Beschreibung:

THE O'REILLY FAMILY OF KNOCK ABBEY, CO. LOUTH, THREE EARLY 19TH CENTURY PORTRAIT MINIATURES. All style of John Comerford (1770-1832), the Kilkenny born miniature painter, oil on card, circa 1815, the portraits being of Anne-Marie-(1755-1782), first wife of Mathew O'Reilly (1756-1817), their daughter, Anna Maria (1781-1871) and her husband Richard Dease (died 1819). Mounted en-suite in matching velvet lined red leather cases. Lot accompanied by photocopied details re. the O'Reilly Family of Knock Abbey from Burke's Irish Family Records and a detailed biographical sketch of this most interesting of Irish families, who trace their ancestry to Brian, the fourth Milesian King of Connaught, eldest brother of Niallus Magnus, Niall of the Nine Hostages, who captured St. Patrick, circa 405 AD, during one of his raids, and brought him to Ireland. Another ancestor was Ragallagh, who accompanied Brian Boru in all his expeditions against Leinster and the Norsemen, and fell with him at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. His son, Artan, was the first to assume the name of Ua Ragallagh (O'Reilly), in tribute to his father. By the middle of the 15th century the O'Reilly family had achieved such power and influence that they introduced their own coinage, known as O'Reilly money, which, because it encroached on the monetary system of the English Pale, was banned by a statute passed at Trim in 1447. The production of this coinage gives the O'Reillys a unique place in Irish economic history, since they were the only Irish clan to have instituted a coinage based monetary system (for details see British Numismatic Journal, no. 36, 1967, M. Dolley and W.A. Seaby ''Le Money del O'Raylly''). At the peak of their power, during succeeding centuries, the various generations of the family were prominent in Irish military and political and economic affairs. Maolmora O'Reilly fought alongside the English during Elizabeth I's conquest of Ulster and was known as the Queen's O'Reilly. Colonel Philip McHugh O'Reilly was present at the Battle of Benburb, 5th June 1646, and fought on after the death of O'Neill in 1649. His son, Hugh Roe O'Reilly, was killed fighting against the Cromwellian forces at Cavan in 1641. Colonel Myles ''The Slasher'' O'Reilly was also prominent during the Great Rebellion, and died in 1646 holding the bridge at Finnea against the overwhelming forces of General Munroe. The family took the Jacobite side during the late 17th century, and following the Williamite victory many members of the family went into exile and saw service with the Wild Geese, perhaps the most notable of these being General John Alexander O'Reilly (1722-1794), who saw service with the armies of Portugal and Spain, ending his career by becoming successively Governor of Cuba and Louisiana. During the 18th and 19th centuries the O'Reillys were at the centre of the Gaelic revival and Irish nationalist politics, involved in an attempt to establish a Gaelic speaking club in Dublin as early as 1752, the proposed nature of which anticipated the Gaelic League by well over a century. Edward O'Reilly (died 1830) was the leading Celtic scholar of his generation and Examiner of Irish Records at Dublin Castle. The Knock Abbey branch of the O'Reilly family was founded by Myles O'Reilly (1708-1775). Barred from public duty by the Penal Laws, he went to London as a merchant and made his fortune, leaving �50,000 to each of his three sons when he died. Mathew O'Reilly (1756-1817), brother of the Anna Maria whose portrait forms part of this lot, was known as ''Red Mat'', or ''Mat the Incorrigible'', and led a wild life. Not enamoured of his wife, he reputedly packed her belongings into a coffin to follow her to Dublin, after she had left him. He was succeeded by his brother William, whose son, Myles William Patrick (nephew of Anna Maria), commanded the Battalion of St. Patrick in Italy in 1860, defending the Papacy against Italian Nationalists. His son, William Joseph O'Reilly continued the