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Art Ó Laoghaire (also Airt Ó Laoghaire or Art O'Leary) , a Roman Catholic, was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army.

Having returned home to Rathleigh House near Macroom, Cork, Ireland, Art refused to sell his prize-winning horse to Englishman Abraham Morris, and was thus made an outlaw. Under the Penal Laws of Ireland, Roman Catholics were obliged under law to sell their horse for no more than £5, irrespective of the animal's true (often considerably more) value, to Protestants if demanded to do so. Morris tracked O'Leary and shot him on his horse on May 4, 1773.

O'Leary's wife Eileen O'Connell composed the famous Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire or Lament for Art O'Leary, mourning his death and calling for revenge.

References

• David Daiches, The Penguin Companion to English Literature, McGraw-Hill (1971) p. 391
• Bryan MacMahon, Here's Ireland, Butler Sims (1982) p. 55

External

• The Life and Times of Art O Laoghaire by Peter O'Leary

• Irish soldiers
• Irish monarchists
• Austro-Hungarian Army officers