Juan O'Donnell
Duke of Tetuan
Juan O'Donnell y Vargas, 3rd Duke of Tetuán (1864 – 1928) was an influential Spanish politician. O'Donnell was born in Madrid in 1864, and became the 3rd Duke of Tetuan, Grandee of Spain, 3rd Conde de Lucena, Cavalry Colonel, and the Director of the School of Military Riding. He was married in 1896 to Dona Maria Diaz de Mendoza y Aguado, of the noble house of Lalain and Balazote, Marquises of Fontanar. He was the son of Carlos O'Donnell y Abréu, 2nd Duke of Tetuan. He served as Minister for War under Miguel Primo de Rivera from 1924 to 1928 when he died in office. In 1895, as a lieutenant on the staff of General Martinez Campos, O'Donnell conducted Winston Churchill and Reginald Barnes on their military visit to Cuba. In his memoirs, Churchill commented on Juan O'Donnell's excellent spoken English. In January 1922, he was the president of the "World Congress of the Irish Race" in Paris, a gathering of the global Irish diaspora discussing methods to aid in the economic development of an independent Ireland and its reconstruction following the end of the Civil War.
The Royal Irish Rifles was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot. The regiment's history dates backs to the reign of King George III. In 1793 the British Army expanded to meet the commitments of the war with the French First Republic. As part of that expansion it raised two new regiments of foot, the 83rd and the 86th. In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, the 83rd and 86th were amalgamated into a single regiment, named the Royal Irish Rifles, one of eight infantry regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland. It was the county regiment of Antrim, Down, Belfast and Louth, with its depot located at Victoria Barracks, Belfast. Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a single command within the United Kingdom with Command Headquarters at Parkgate (Phoenix Park) Dublin, directly under the War Office in London. The regiment suffered serious losses at the Battle of Stormberg in December 1899 during the Second Boer War.
Duke of Tetuán (Spanish: Duque de Tetuán) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1860 by Queen Isabella II to General Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Count of Lucena, who had served as the Prime Minister of Spain for several legislatures between 1856 and 1866. It is a victory title, and was granted to O'Donnell as a result of his success at the Battle of Tétouan, during the War of Africa. It has been held since its creation by members of the O'Donnell family. The O'Donnell dynasty (Irish: Ó Dónaill or Ó Domhnaill, Ó Doṁnaill or Ua Domaill; meaning "descendant of Dónal") were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell in Ulster in the north of medieval and early modern Ireland. Like the family of O'Neill, that of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell was of the Uí Néill, i.e. descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Ireland at the beginning of the 5th century; the O'Neill, or Cenél nEógain, tracing their pedigree to Eógan mac Néill, and the O'Donnells, or Cenél Conaill, to Conall Gulban, both sons of Niall. Conall was baptised by St. Patrick. During the Nine Years' War of 1594-1603, the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell played a leading part, led by the famous Prince Red Hugh O'Donnell. Under his leadership, and that of his ally Hugh O'Neill, they advanced to Kinsale and laid siege to
the English forces in anticipation of a Spanish invasion. En route, they implanted some O'Donnell kinsmen in Ardfert and Lixnaw to protect the territories of their ally, FitzMaurice, Lord of Kerry. The Battle of Kinsale was lost in 1601, heralding the end of the Gaelic order and Brehon Laws in Ireland, and the completion of the Elizabethan conquest. Following the Treaty of Mellifont of 1603 the new King James I pardoned Rory O'Donnell and created him Earl of Tyrconnell in the Irish peerage. Rory then joined in the Flight of the Earls in 1607, which led to the title becoming attainted in 1614, and Tyrconnell and Ulster being colonised in the Plantation of Ulster. He died in exile in Rome on 28 July 1608. Upon Rory O'Donnell's death in 1608, his son Hugh, who took the additional name Albert at his confirmation, under the patronage of Archduke Albert, succeeded to the title as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (which title was attainted in 1614 by the Crown but which attainder did not have any effect on his use of it in the Spanish realm) and thus the last titular earl of Tyrconnell was this Rory's son Hugh Albert, who died without heirs in 1642, and who by his will appointed Hugh Balldearg O'Donnell his heir. To a still elder branch belonged Daniel O'Donnell (1666–1735), a general of the Irish Brigade in the French service, whose father, Turlough, was a son of Hugh Duff O'Donnell, brother of Manus, son of an earlier Hugh Duff. Daniel served in the French army in the wars of the period, fighting against Duke of Marlborough at the battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet at the head of an O'Donnell regiment. The head of the clan was traditionally also called Ua Domhnaill ("The O'Donnell"), and inaugurated as Taoiseach (Chieftain) in an elaborate ceremony, under the Laws of Tanistry, part of the ancient Brehon Code of Law. Since the collapse of Gaelic Rule and the Brehon legal system, the putative succession of the "Chiefs of the Name" has followed the principle of male primogeniture.
Awards: Collar, sash and star of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, star of the Cross of Military Merit.
