Discovery of Lost Vellum Manuscript, documenting the Genealogy of the Very Ancient and Illustrious House of the O’Reillys, formerly Princes and Dynasts of Breifne O’Reilly, now called the County of Cavan in the Kingdom of Ireland, over 1,000 years in Munich 2008, Irish presence in Cuba, 18th century and Irish named street escape Castro embargo on Spanish Street Names Havana and the Nugents (O’Reillys) of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Governor of Trieste.
The Nugent family who settled in Austria early 18th century of who Count Nugent became Governor of Trieste in 1765 and a descendant a General who rebuffed Napoleon. In 1951 Contessa Nugent Laval donated an old church in the city centre to the people now being restored, They are O’Reill changed the name on marriage Westmeath.
Count Nugent, Laval, was originally from Westmeath and rose to become an Austrian General. He was born in Ballynacorr in 1777 and died in Carlstadt in 1862. Defeated the French in Trieste in 1813, later fought for the King of Naples and then assisted the infamous Radetzky against the Piedmontese.
Eventually became a Marshall.
Countess Margaret Nugent Laval seems to have been the last surviving member of the family. She donated the then deconsecrated Church, that is now being reconstructed, to the city on the understanding that it would be reconsecrated (and as you say this is finally happening (she also donated Palazzo Leo, where the Museo Orientale is now located.
Sir John Nugent: seventh baronet of Ballinlough Castle in Co Westmeath, has died at the age of 76. He was educated at Eton College in Berkshire, England, and was in the Irish Guards on a short-term commission before becoming personal assistant to Lord Rootes, the chairman of the Rootes Group. He then joined the board of the family firm, the Lambourn Group, which his father had founded.
He could trace his family tree back to the ancient Milesian sept of O’Reilly, princes of lower Breffny. An ancestor was Brian, fourth Milesian king of Connaught, who had 24 sons, 12 of whom were baptised by St Patrick.
The O’Reillys have remained in possession of Ballinlough, making it one of the few instances of a large estate that has remained in the possession of a Celtic Catholic family. They survived even Cromwell who, it is said, liked the castle so much that he stayed the night, stabling his horse and his cow in the alcoves in the library.
Hugh O’Reilly was made a baronet in 1795, but to access his wife’s considerable dowry, he changed the family name to Nugent, as was specified in her uncle’s will. Since then the family have called themselves Nugent.
During the 19th century, several Nugents served with distinction in the Austrian army, including a direct ancestor who was chamberlain to the emperor of Austria and was made a count of the Holy Roman Empire, a title the family still holds.
Sir John’s great-grandfather was a successful trainer in Lambourn in Berkshire. His horses included Bramble Twig and Tetrachia and he won many races.
Sir John’s father, Sir Hugh Nugent, was also a trainer at Lambourn. But realising that there was a demand for transporting racehorses by road, he approached a man who ran a car-repair workshop in the town and together they bought land to erect a garage.Before long, not only was there a substantial business transporting racehorses, but the company was building its own horseboxes.
It went on to build everything from fire engines to buses, from mobile libraries and tractor cabs
Discovery of Lost Vellum Manuscript, documenting the Genealogy of the Very Ancient and Illustrious House of the O’Reillys, formerly Princes and Dynasts of Breifne O’Reilly, now called the County of Cavan in the Kingdom of Ireland, over 1,000 years in Munich 2008, Irish presence in Cuba, 18th century and Irish named street escape Castro embargo on Spanish Street Names Havana.
John Kileen, Librarian of the Linen Hall Library, Belfast gave a lecture in the RDS documenting the history of the O’Reilly Genealogy located in Munich in 2008. The enquires determined that the Genealogy was commissioned by Count O’Reilly an Irish born senior Military figure in the late 18th century. Thecost was over £1,000 equaring to over €100, 000 in present day values.
It was done by Chevalier Thomas O’Gorman an Irish born Genealogist (1722-1809) based in France. The Linen Hall library are bring out a limited edition of the Genealogy in April.
General O’Reilly was prominent in Cuban, Louisiana and Puerto Rica campaign and is not an especially loved figure as a consequence.
In Cuba in the 18th century the Irish both Irish born and members of the Spanish Nobility of Irish origin were prominent in the countries affairs. Fidel Castro abolished street names with Spanish associations in the 1960s replacing them with numbers. Many streets called after Irish persons escaped this stricture.
There is much in the Cuban National Archive documenting the Irish present but the Archives are in a poor state due to lack of proper maintenance.
West Cork History 