O'REILLY, MYLES WILLIAM PATRICK. - Irish politician, b. 13 March 1825 in Dublin, where he d. 6 Feb. 1880. He studied at St. Cuthbert's College in Ushaw and at the University of London. A captain in the Irish rifles, in 1860, at the request of Pio IX, he entered the service of the Holy See with the rank of major and was given command of the battalion of S. Patrizio, about 1,300 strong and composed entirely of Irishmen.
On the eve of the Piedmontese attack, on 14 Sept. 1860 he assumed command of the fortress of Spoleto, with orders to defend it to the utmost and without placing any reliance on the dispatch of reinforcements; but after 12 hours of fighting he signed the surrender. The valor of the units under his command was acknowledged even by General Brignone, the Piedmontese commander. Having returned to his homeland, in 1862 he was elected representative for the county of Longford in the House of Commons. A supporter of Home Ru-
le, he took part in parliamentary debates on the Irish question and on military affairs. To the slanders of the English and liberal press concerning the conduct of the battalion of S. Patrizio, he replied in 1861 with the publication The Irish Papal Brigade vindicated. He also published biographies of Irish martyrs (Memorials of those who suffered for the Catholic Faith in Ireland in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries, London 1868).