mons,’ it was generally supposed that O'Brien disapproved of the plan adopted by John Mitchel in escaping from Tasmania. This, however, is not the case, as O'Brien at a public dinner given to him at Melbourne in 1854 expressed his entire approval of the manner of Mitchel's escape, and asserted that his only reason for not adopting it himself was that he was not prepared to take a step which would have rendered it impossible for him to return to Ireland (McCarthy, History of our own Times, 1880, vol. iv. p. vi).
His health having broken down, O'Brien was induced to accept a ticket-of-leave, and, having given his parole, was allowed to reside in the district of New Norfolk, whence he subsequently removed to Avoca. There he remained until a pardon was granted to him (26 Feb. 1854) on condition that he should not set his foot in the United Kingdom. In 1854 he came to Europe, and settled at Brussels with his family. Here he completed his ‘Principles of Government, or Meditations in Exile’ (Dublin, 1856, 8vo, 2 vols.), the greater part of which had been written by him in Tasmania. Receiving an unconditional pardon in May 1856, O'Brien returned to Ireland in July of that year. Though he took no further active part in politics, he frequently contributed letters to the ‘Nation’ on Irish topics. In 1859 he made a voyage to America, and upon his return in November of that year he delivered two lectures on his American tour in the hall of the Mechanics' Institute, Dublin. In 1863 he visited Poland. A letter written by him, dated 1 May 1863, was published in Paris under the title of ‘Du véritable Caractère de l'Insurrection Polonaise de 1863’ (8vo), and on 1 July 1863 he gave a lecture at the Rotunda, Dublin, for the benefit of the Polish relief fund. Early in 1864 he visited England for the sake of his health. He died at the Penrhyn Arms, Bangor, on 18 June 1864, aged 60. The arrival of his body at Dublin on 23 June was the scene of a great nationalist demonstration, and he was buried in Rathronan churchyard, co. Limerick, on the following day.
O'Brien, who was inordinately proud of his descent from the famous Brian Boroimhe, was a truthful, kind-hearted, vain man, of good abilities, and a great capacity for work. Though grave and frigid in his demeanour, and devoid of humour and eloquence, his chivalrous devotion to Ireland and the transparent integrity of his motives secured him the enthusiastic attachment of the people. The growth of his political views was curiously gradual. ‘He advanced,’ says Sir C. G. Duffy, ‘slowly and tentatively, but he never made a backward step. An opinion which he accepted became part of his being, as inseparable from him as a function of his nature’ (Four Years of Irish History, p. 547). Destitute of judgment and foresight, and incapable of prompt decision, O'Brien was singularly unfitted for the part of a revolutionary leader. In order to avoid forfeiture, O'Brien, previously to the insurrection in 1848, conveyed his property to trustees for the benefit of his family. On his return to Ireland he instituted a chancery suit against the trustees, but a compromise was ultimately arrived at on O'Brien's formal resignation of his position as a landed proprietor in consideration of an annuity of 2,000l. His eldest brother Lucius succeeded his father as the fifth baronet in March 1837, and in July 1855 became thirteenth Baron Inchiquin on the death of his kinsman, James, third marquis of Thomond, his right to the barony being confirmed by the committee of privileges of the House of Lords on 11 April 1862. The surviving brothers and sisters of Lord Inchiquin (with the exception of William Smith O'Brien) were by royal license dated 12 Sept. 1862 granted the style and precedence of the younger children of a baron.
O'Brien married, on 19 Sept. 1832, Lucy Caroline, eldest daughter of Joseph Gabbett of High Park, co. Limerick, by whom he had five sons and two daughters. His wife died on 13 June 1861. The voluminous correspondence addressed to O'Brien, to which Sir C. G. Duffy was given access when writing his ‘Young Ireland,’ is in the possession of Mr. Edward William O'Brien at Cahirmoyle. A statue of O'Brien by Thomas Farrell, R.H.A., was erected in 1870 at the end of Westmorland Street, Dublin, close to O'Connell Bridge. The only painting of O'Brien is a small miniature in the possession of Mr. E. W. O'Brien.
