Baron Inchiquin (pronounced "Inch-i-quin") is one of the older titles in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1543 for Murrough O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, who was descended from the great high king Brian Boru). The grant of the English titles was conditional upon the abandonment of native titles, the adoptation of English customs and laws, the pledging of allegiance to the English crown, apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church, and conversion to the Anglican Church. He was made Earl of Thomond in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his nephew Donough O'Brien. On his death in 1551, he was succeeded in the earldom, according to the special remainder, by his nephew, the second Earl (see Earl of Thomond for later history of this title).
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The barony of Inchiquin passed to his son, the second Baron. His great-great-great-grandson, the sixth Baron, was a prominent military commander during the Irish Confederate Wars (1643–48), first for the English Parliament, then as a Royalist commander during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–53) during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1654 he was created Earl of Inchiquin in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl, who served as governor of English Tangier and as Governor of Jamaica. His grandson, the fourth Earl, represented Windsor, Camelford and Aylesbury in the British House of Commons.
He was succeeded by his nephew and son-in-law, the fifth Earl. In 1800 he was created Marquess of Thomond in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his brother the Hon. Edward O'Brien. The following year he was made Baron Thomond, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, to allow him to sit in the House of Lords, with remainder to the heirs male of his body. He died without male issue in 1808 when the barony of Thomond became extinct. He was succeeded in the marquessate according to the special remainder and in the other Irish titles by his nephew, the second Marquess. He was the third son of the aforementioned the Hon. Edward O'Brien. He was an Irish Representative Peer. In 1826 he was created Baron Tadcaster, of Tadcaster in the County of York, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He had no sons and on his death in 1846 the barony of Tadcaster became extinct. He was succeeded in the Irish peerages by his younger brother, the third Marquess. He was an Admiral in the Royal Navy. He also had no sons and on his death in 1855 the marquessate and earldom of Inchiquin became extinct.
However, he was succeeded in the barony of Inchiquin by his distant relative Sir Lucius O'Brien, 5th Baronet, who became the thirteenth Baron (see below for earlier history of the baronetcy). He had earlier represented County Clare in the House of Commons and was later an Irish Representative Peer. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Clare. He was succeeded by his son, the fourteenth Baron. He was also an Irish Representative Peer and Lord Lieutenant of County Clare. His son, the fifteenth Baron, also sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer. As of 2010[update] the titles are held by his grandson, the eighteenth Baron, who succeeded his uncle in 1982. He is the only son of the Hon. Fionn Myles Maryons O’Brien, youngest son of the fifteenth Baron and younger brother of the sixteenth and seventeenth Barons. In the Gaelic nobility Lord Inchiquin is The O'Brien, Chief of the Name, Prince of Thomond.
The O'Brien Baronetcy, of Leaghmenagh in the County of Clare, was created in the Baronetage of Ireland in 1686 for Donough O'Brien, who had earlier represented County Clare in the Irish House of Commons. He was the great-great-grandson and namesake of Donough O'Brien (d. 1582), younger son of the first Earl of Thomond and first Baron Inchiquin. His grandson, the second Baronet, great-grandson, the third Baronet, and great-great-grandson, the fourth Baronet, also represented County Clare in the Irish Parliament, with the fourth Baronet also representing Ennis. The latter was succeeded by his son, the aforementioned fifth Baronet, who in 1855 inherited the barony of Inchiquin. See above for later history of the titles.
There were six Barons Inchiquin, and the list below gives their names and dates and spouses and offspring. The list is derived from the website thePeerage.com, which in turn cites G.E. Cokayne's Complete Peerage.[1][2]
The heir presumptive is the present holder's second cousin Conor John Anthony O'Brien (b. 1952). He is the grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Murrough O'Brien, second son of the fourteenth Baron.
The heir presumptive's heir is his only son, Fionn Murough O'Brien (b. 1987).
There is some overlap with the Barons Inchiquin; those people are marked off in bold.
Lord Inchiquin is the name of a traditional Irish air by O'Carolan, assumed to be dedicated to his contemporary the 4th Earl of Inchiquin.
The painter George O'Brien, who made his name as an artist in New Zealand, was a descendant of the first Baron Inchiquin.
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