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Revision as of 18:34, 11 November 2004 by 80.169.156.244 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Art O'Leary, a Roman Catholic, was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army. O'Connell wrote the Lament after O'Leary was shot, allegedly due to a dispute with a local Anglo-Irish protestant to whom O'Leary had refused to sell a beautiful horse.
Penal laws in force at the time banned any Roman Catholic from owning a horse worth more than five pounds. A neighbouring landowner Morris is said to have tried to buy the horse, a chestnut mare, and on being turned down, to have had O'Leary outlawed.
O'Leary's wife Eileen O'Connell wrote the famous Lament for Art o'Leary, mourning his death and calling for revenge on Morris.
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