Sir Cornelius O'Brien

Sir Cornelius O'Brien (1782 – 1857) was an Irish politician. (Cornelius O’Brien, Esq. 12, Fludyer street, London (England) ; 32, North Great George’s street, Dublin & Birchfield, Co. Clare.) He built a tower, now referred to as O'Brien's Tower on the Cliffs of Moher in 1835 as an observation tower for the hundreds of tourists that frequented the cliffs during the time. O'Brien's Tower stands on a headland of the Cliffs of Moher. Folklore holds that Cornelius O'Brien was a man ahead of his time, believing that the development of tourism would benefit the local economy and bring people out of poverty. O'Brien also built a wall of Moher flagstones along the Cliffs, and it is said in the locality that he built everything around here except the Cliffs. He died in 1857 and his remains lie in the O'Brien vault in the graveyard adjoining St Brigid’s Well.

* Note: In 1821 he owned 17 slaves. 

Genealogy: One tourist brochure names Sir Lucius O’Brien as the father of Cornelius, another attributes his paternity to Sir Turlough. However, in spite of this convenient but confusing pedigree, he did not belong to the Inchiquin family. His parentage is not very obscure. A memorial to be apprenticed to Cornelius O’Callaghan, attorney of the Courts of Chancery and Common Please and Exchequer states:- “Cornelius O’Brien was the third son of Henry O’Brien, late of the town of Ennis in the County of Clare, Esq., deceased and Helen O’Brien, otherwise O’Callaghan. He is aged at least 16 years. He was educated in the school of Stephen O’Halloran in the town of Ennis in the county of Clare and was reading Virgil when he left same.”

A separate petition dated 12 November, 1802 states that “he studied Grammar, Corderius, Ovid and part of Virgil.”

An entry in the Who’s Who of British M.P.s reads:-

“4 North St., Westminster, London; 20 Summerhill, Dublin; Birchfield, Ennistymon. Son of Henry O’Brien, Esq. of Birchfield, Co. Clare by Helen, daughter of Donough O’Callaghan, Esq. of Kilgorey, Co. Clare. Born at Birchfield 1782. Married 1816, Margaret, daughter of Peter Long of Waterford and relict of James O’Brien of Limerick. A solicitor in Ireland from 1811, a magistrate for Clare, a Liberal in favour of the Repeal of the Union with Ireland, tenants rights and vote by ballot. Sat for Clare from 1832 to 1847 when he was an unsuccessful candidate. Regained seat July 1852. Retired 1857. Died 1857.”

It appears that Henry O’Brien was the son of Kate McDonough, daughter of Nicholas of Birchfield by her marriage with an O’Brien of Toonagh. Concerning Edward, born 1779, eldest son and heir of Henry O’Brien, the Biographical Succession List of Glendalough Diocese by Canon B. Leslie, D. Lit. (copyright Representative Church Body) states:-

Son of Henry O’Brien, gen., born in Co. Clare; educated by Rev. M. Fitzgerald; entered Trinity College as Sizar June 5, 1798 aged 19. Scholar 1805, B.A. 1806. He was curate of Hollywood (Glendalough diocese) c.1825.

A daughter, Mary, married John Lysaght of Ballyvorda. They had two sons, Andrew and Henry. Their daughter, Mary, married Michael Finucane of Ballymacooda House, Ennis. Another son, George died in 1867 in Clare, Ireland.

Storied Urn or Animated Bust:

The impressive column, some call it Doric, some Ionic, which stands beside the roadway near St. Brigid’s Well, has become the butt of journalistic jibes and a source of phallic preoccupation to one lady writer; but it has fulfilled its object in commemorating Cornelius O’Brien. His name, if nothing else, must have been noted by thousands of tourists from all over the world.

The oft-repeated libel that the memorial was erected by O’Brien himself, during his own lifetime and paid for with money wrung from his unfortunate tenants, is completely without foundation. The date on the inscription - 1853 - can only be explained as a stonecutter’s equivalent of a typist’s error. The internal evidence alone proves it wrong. O’Brien was an M.P. for 20 years at the time of his death in 1857 and not in 1853 as the inscription states.

The suggestion of a testimonial first appears in the editorial column of the Clare Journal on October 5, 1854. An article in the same issue by “an English Visitor” heaps praise on Cornelius O’Brien for his developments at the Cliffs of Moher - the tower, pathways, stables, round table etc. and even the provision of a piper to entertain the visitors.

Unfortunately, the piper fell over the cliffs while drunk. The writer remarks that such public spirit should be marked by some sign of the people’s appreciation.

The response to the suggestion, formation of a committee and collection of subscriptions, is reported in subsequent issues and a full list of subscribers is published. This is headed by Bishop Fallon of Kilfenora and Bishop Vaughan of Nenagh. The list totals £400 and includes £36 ‘wrung’ from the tenants in Birchfield and Caruduff.

According to a letter from Orbilus in the Clare Journal of 2 March, 1857, the form of the memorial had not been decided. Three suggestions were being considered:-

a. an extension to the Carnegie Library in Ennis; b. an inscribed silver dinner service. (not favoured by O’Brien); c. a memorial at the Cliffs of Moher

A letter from visitor to Lahinch on 22 August, 1861 refers to the completed monument.

All in all, Cornelius O’Brien was quite a man. His vision, backed by a secure parliamentary seat and ten thousand acres of land in Birchfield, Inagh and Toonagh, would make him a giant in the Ireland of today. He had style in his works, words and deeds and there was charisma and a touch of poetry in the man responsible for the following inscription in Kilmacrehy cemetery: -

Erected by Cornelius O’Brien M.P. to the memory of his friend John Collins Esq., M.D. A good man respected for his learning and loved for his benevolence and virtue by all who had the happiness of his acquaintance. Here he sleeps well by the seashore wherein he loved to dwell. February 16th, 1841.

Political Career: This short article allows only a very condensed account of O’Brien’s political life which extended from Catholic Emancipation to the Great Famine and a decade beyond. He seems to appear suddenly on the scene in 1832, but must have been well established as a politican before this, since he was chairman of the committee which selected Daniel O’Connell as candidate for the famous Clare Election of 1828. The Clare Journal of December 10th, 1832 carried O’Briens address to the people of the county. Part of it reads:- If I had seen any other person of liberal and independent principles disposed to rescue you from being made the instruments of those who triumphantly boast that they can nominate your representative and control your suffrage by undue influence and bribery, I should have remained in the unobtrusive privacy of professional life, content with giving support and assistance to any candidate who would be entitled to your unbiased suffrage. I come forward as one of yourselves and solicit the honour of your support uninfluenced by any consideration except that of promoting the interests of our common country. A supplementary address clarifies his stand on Repeal pledging him to the advocacy of that great measure. His nomination was seconded rather half-heartedly by Tom Steele. A letter in the Stacpoole-Kenny papers in the National Library, gives a hint of the in-fighting which must have accompanied the battle for the two seats. Richard Scott of Dublin writes to Capt. John McNamara of Moher that Daniel O’Connell must keep his promise and that of O’Brien must be stopped at all costs in the interests of the Major (W.J. McNamara, the other Liberal.) All went well, however, and the Major was elected with 920 votes followed by O’Brien with 897. They were also returned in 1835, 1837 and 1841 with only a few votes between them. The election of 1847 provided an upset for Cornelius. Sir Lucius O’Brien headed the poll followed by Major MacNamara. It was a bitterly fought campaign in many ways reminiscent of present-day elections. Accusations of corruption were flung about and in a blazing row at Kilkee Assizes, Mr. Collins, a young Kerry attorney, accused Charles O’Connell, barrister, of Castlepark House, Liscannor, of switching his support from Cornelius O’Brien to Sir Lucius for a bribe of six hundred pounds. Cornelius came back strongly in 1852 and headed the poll in 1853, his last election. As a parliamentarian, O’Brien does not seem to have been in the mould of Burke or Grattan. His best work was done at constituency level and we search Hansard in vain for examples of his oratory. In extenuation, we must remember that Daniel O’Connell was in full spate at this time and it must have been hard to get a work in. Lord Palmerston’s verdict was:- "O’Brien was the best Irish M.P. we ever had. He didn’t open his mouth in twenty years."

The Haunting of Cornelius O'Brien: The Clare Anthology tells an abridged tale from The Life of Sir William Howard Russell published in 1911. Sir William tells of visiting Cornelius O'Brien and admiring the Cliffs of Moher. His host tells of his reluctance to visit Hags Head after dark and recounts a chilling tale. Upon his inheritance of Birchfield House and the surrounding property O'Brien visited the Cliffs in the company of the parish priest and later dined with the priest. On his moonlit carriage ride home O'Brien decided to view the waves at Hags Head. As he approached the cliff he spied a white figure at the very edge of the cliff. He approached her thinking her to be a lunatic girl who was known to be at large when she turned to him and "the thing turned on me such a face as no human ever had - death's head with eyes glaring out of their sockets, through tangled masses of snow white hair. In an instant, with a screech that rang through my brain, 'the thing' fell or threw itself over the cliff." An Cailleach: Cornelius goes on to recount how he peered over the edge of the cliff in horror and saw a white creature crawling up the sheer face of the cliff hand over hand towards him. He heard again the shriek repeated and fled the scene in terror back to his home at Birchfield House. Entering the house he instructed his servant to lock the door behind him and all the while "the fearful sound close at hand." O'Brien fled to his bedroom only to see a white figure on sill outside his window and hearing the terrifiying screechs. However, he succeeded in scaring away the apparition by discharging his revolver. Later the parish priest told him that the hag could be seen only by the O'Brien family. O'Brien's Tower: Cornelius O'Brien went on to build O'Brien's Tower near the highest int of the Cliffs of Moher, to place a stone table on the cliff edge for picnickers and to build a flagstone wall along the length of the cliffs. However, he never again went to Hags Head after sunset - never, never!

Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Belfast Newsletter (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1738-1925 Birth, Marriage & Death Name Cornelius O'Brien Esq Birth 1780 Death 29 May 1857 Birchfield Vital 29 May 1857 Birchfield Residence Birchfield Publication 2 Jun 1857

• Note: There are various references to Mrs. Mary O'Brien of Birchfield, late in O'Brien's life and after his death, but no record of a second marriage can be traced. In view of the fragmentary registers which survive from that time, no conclusions can be drawn from this. A story in the locality tells of a foundling girl, Mary Kelly, reared in Toonagh who, coming to Birchfield as a housemaid became the mistress of the master and later lady of the manor. Dame Fortune smiled on Cornelius O'Brien, granting him a long life, prosperity and politcal success, but she seems to have turned away from his family. His eldest son, Lieutenant John C. died of sunstroke at Secunderbad in the East Indies aged twenty-six years, some months before his father's death; and none of the other children seem to have lived to more than thirty-two years. I have found no trace of any descendants.