Denis O'Conor Don, who died on July 10th aged 78, belonged to one of the oldest families in Europe. The O'Conors descend from the kings of Connacht and two high kings of Ireland. The head of the family is regarded as the senior hereditary chieftain of Ireland and has been styled the "O'Conor Don" since the 14th century. Furthermore, it is generally acknowledged that the holder of the title would be the foremost claimant to the Irish throne, if one were proposed. Over the last few hundred years, members of the O'Conor family have continued to contribute to the social, political, cultural and religious life of Ireland. The fact that they remained staunchly Catholic during the dark days of the Penal Laws in the 18th century, is a source of great pride.
Denis O'Conor Don inherited his title in 1981 from his cousin, Fr Charles O'Conor, a Jesuit priest. Since then he tried in a quiet way to use his name to further the cause of Irish culture, both at home and abroad. He was born in London in 1912, the son of Charles William O'Conor and Evelyn Lowry-Corry, at the home of his maternal grandfather, Admiral the Honourable Walter Lowry-Corry, as was the custom of the time. He was brought up on his father's estate in north Herefordshire. He had an extremely happy boyhood and spent many of his holidays in Ireland, usually at the O'Conor ancestral home at Clonalis, outside Castlerea in Co Roscommon. The Herefordshire connection came about through the marriage of his grandfather - another Denis, who became MP for Sligo - to Ellen Kevill-Davies of Croft Castle. Herefordshire and Roscommon were to remain in his affections all his life.
Denis O'Conor Don attended Downside School in Somerset, which is run by the Benedictines. He loved school and excelled there at both boxing and classical studies - which would be regarded as an unusual combination today, but not so in his day. This interest in Greek and Latin was to stay with him until his death. He was accepted into the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, on leaving school in 1930. He continued to box there and was also noted for his horsemanship, originally learned from his father and honed while hunting in Ireland and Herefordshire. Despite the harsh discipline at Sandhurst, he managed to lead a hectic social life in London. He was commissioned into the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1931 and served throughout the 1930s in India and China. India especially gave him the opportunity to hunt, play polo, go pig-sticking and shoot. He had one of the highest handicaps at polo in India and China during his time there and regularly played against the American army in the Philipinnes. He also owned and trained racehorses during his time in China and his horse, Kilrea, ran and won several prestigious races in Hong Kong. He was badly wounded in the face during the second World War - and spent most of the war in a training capacity. In his later years he taught disabled youngsters how to ride.
Denis O'Conor Don retired from the British army as a major in 1946 and moved with his family to Roundwood in Co Wicklow, where he farmed for a number of years. He was to remain in Wicklow until the 1970s when he moved to Dun Laoghaire to work for the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He retired in 1978.
Field sports were to remain important to him all his life. He hunted foxhounds, beagles, otterhounds and basset-hounds at various times. He was a former Master of Delgany Beagles, a popular pack among university students (whose real interest lay in courting, not hunting). He became an acknowledged expert on hounds of all types - and was asked to judge at various shows throughout Ireland and occasionally in England.
Since inheriting the O'Conor Don title in 1981, he used his position to promote all things Irish. He was president of a number of cultural bodies such as the St Brendan Society, the Irish Genealogical Society and the Dun Laoghaire Historical Society. The O'Conor family has produced a number of prominent antiquarians since the 18th century and it is clear that this legacy left its mark on Denis O'Conor Don, as he was deeply interested in archaeology. His second son, Kieran, became a professional archaeologist, due largely to his influence. He was Grand Prior Emeritus in Ireland of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. He received many decorations and honours from foreign orders and governments. And he was also a founding member of the Council of Irish Chiefs.
He took great pride in his Anglo-Irish Lowry-Corry ancestry as well. He remained in contact with his mother's Fermanagh-based family and was very close to its head, the present Earl of Belmore, his cousin. In many ways he was the living embodiment of both Irish traditions and throughout his life showed that the two could be compatible. He married Elizabeth Marris in 1936. The marriage was dissolved early in the war. In 1942 he married Rosemary O'Connell-Hewett. He is survived by his wife and three sons, Desmond, Kieran and Rory. A daughter, Gail, died at the age of 13. The eldest son, Desmond, inherits the title.
Denis O'Conor Don: born 1912; died, July 2000