Maurice O'Connell

Maurice "Hunting Cap" O'Connell (; 1728 – 10 February 1825) was a landowner and smuggler, and uncle of Daniel O'Connell.

Early life and family Maurice O'Connell was born in 1728 at Derrynane House on the Iveragh peninsula, County Kerry, the second surviving son of Daniel O'Connell or Donal Mór (died 1770) and Máire Ní Dhonnchadha Dhuibh. O'Connell was one of 22 children, with five sons and eight daughters surviving to adulthood. His grandfather, John O'Connell (died 1741), was a captain in King James II's guard at Aughrim. O'Connell was educated in Cork. After the death of his older brother, John, in 1751 he inherited Derrynane. In 1758, he married Mary (died 1791), the eldest daughter of Robert Cantillon of Ballyphillip, County Limerick. She was a relative of Richard Cantillon and had a dowry of £1,000.

Career He told the antiquary Charles Smith that "We have peace in these glens and amid their seclusion ... profess the beloved faith of our fathers". He maintained a regular correspondence with his youngest brother Daniel Charles O'Connell, a French army officer, taking him in 1793 after his escape from revolutionary France. O'Connell gave him a gift of 300 guineas which allowed Daniel Charles to settle in London and negotiate for the formation of the Catholic Irish Brigade.

Death O'Connell died on 10 February 1825, at the age of 97. He had composed his own epitaph: "the chief ambition of his long and prosperous life was to elevate an ancient family from unmerited and unjust oppression". He was buried on Abbey Island, Derrynane with his parents. He left a fortune of £54,000. Having reconciled with his nephew Daniel, he left him Derrynane abbey and an annual income of approximately £4,000.