O'REILLY, MYLES WILLIAM PATRICK. - Irish politician, b. 13 March 1825 in Dublin, d. there 6 Feb. 1880. He studied at St. Cuthbert's College in Ushaw and at the University of London. A captain of the Irish Rifles, he entered the service of the Holy See in 1860, at the request of Pius IX, with the rank of major, and had command of the battalion of St. Patrick, about 1300 men strong, 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 last, without relying in any way on the sending of reinforcements; but after 12 hours of fighting he signed the surrender. The valor of the units under his orders was acknowledged even by General Brignone, the Piedmontese commander. Having returned to his homeland, he was elected in 1862 as representative of County Longford to the House of Commons. A supporter of *Home Rute**, he took part in the debates in Parliament on the Irish question and on military affairs. To the defamations of the English and liberal press concerning the conduct of the battalion of St. Patrick 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).
Bibliography3 worksT. O'Clery, The making of Italy, London 1892, pp. 193-95; G. F. H. Berkeley, Gl'Irlandesi al servizio del Papa nel 1860, in Il Risorgimento
BIBL.: T. O'Clery, The making of Italy, London 1892, pp. 193-95; G. F. H. Berkeley, Gl'Irlandesi al servizio del Papa nel 1860, in Il Risorgimento italiano, 6 (1913), pp. 863-95; T. Cooper, s. v. in Dict. of Nat. Biogr., XIV (1921-22), p. 1144, with bibl.: A. Vigevano, La campagna delle Marche e dell'Umbria, Rome 1923, pp. 253-61.
Furlani, Silvio. “O'Reilly, myles william patrick.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, col. 271. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/o-reilly-myles-william-patrick.
MLA
Furlani, Silvio. “O'Reilly, myles william patrick.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, col. 271. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/o-reilly-myles-william-patrick.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec9_o_reilly_myles_william_patrick,
author = {Furlani, Silvio},
title = {O'Reilly, myles william patrick},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IX},
pages = {271},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/o-reilly-myles-william-patrick}
}
One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.
Click or scroll to zoom · drag to pan · Esc to close
