant,

"ARTHUR FRENCH."

The recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, just at the moment when the Catholics imagined their grievances were about to be redressed, and the deplorable events which followed, culminating in the abortive rebellion of 1798, drove out of the field of politics men like Mr. O'Conor, who trusted to constitutional means alone for the redress of their grievances. What view he took of the Act of Legislative Union, or of the proceedings which led up to it, no records remain to show; and from the arrival of Lord Camden as Lord Lieutenant, his name appears no longer in connection with any political or public affair. Denis O'Conor married on 1st December, 1760, Catherine, daughter of Martin Browne of Cloonfad, and had eight sons and nine daughters. Of the latter, Catherine married a Mr. Lyons of Lyonstown, Alicia married Dr. Sheil, Mary married O'Donnell of Larkfield, and Eliza married her first cousin, M'Dermot of Coolavin.

On Denis O'Conor's marriage, his father made over to him the greater part of the estate of Belanagare; and in 1776 he entered into an arrangement with Mr. French, by which he purchased up the rentcharge of £79, which had been placed upon the estates of Belanagare in 1720, and thus became, as far as the laws then permitted it, their absolute owner. Denis O'Conor died in 1804, leaving four sons surviving-Owen, Charles (Dr. O'Conor), Martin, and Mathew.

VERY REV. CHARLES O'CONOR, D.D., SON OF DENIS, born 1764, died 1828.

Charles, the second son of Denis O'Conor, who subsequently became so famous for his writings, was born in Belanagare on the 15th March, 1764. At a very early age he gave promise of high literary ability, and being destined for the Church, he was, in the year 1779, at the age of fifteen, sent to Rome to carry on his studies at the Ludovisi College in that city.

Here he remained until the year 1791, when a vacancy having occurred in the Parish of Kilkeevin, or Castlerea, his name was submitted to the bishop, Dr. French, by O'Conor Don of Clonalis, for appointment as parish priest. The O'Conors had always exercised the right of presentation to this as well as to Ballintober Parish; and after some demur, on account of Dr. O'Conor's youth, Dr. French sanctioned his appointment, and he took possession of his parish in the year 1792.

Subsequently he was selected by the Marchioness of Buckingham, who was a Catholic, as her chaplain; and in this capacity, in 1799, he went to Stowe, where he spent the greater part of his life, mainly engaged in literary labours. His Memoirs have yet to be written; and, if fully dealt with, his life and correspondence would fill a not insignificant volume. As the first translator of the Irish Annals, his name is known to every Irish scholar. In this translation he chose the Latin language as the medium of preserving what he found recorded in the ancient Irish. For deep research and learning the work, which he entitled "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres," can bear comparison with any other of the same class, and may be said to have cleared the ground for O'Donovan and others who followed him.

Dr. O'Conor was also the author of an unfinished memoir of his grandfather, Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, and of several works of a polemical character, which he wrote under the assumed name of "Columbanus."

It is not intended here to attempt anything like a biography of this very distinguished and learned man. Such an attempt could not be successful within the limits assigned to this family history; and if ever attempted, should be dealt with in a distinct and separate work, for which much material is in existence. Suffice it here to say, that Dr. O'Conor, after having spent many years in Stowe, returned to his native country shortly before his death. latter years were embittered by unfortunate disputes with his ecclesiastical superiors, by whom he considered he had been harshly and unjustly treated; and, broken down by premature infirmities, he died at his brother's residence in Belanagare in the year 1828, and was buried in the family burial-place at Ballintober.

His

MATHEW O'CONOR, SON OF DENIS, born 1773, died 1845. Mathew O'Conor, the third son of Denis O'Conor of Belanagare, was born on the 18th September, 1773. He was, like his brother Charles, intended for the Church, but selected in preference the legal profession. He also was distinguished for his literary attainments. His "History of the Irish Catholics," published in 1813, and of the "Irish Brigades in the service of Foreign States," published after his death, entitle him to be mentioned amongst the distinguished literary Irishmen of his day.

Mathew O'Conor died in 1845, leaving three sons-Denis, of Mount Druid; Arthur, of the Palace, Elphin; and Mathew, of Mount Allen.

CHAPTER XXVII.

A.D. 1793-1831.

OWEN "O'CONOR DON," M.P., SON OF DENIS O'CONOR.

WEN, the eldest son of Denis O'Conor, of Belanagare, was born on the 6th March, 1763. At a very early age he evinced a remarkable taste for public affairs; and almost from the time he came to manhood until his death, he was one of the most active members of the different Boards or Associations formed by the Catholics of Ireland for the promotion of civil and religious liberty.

When only eighteen years of age, he joined the Irish Volunteers, who were then arming in defence of their country; and, as a cornet, he attended at their great review in Loughrea in 1782. Subsequently he became attached to the yeomanry of the Co. of Roscommon, and was second in command in that regiment. There is no record of his having joined the Society of United. Irishmen, although it is most probable that he belonged to that body, as he was the intimate friend of many of its leading members, and was in communication with them regarding most of their earlier undertakings.

As before mentioned, he was elected in 1793 as one of the delegates from the county of Roscommon to the Catholic National Convention, and in the proceedings of that body he took a prominent part. Wolfe Tone in his diary relates an anecdote which shows the fiery and ardent disposition of young · O'Conor at this time. He relates that at one of the meetings of the committee of the Convention, Keogh, whom he calls "Gog, damped them by

1 Fragments of Tone's Diary, Life of Wolfe Tone, p. 241.

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