Second son of Michael O'Mahony, "armiger" (noble) at Kerry County, and Helena Holles, Bartholomew (Barthélemy in french) O'Mahony was born into a family of illustrious and ancient origin, deprived of all his rights by the English penal laws. His grand-grand-father Thaddeus, the last of a lineage of high sheriffs of County Kerry, killed at the battle of Anghrim in 1691, had been proscribed as well as his son because of religion.

He was baptized on January 5, 1748 at Castleisland, in the same county. His godfather was Denis Mac Mahon and his godmother was Elizabeth FitzGerald. He has an elder brother, Owen, deceased without posterity of his marriage with a lady de Courcy, of the house the lords of Courcy, first barons of England, and three sisters, of whom we know nothing.

Born Irish, in a family victim since 1652 of the proscription and the sequestration of the goods, inflicted under of armed rebellion and fidelity to the Catholic religion, banned from education and many professions, Barthélemy, as many other ambitious young Irish people have no other prospect than to go to the mainland, what he does at the age of fifteen. He is greeted, in 1763, by his uncle Barthélemy-Joseph O'Mahony, "king's doctor".


Officer in the regiment of Clare 1763-1776

On September 6, Bartholomew entered Clare's Irish regiment as a cadet, regiment whose colonel owner is Charles O'Brien of Clare, Viscount of Thomond, and Colonel Commandant is Thomas Tyrell, Earl of Betagh. On february 1, 1765 Jean Vinflantey, exercising the office of king of arms of the kingdom of Ireland, draws up and signs a genealogical table of Barthelemy's ancestors, on eight degrees. On february 21, 1765 the king of arms of the Kingdom of Ireland draws his genealogy, sealed with the seal of the said king of arms, legalized by Lord Hamilton, viceroy of Ireland, and the count de Guerchy, ambassador of the King to the King of England. It begins with Fyneen O'Mahony, seneschal in Desmond of King Mac Carthy Mor then High Sheriff of County Kerry by letters from Queen Elizabeth dated June 20, 1565.

He became naturalised in France by Letters given in Versailles on March 26, 1767, Bartholomew applied in November for admission to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Malta). This first request did not succeed. He is promoted to second lieutenant at the same regiment December 25, 1769 and captain January 23, 1771.

It was at this time that Barthélemy, as being a nephew of Count O'Mahony of Spain (son of Daniel, count in Castilla), then ambassador of that country to the Vienna Court, was entrusted by king Louis XV with the secret mission of carrying to that court the rich "wedding basket" for Marie-Antoinette who was to marry his son (later Louis XVI). He was attacked in the Black Forest but nevertheless succeeded his mission. The aunt who wrote the story (here in french) says "Arriving in Vienna, the Black Forest adventure made a noise and reached the ears of the Emperor, who congratulated Count O'Mahony on his courage and cold blood, and gave him as a gift in memory of that tragic night, two magnificent pistols of pommel, all damasked and inlaid with silver." (Note that hey were stolen during WW2).

His regiment was in garrison at Gravelines in may 1763, Philippeville in april 1764, Gravelines again in november 1764, Berghes in august 1765, Saint-Martin de Ré in october 1765, Blaye in october 1766, Bayonne in june 1767, Marseille in october 1767, Landrecies in june 1768, Isle of Oléron in september 1769 and Rochefort in january 1771.
The regiment embarked in this port to pass to the islands of France (Réunion) and Bourbon (Mauritius). Returned to France by Brest and Lorient in July 1772, it arrived in Bethune in October, then to Rocroi in October 1773, in Bouchain in September 1774, finally in Valenciennes in June 1775.
It was there that it was incorporated, as a result of the ordinance of April 26th, with the Berwick Regiment, which formed his 2nd battalion and of which he took the name and the colors.

On June 27, 1774, Barthélemy was accepted in the order of Malta as Knight of Justice, in the venerable langue Grand Prieuré de France (see here in french). (The knights of justice were those who belonged to ancient chivalrous families, admitted to the Order without exemptions. They paid, to enter the Order a right to 3.155 livres following the investigations and evidence of rigor.)

At that time, when Barthélemy was not with his regiment, he lived with his uncle Dr. O'Mahony, as well as Daniel O'Connell, his relative and "friend of heart". On March 29, 1775, the said uncle gives Barthélemy a holographic will that he will file with Maître Truta, notary in Paris, on the following 29 November, the day after the doctor's death. In the notarial act, he is qualified "Messire Barthélemy of Mahony, knight not profes of the order of St John of Jerusalem, Captain at the Berwick Irish Regiment, residing at the home of his uncle M. de Mahony, at the Hotel de Valois, Rue de Tournon, Saint-Sulpice parish." We can see that Barthélemy was indeed incorporated into the Berwick Regiment. His uncle being dead, he had to leave the hotel of Valois and then moved rue du Regard.

Officer in the Walsh regiment 1776-1784

Barthélemy then receives a commission of second captain in the regiment of Walsh-infantry, company of "hunters" (June 27, 1776) and is promoted colonel in the said regiment, on December 29, 1777 (patent dispatched on the 15th), with a salary of 3,000 livres. The Walsh Regiment, then commanded by Georges de Kendall, went to Quimper in July 1778. The whole regiment was embarked on the fleet of the Earl of Guichen for the campaign of 1780-81 in the Windward islands and Leeward islands , and was fighting April 17, May 15 and 19, between this Admiral and Rodney. In 1781-1782, the regiment took part in the third campaign of the war of independence of the United States, under the command of Admiral de Grasse, and distinguished itself at the taking of the island of Tabago. In Barthélemy's states of service, only are mentioned for this period "the campaigns of 1780 and 1781 with the regiment of Walsh in the Windward and the Leeward islands in the rank of colonel"

Don Demetrio, Count O'Mahony, Lieutenant-General and Spanish Ambassador to Vienna, Commander of the Order of St. James, died on December 26, 1777, without descendants. His niece, the princess Giustiniani is his heiress. Barthélemy lost then an important support.

Back to France, Barthélemy obtained (bought?) in 1781 the office of governor-castellan of Câteau-Cambresis, which he kept until the Revolution (see here in french). Patrick Clarke de Dromantin reports that in 1781 the knight Barthélemy O'Mahony was admitted to the Estates ("Etats") of Cambresis by providing a genealogy of the herald of arms of Ireland going back to his paternal and maternal sixth generation while the great-grandparents were sufficient. This is a unique case, the author having found no other example of Jacobite having entered provincial Etats. And to add: "This knight O'Mahony was to be a worrier since in 1788 he solicited letters of recognition of nobility ..." [Les réfugiés jacobites dans la France du XVIIIe siècle et A.D du Nord C 1840]. In fact Barthélemy had only provided a document he already had for other purposes!

Similarly, on August 19 of the same year, he was knighted in the order of Saint-Louis.


The last colonel commander of the Berwick Regiment 1784-1792

On January 1, 1784, Barthelemy was appointed second colonel in the Berwick regiment, the colonel owner being Jacques-Charles, 5th Duke of FitzJames and the colonel commanding the knight of Fitzjames. His pay amounts 3.000 livres.

The regiment was then in the islands of Ré and Oléron where it will remain until October 1784, when it is confined to La Rochelle.

On May 18, 1785, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of King James II, King of Great Britain, grants him a certificate stating that the O'Mahony family is one of the oldest and most illustrious in Ireland. On July 28 of the same year, peers and members of the House of Commons of the Irish Parliament authenticate the pedigree undertaken by the King of Arms in 1765 and completed in 1786.

Barthélemy marries May 27, 1787, at the Castle of Malpierre in Rigny-la-Salle (Meuse), Monique, marquis de Gouy d'Arsy's daughter, count des Salles's widow and mother of a young Aurore. The first wedding bans had been published on May 13, 1787 in Saint-Sulpice (Paris), Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois (Paris) and Saint-Martin on the Isle de Ré. A contract had been passed by Me Georges, notary at Veaucouleurs, May 24, containing weddings conditions (see here in french). From this union was born a single son, Arsène, born December 31 in Paris, at the Old Louvre, in a appartement which had been given by the King Louis XIV to "Madame de La Lande", sub-governess of the king's children, great-grandmother of the bride.

The register of the deliberations of MM of the order of the nobility of the Estates of Cambresis of November 17, 1787 teaches us about the questioning of the regulation of November 6, 1786 that being "necessary that there is a member of the order able to instruct the ministers, [MM] have added Count O'Mahony to their commission [the Marquis d'Havrincourt and d'Estournel] whom he has agreed to accept. "

On January 21, 1788, he obtains the honors of the King's carriage (B.N. Chérin 127), follows the king to the hunt on the 30th, obtains on February 6th the permission to wear the habit of the King's hunting crew when he wishes. On April 30 his wife is introduced by the Duchess of Fitzjames, to the King, to the royal family , and to the court (the presentation dress will cost her 2.400 livres). If the happy gentleman admitted to honors did not already possess one, he was authorized to bear the title of viscount, count or baron, in his name. title which, although not attached to a land, was in fact hereditary. Bartholomew then ceases to bear the title of knight for that of comte .

Barthélemy receives the command of the regiment on March 10, 1788. One can read in the Supplement aux Nouvelles Extraordinaires of April 1, 1788: « Last Friday, the letters for the promotion of Brigadiers to the rank of Marshal-of-Camp were despatched. This promotion is very numerous, since it includes all the brigadiers of 1784, with the exception of some Brigadier Lieutenants-Colonels, who are still wanted to keep the regiments to which they are attached. The next day there was a list of the new Colonels-Commandants, who replace the Colonels-Brigadiers, created Maréchaux-de-Camp. » Follows the list, in which we find: Berwick , Knight de Mahony.

The regiment has been in Boulogne since April. On July 31st, Barthélemy receives the Prince de Condé (see here, in french ). On the 20th of December he appeared before La Rue and Drugeon, notaries at the Chatelet of Paris, as a witness for an act of notoriety which Francis Wogan, captain of the Dillon and Lally regiments. He is qualified: Sir Barthélemy O'Mahony, Colonel of the Berwick Regiment, knight of the order of Saint-Louis, honorary knight of the order of Malthe and governor of the city and chatellenie of Câteau Cambresis . The other witnesses are Jacques O'Flannagan, Théobald de Dillon, colonel of the Dillon Regiment, Daniel-Charles O'Connell, commander of the Salm-Salm Regiment, Christophe-Alexandre de Fagan, Jean O'Toole and Jean Burke, principal of the College of the Irish.

The minutes of the General Assembly of the three orders of the Bailiwick of Chaumont-en-Bassigny, in Champagne, which was held on March 12, 1789, list the participants. For the nobility, we find " Ch.-F. Maillart, marshal of the camps and armies, for him and for Marie-Louise-Henr.-Monique Degony (sic, de Gouy), widow of very high and powerful Lord Louis-Ant.-Gust., count des Salles, Marshal of the Camps and Armies, currently wife of high and mighty Sgr Barthelemi, count de Mahony, Honorary Knight of Malta, colonel of the Regt Berwick, and for Miss Dessales, lady engaged of the domains of the provost of Vaucouleurs, the gall of Malpierre and Uny. " Barthélemy is not quoted as sitting there because he was present in the Estates of Cambrais and Cambresis where he had registered in 1781.

At that time, the O'Mahony lived in the castle of the Louvre (Paris) as indicated by an act passed in front of notary on April 20, 1789 by which Bathélemy is named coguardian of his daughter-in-law Aurore, together with the Marquis de Gouy (grandfather), the Duke of Montmorency-Luxembourg (relative), the viscount of Gouy (great-uncle), the duke of Villars-Brancas (great-uncle), the Marquis de Gouy d'Arsy (Louis Marthe, uncle), the Marquis de Lusignan and the Duc de Céreste. Moreover, Barthélemy is authorized, as well as his wife, to proceed with the liquidation of the succession of the Marquis des Salles (Monique's father in law) (Regulation of the Louis-Antoine-Gustave des Salles succession (1772-1785) - AD des Vosges 3 F 4).

On April 28, 1789 the letters patent of recognition of nobility of old extraction, obtained on September 26 preceding, are recorded in the Parliament of Paris [A.N O¹ 134-135]. The Baron de Breteuil (minister of the king's house) had addressed Chérin (genealogist of the king's orders) for this purpose on March 14, 1788 : « I send you, sir, a request for Count O'Mahony who asks for letters of recognition of nobility. It seems that the titles are in your hands. When you have examined them, you will send me your report with your comments and your opinion. I am very perfectly, Sir, your very humble and very obedient servant. . » [Chérin 127, File 2592, fol. 10] The said Chérin had replied on July 18 : "My Lord, I have the honor to have you re-transmit the request and the documents of Count O'Mahony, colonel commander of the Berwick Infantry Regiment, with the copy of the memoir which I composed last September for the presentation of this gentleman who obtained the honors of the court. Mr. O'Mahony asks by his request to be recognized in the nobility of ancient extraction and knighthood of name and arms. The genealogy he represented was dressed with all the formalities prescribed by the maxims of the Council with regard to the families of the three kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland who come to settle in France, so I believe that he is very susceptible to the grace he asks. »

On April 10, 1790 Barthélemy's father-in-law died in Paris at his hotel in the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin. The Marquis de Gouy d'Arsy is buried in Arsy two days later in the vault of the lords of Arsy, under the pulpit of the village church. This mansion where he died, which he bought in 1775, was at the corner of the rue de Provence and rue de la Chaussée d'Antin. It had an entrance to the Rue de Provence by a carriage-to-column door and another rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, by a simple carriage door. It consisted of four bodies of buildings. It is Aurore des Salles, her granddaughter, who inherits it, but Monique inherits the enjoyment and the usufruct, according to the codicil of January 8, 1789 by which she perceives the sum of 500,000 livres, his mounted silverware, his cellar of Paris, all the furniture of his house in Paris, and the enjoyment during her life of this house. The marquis leaves a succession heavily burdened with debt and in a great mess. Moreover difficulties arise between Monique and his brother Louis-Marthe that the will disadvantages following disagreements happened with his father shortly before. Monique will spend the rest of her life in trials and proceedings to recover what is due to her from this succession.

On May 8, 1790, Barthélemy acquired a mansion in Nancy, known as O'Mahony Hotel , and on September 22, Monique writes a letter to the military authorities, dated from Malpierre Castle (see here ). Nancy, where several letters from Monique show that she was staying generally there, is ideally located for that she deals with the property of her first husband, including Rigny-la-Salle, which probably explains in part the choice of this purchase.

March 1, 1791 he is promoted major-general ("maréchal des camps et armées du roi") by patent given by Louis XVI, countersigned Portal,

King Louis XVI is arrested in Varennes june 21, 1791.

Barthelemy's regiment which is in Berghes, is sent to Landau, an enclave in the Palatinate and near Coblentz. In July 1791, Colonel O'Mahony and part of his regiment will pass the boarder and join the Princes'army. Meanwhile Monique manages her daughter's inheritance. We know for example that on May 11, 1791, the Recollets of Bulgnéville having abandoned their convent, and the directory of the district of Neufchâteau proposing to sell it as national property, she opposed this decision as guardian of her minor daughter.

     ▶  For this period in the Army of the Emigrants, see here : The regiment of Berwick in emigration under the command of count O'Mahony.

On November 23, 1792, this army is disbanded, and the Count of Provence (later king Louis XVIII) hands to Colonel O'Mahony, as to the others colonels of the Irish regiments (Walsh and Dillon) a farewell banner bearing the motto 1692 - 1792 - 'Semper et Ubique Fidelis'

Princes' commissionner in the electorates of Trier and Cologne 1793-1794

The alternatives for Irish officers can be summed up as three: finding a job considered subordinate by generals accustomed to command, join the royalists in Vendée, give up military honors and return to Ireland.

For the time being, Barthelemy will remain two more years in the region, as the Princes' commissonner in the Electorates of Trier and Cologne. Little is known about this period during which he was responsible for settling all the problems and disputes caused by the said dissolution, except that the O'Mahony rented a house in Koblenz, to Baron d'Esch, from 1st November 1793 to 1st October 1794.

In order to ensure the seizure of all property of emigrants, the Convention orders by the law of March 28, 1793 the formation, printing and publication of departmental lists of emigrants, as well as the making, by means of all this, of a general list which would be sent and published throughout the Republic. Anyone on these lists was reputedly emigrated, banished in perpetuity from French territory, punished with death in case of return or deported if it was a woman under 21, and if she returned only for the first time. A "civil death" was instored, and the Nation seized his property and all the inheritances that had fallen to him or that could fall to him for 50 years from the date of the promulgation of the law of March 28th, without being possible to oppose the natural death which occurred in the interval. These lists were full of errors. To avoid the effects of registration on the list of emigrants, it was necessary to get rid of it by a procedure that was to remove almost any possibility of fraud.

Monique de Gouy d'Arsy and her daughter Aurore des Salles were registered on the list of the department of the Meuse of February 5, 1793. Aurore was going to be 14 years old and her mother thought it was necessary for her daughter to come back to France so that, being minor, she could to be removed of the said list. Thus the citizen Jean-André Hysts, residing in Port-sur-Seille (Meurthe-et-Moselle) took her back to France. She was effectively struck off (provisory) from the list of emigrants on the 7th June, 1793 by the department of the Meuse, but what his mother had not expected is that, staying at her uncle de Ludre, he married her the following year (28 Thermidor year II) , without informing her parents, at the castle of Port-sur-Seille, formerly owned by the family des Salles, which was succeeded by that of Ludre. She was 15 years old, he was 53! The authorization which is obligatory, since Aurorae is minor was given by two neighbors of Port on Seille, "the republican citizens Chipel and Menil". It is said in the family that Monique was very upset when she heard this event and even more so when the husband blithely violated the provisions of the Count des Salles's will who had instituted Monique his unique heiress. Monique and Aurore will be definitively written off the list on October 20, 1800 and June 8, 1801 respectively.

On the following January 30, the books that were in the mahony house in Nancy, were confiscated and placed in the public library of the city. The inventory showed that there was a copy of the Encyclopaedia, edition of Liege in 4°, made of 74 volumes, and also, 34 paperback books and about 150 volumes of different works of different formats, both bound and broaches.

Colonel in the service of Great Britain (King George's Irish Brigade) 1794-1802

In 1794, William Pitt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer and later prime minister, invited to London several Irish Brigade officers, including Count Daniel Charles O'Connell, and offered them to set up a "Catholic Irish Brigade", envisaged as 6 regiments that would be raised in Ireland. That way the English sought out the remnants of the french Irish Brigade and transferred it in to the British Army. The new Brigade was forbidden to serve in England or Ireland and was used as a foreign legion serving mostly in the Caribbean till disbanded in 1797/1798 after the United Irishmen's rebellion. It will be noted that at that time, in the British army, Catholics could not reach a grade higher than colonel. The colonels of the six regiments were respectively: the Duke of FitzJames, Count Walsh de Serrant, Henry Dillon, Count Daniel O'Connel, Viscount Walsh de Serrant and James Henry, Earl Conway.

It is in this last regiment, the sixth, said Conway regiment, that Barthélemy serves, probably called by his friend O'Connell.

On October 1, 1794, the King of England signed a letter of service appointing him Lieutenant-Colonel of James Henry count Conway regiment of foot , captain of a company of this regiment. His cousin Count Jean-François O'Mahony also entered this "Royal Irish Brigade".

He moved to London where Monique and their son Arsene joined him and where they will stay during the whole year 1795. In a letter dated June 12, Monique said having "installed" a house. This situation does not prevent him from managing the affairs of Monique's nephews, whose father Louis-Marthe de Gouy d'Arsy was guillotined, and of whom he was named guardian of the houses of Santo Domingo for my nephews and curator for my sister-in-law according to the opinion of colonists of Santo Domingo, made in London on September 2, 1794, to manage, or have managed, the said dwellings, for the greater benefit of my sister-in-law and my nephews, who remained in France, and that, from the moment when they would be under the rule of the English government .

But this Irish brigade, instead of being sent to fight on the European continent, was shipped in the snows of America and the heat of the tropics where much of it was decimated by disease and death. Fortunately, Barthélemy had another destiny. He was allowed to go abroad, at the request of Marshal de Broglie, to serve in a regiment that he wanted to raise.

This information can be found in the British National Archives, in a memorandum explaining that the Lieutenant-Colonel Barthélemy to be reinstated in the 6th Regiment of the Irish Brigade [Count Jacques-Henri Conway regiment] as of March 3, 1796. In this memorandum, dated October 18, 1799, it is explained that Barthélemy went abroad, at the request of "Marshall Braglio" [marshal de Broglie], hoping to get a position in a regiment he wanted to raise, that this was not done and that in the meantime had disposed of his commission in the Irish Brigade [given to Count Sutton de Clonard], mistakenly thinking it was already provided (National Archives HO 42/48/99 Folios (s) 193-195 Memorandum stating that Lieutenant Colonel Bartholomew O'Mahony of the late 6th Regiment, Irish Brigade, is to be reinstated from 3 March 1796 ). Note that the regiment of Marshal de Broglie, "First French infantry regiment in the pay of His British Majesty", was raised at Schwelm, near Dusseldorf, october 10, 1794, and was disbanded in Seebron october 25, 1795.

This explains why we found Barthélemy major in the said infantry regiment with "white cockade de Broglie", raised on the direct intervention of the Count d'Artois (later king Charles X). The officers' commissions are of this date, with effect from September 10 for the pay). The colonel is the Prince de Broglie-Revel, son of the marshal, and the lieutenant-colonel the Marquis de Verteillac. We have little precise information on the creation of this regiment, but the Count de Terssac, in his memoirs, specifies that "it was in March 1795 that the marshal gathered at Pyrmont [principality of Waldeck] the officers whom he had appointed to form his regiment". In May 1795, the regiment took the oath to King George of England, and on August 3rd to King Louis XVIII. The English government, noting the difficulty of the colonels to find recruits, it was decided on July 11, 1795 to disband the regiment with a white cockade. The Regiment de Broglie was directed on Swabia, with a view to its incorporation into the Condé Regiment, that Britain has just taken on her pay.

On March 15, 1795, his "cousin" Darby Demetry O'Mahony died in Abbeville. He had been incarcerated in Arras under the Terror.

After the dissolution of the regiment of Broglie, Bartholomew then returns to Brunswick, where is the King Louis XVIII. Bartholomew is confirmed camps marshal by Louis XVIII, in Villingen, July 10, 1796 (patent countersigned by Baron de Flacklanden ; in it is expressly stated that Count O'Mahony will rank in the said rank as from March 1, 1791).

In Brunswick Monique rented a house until 1800. She had a maid, Mademoiselle Dorothée, and owned a carriage. This is where she wrote a "statement of the assets and liabilities of my fortune on January 1, 1799". Similarly, on May 6, the same year 1799, Barthélemy wrote a "plan of study" for his son, aged 12 years. Letters sent from Brunswick to their friends d'Héricourt in the summer of 1796 report Countess O'Mahony's health problems. She has few means to live as this letter indicates:

On November 1, 1797, at Port-sur-Seille Castle, Aurore gave birth to Charles, later count of Ludre, officer of dragoons and "deputé" of Meurthe, whose son Auguste-Louis, Count of Ludre and Marquis de Frolois, will marry Valentine The Gonidec of Kerdaliel, who will be the godmother of Patrice O'Mahony (Barthelemy's grand-grand-son 1887-1936).

To be able to live, the O'Mahony had to borrow money ! One of the last loans contracted by Monique in Brunswick the one of six hundred pounds made per note of July 10, 1799 to his brother-in-law Eugène O'Mahony in Molakiffe, Ireland, is particularly interesting because it shows that Barthélémy and his brother were still in relationship. The last loan made is that of 200 livres made on May 10th, 1800, without ticket, with the hereditary Princess of Brunswick.
We have little information about this period. Having been struck off the list of emigrants, Monique returns to France to try to recover her property seized by the Nation, and we know she was in Paris in 1801. Meanwhile Barthélemy must be in England, probably without assignment. In London, May 1, 1800, he signed a certificate in favor of Charles MacCarthy who had served in his regiment.

On September 30, 1800 Aurore gives birth at Port-sur-Seille to Auguste de Ludre, whose son, Gaston, count of Ludre, author of a book on Charles X and another on Napoleon IV, will be witness in 1881 at the wedding of Maurice O'Mahony and Marthe de Pontbellanger, marriage that he arranged, according to the family.

Barthélemy still had no assignment in October, as shown by a handwritten letter dated October 1, 1800, from his friend Count O'Connell (Arsène's godfather) to an unknown recipient , concerning the reinstatement in the rank and pay of Colonel Count O'Mahony, then at Brunswick, in the Irish brigade and his desire to join the British Army ("National Library of Ireland" MS 49,491 / 2/420).

LeNew Annual Register for the year 1801 indicates for the 3rd of february Barthélemy's promotion: "Brevet. Lieut.-col. count Bartholomew O'Mahony, of the late 6th regiment of the Irish brigade, to be colonel in the army". Bartholomew had thus reached the highest grade accessible to a Catholic.

As for Arsène, he was with his mother since she wrote in 1804: " For 17 years now that you were born, I did not leave you 24 hours, except for a month, when you were 2 years old, and hardly could you feel it.". On July 11, 1800, a family council chaired by Eugène O'Mahony, Barthélemy's elder brother, is held in Tralee (County Kerry) "to take care of the interests of Arsène O'Mahony, a minor child who is probably today, without any protector or support in France." It would probably be necessary to add "other than his mother, whose interests may be in conflict with her son's." It was, indeed, to defend the rights and interests of the minor whenever they are in opposition to those of the said lady his mother to ask in justice the execution of the codicil made holographic by Louis de Gouy his grand-father in Paris on January 18, 1789. The said council then designates as Arsene's procurator and tutor the abbot O'Connor in Paris, cousin [died in Paris in 1819 at the age of 74, he had been a member of the Irish Brigade] advised by Vincent Corneille, [Monique's] lawyer, also in Paris. The board consisted of Eugene O'Mahony, Molahiffe, Daniel O'Mahony, Dunloe, Kain O'Mahony, Killanah, Miles O'Mahony, also of Killanah, Jacques O'Mahony, Killarney Town , Thomas and Christophe Gallwey, also from the town of Killarney, Edward Dunne of Tralee City, Jean Neaphy, also from the city of Tralee.

We also have the undated report of another council, which was held, no doubt in Paris, with Daniel Bernard, Father O'Connor, and for the paternal side, Daniel, Count O'Connell, cousin; Vincent, Prince of Giustiniani, cousin [great-grandson of Daniel O'Mahony, the brave of Cremona ] and, for the maternal side, of Thomas Louis Genevoise de Morant, former colonel, cousin from siblings [grandson of Gabrielle de La Rivière]; Hugues Thibaut Henry Jacques of Lusignan, former Field Marshal, cousin [Lezay-Lusignan, cousin of La Fayette]; Charles Emmanuel Sigismund de Montmorency Luxembourg, cousin (8th degree).

By order of 8 Thermidor year IX (June 28, 1801) the prefect hand-levied the sequestration for the benefit of Monique from his house in the Rue du Mont-Blanc (current street Chaussée d'Antin) in Paris whose value is then estimated at 90,000 francs, that she held of the succession of her father and whose half was occupied by the Administration of the Charrois of the Republic by lease which she had made the 12 Vendémiaire year IV (October 4 1795). This house had been seized as national property, returned on the 12th Fructidor year III (August 29th, 1795) and sequestered again on the 17th Frimaire year VII (December 7th, 1798).


Lieutenant-general in the service of Portugal 1802-1803

In 1802, the count O'Connell visited France and while in Paris he received an invitation from the Court of Lisbon to enter the Portuguese service as major-general on the staff. He replied that the rank of lieutenant-general with a suitable stipend, alone could induce hime to undertake the arduous task of re-modelling and disciplining the Portuguese army. He probably then suggested the name of Barthelemy since in April 1802, "with the permission of the King of England", Barthélemy left Britain to serve the Portugal who offers him the rank of major-general in his armies, "vacant by the resignation of major-general O'Connell", with the promise to appoint him lieutenant general "to the next promotion" and the insurance to be made Inspector General of all Portuguese Infantry when Lieutenant General Forbel retires (deceased two years after admission to this service) with a pay of 30,000 livres for this double job. Before accepting this proposal, he had taken care to ask to be maintained in the rank of colonel of the English army with half-pay, which was granted, "His Britannic Majesty having graciously acquiesced in this request" (Letter dated June 7, 1802 from London, from the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army).

He had also obtained that his son Arsene, then under 15, accompanied him as an aide-de-camp with the rank of Captain in the Portuguese cavalry. Arrived at Lisbon, Bartholomew obtained a six months' leave to go to Paris to get his wife and his son, and settle his affairs ...

It should be remembered that on April 26 Bonaparte, First Consul, proclaimed the amnesty law granted for emigration. But among the conditions to benefit from it, it was necessary to return to France before the 1st Vendemiaire (September 23, 1802) and not having had ranks in enemy armies. As a result, Barthélemy was not qualified for the amnesty, which was not the case for Monique.
On December 3, 1802, Barthélémy attempted to buy his former home in Nancy (rue d'Alliance, No. 33), put on sale by the citizens Forel and Joussau who had acquired it as a national good. The minutes of the sale indicate that: " Also appears the Cen Barthélemy O'Mahony, general in the service of Portugal, currently in Paris, rue Cassette No. 824, by the Cen ( for citizen) Nicolas François Demetz, jurisconsult living in Nancy, his attorney founded, who is for him; which, subject to the declaration of command, declared to have put the sum of thirty-three thousand francs, on the house stated in the said verval, and with the clauses of that, and signed, read made . "

For his career in Portugal, see here (in french).

Prisonner of war in France 1803-1814

So, being in Paris in May 1803 (breach of the peace of Amiens), Barthélemy, who also had British nationality, was included, with his son, in Bonaparte's "arbitrary measure", constituting prisoner of war all British subjects being in France. "Put in surveillance", they will remain under house arrest for the whole duration of the Empire (1804 - 1814) in the different cities that the French government assigned to prisons foreign officers. This is why they successively lived in Orleans, Fontainebleau, Nancy and finally Versailles. From 1813, several documents indicate their presence in Paris (38 rue Cassette, 58 rue de Provence, rue Traversière).
During all these years, they considered themselves as Portuguese officers, and it was in this capacity that they made their court to the King during the rise of His Majesty on the throne (First Restoration, April 6, 1814).

Following a real estate seizure, the usufruct of the hotel in the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin is sold for the benefit of Monique's creditors, and it is Arsène who becomes the successful tenderer (judgment of August 5, 1813).
In april 1814, the count de Provence arrives in France and becomes king Louis XVIII. On june 14, 1814, Barthélemy and Arsène were part of the deputation composed of the former officers of the former Irish brigade, who had the honor to be presented to His Majesty by the Duke of FitzJames, who said to the King:

Lieutenant General Commander of Military Divisions 1804-1817

On August 15, 1814, Barthélemy writes to the King:

Eight days later, on August 23, 1814, Louis XVIII subscribed to this request for "exchange": He conferred to Barthélemy the rank of Lieutenant-General and the dignity of Commander of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis, without giving him a command at once. On December 30, he gives him "half-time treatment" (informed by the Duke of Dalmatia).

On September 26, Barthélemy, is admitted in the Order of the Lily, is "authorized to decorate" the Fleur de Lys.

By "letter of service" of March 13, 1815, he is appointed to the command of the 2nd subdivision of the 12th military division in Nantes. In a letter of March 18th the Duc de Feltre informs him he will have for his aide-de-camp M. d'Armaillé, light-horse of the guard of the King. On request addressed to the Marquis de la Grange, lieutenant-general commanding the Musketeers of the Guard, he obtains that Arsène is assigned to him as an aide-de-camp "with squadron leader treatment only".

They certainly did not have time to reach their assignments: "The Hundred Days" had started on March 1st and Napoleon is already in Lyon. On March 20, he moved to the Tuileries Castle that Louis XVIII left hurriedly the day before.

Three months later (June 18), the defeat of Waterloo definitely rings the death knell of the Empire, and on July 8 the King returns to Paris.

A new assignment is very quickly given to Barthélemy : July 25, 1815, he is called to command the 21st Military Division in Bourges (Division including the "départements" of Allier, Indre, Nièvre, Haute-Vienne, Creuse, Cher). Once again, he takes his son with him as aide-de-camp. On August 3rd, M. de Morant, a cousin of his wife wrote him a letter (see here).

On August 1, 1815, Marshal Mac-Donald, missionned by the King to dissolve the Army of the Loire, took the command of seven of the military divisions of the kingdom and set up his headquarters in Bourges, where Barthélemy O'Mahony is, commanding one of these seven military divisions. With the marshal, Barthélemy participates closely to this huge operation of breaking up "cadres" from the Republic and the Empire, and managing the future of one hundred thousand soldiers who had sacrificed everything to their country. The task was difficult! It is in this context that the 6 September 1815 Barthélemy receives the order to cease his functions to enjoy the "maximum of the balance retirement pension of his grade "in accordance with the ordinance of August 1st for workforce reductions.

Unable to accept such an eventuality, he asks for a place of governor of a military division, compatible he thinks with the retirement, by letter to the marshal de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, his minister, dated from Bourges on September 10th.

His request, supported by Marshal MacDonald, Duke of Taranto, Governor of the Division, was submitted to the King, but did not succeed. He will then move to Paris, 10 rue Neuve Saint-Augustin.

Monique, his wife, is also involved. After unsuccessfully trying to obtain an appointment with the minister, she writes to him on September 15 ...

But it's useless! The minister is intractable and writes to Barthélemy on September 25 to inform him that he is eligible by the pension ordinance and that it is not possible to offer an exceptional favor . The next day, the Talleyrand government falls and Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr is replaced at the Ministry of War by Marshal Clarke, Duke of Feltre. Several times minister, the duke of Feltre, Irish of origin, is an ally who has several times in the past showed his kindness for Barthélemy, who writes to him immediately.

On October 6, the minister shows the intention to give Barthelemy the command of the 8th Military Division, "if the King approves that exceptions be made to the ordinance of August 1st, because M. General O'Mahony, is one of those who can have the most rights, and by his devotion, and by the means that he still has to be usefully employed ". Barthelemy resumes hope of coming out of this retreat, which he lives so badly. The opportunity was given to him by the Count de Viomenil who, like him, had served in emigration in the army of Condé then in England, and who has just been appointed governor of the 13th military division. The count, since Marquis and Marshal of France, asks the minister to entrust Barthelemy with the command, giving him the assurance that, according to the intimate confidence which will be established between Mr. O'Mahony and me, all the parts of the Her Majesty's service, entrusted to the military authorities of the 13th Division, will soon be appreciably improved. Hence this letter to the minister, dated from Paris November 25, 1815.

One could read in the "News from abroad" in Le Conservateur impartial dated from St Petersburg december 14, 1815 (N° 100) :

March 18, 1816 Barthélemy is appointed Judge at the trial of General Travot (see here, in french). On June 5, he recommends to the Duke of Feltre his cousin Jean-François O'Mahony for a future promotion of major-general.

On October 30 is submitted to the King the request that he made the 13th of a three-month leave to go to Paris " in order to settle family affairs of the most high importance and make a loan to pay debts that it was necessary to contract to represent". The request is refused because " His Majesty considers useful for the good of his service that you do not leave at this moment your commandemant ", but the King attributes to him an extraordinary gratification 4,000 francs to relieve the gene " where this general officer was because of the expense of representation that his command causes him . " On November 28, Countess O'Mahony addresses the Minister. December 12 the request finally is accepted and December 22 Barthélemy give the Minister the provisions of his temporary replacement! On March 10, 1817, Barthélemy will ask for an extension of his permission until May 1st.

On december 1st, Barthélemy writes a letter to Arsène.


On January 8, 1817, Barthélemy obtains Arsene to be assigned to his side as provisional chief of staff, "with salary of lieutenant-colonel only" (Amusing anecdote: at the end of the year, Arsène will play in Rennes, in front of the Duc d'Angoulème, son of the Count of Artois, A day of happiness , vaudeville of which he is the author, and whose editions are sold for the benefit of the poors).

On May 27, Barthélemy asks for the Grand'Cross of Saint-Louis left vacant by the death of Mr. de Cely, specifying that " the consideration of which this grace would surround the military commander could only turn to the advantage public service, in a province, where more than in any other, the people measure the confidence they place in the trustees authority over that of which the King honors them ".

On august 21, Monique writes a letter (in french) to Barthélemy, for their pearl wedding (30 ans of mariage).

Retired 1817-1825

Has this four-month leave irritated in high level ? On September 3, 1817, the Duke of Feltre proposes to the King to " put an end to this exception with regard to Count O'Mahony and to apply to him the provisions of the ordinance of August 1st, 1815. " On September 4th he announces his admission to the maximum of the retirement of his rank and his replacement. On September 12, 1817, the poor state of his health determined the Duc de Feltre to resign.
We know that the Restoration was looking for severe savings. One of them touches the military divisions where there were three or four lieutenants instead of one, necessary for the centralization of orders and movements. The decision that strikes Barthélemy is not unfounded: he is 70 years old and let's not forget, asked a leave of several months to settle his affairs in Paris, refused at first and then accepted by force of insistence! One can imagine that the Duke de Feltre, knowing that he was going to resign, wanted to make sure that Barthelemy's departure was made under the best conditions, as long as he still had the power. In any case the outcome was fatal since the new minister is Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr, who had put Barthélemy retired for the first time, not already accepting exceptional favors.
Thus, by an order of September 3, 1817, Barthélemy is admitted to the maximum of the retirement of his grade . He thought he was also entitled to a commander's pension of the order of Saint-Louis, but he was told in June 1818 that the two pensions could not be cumulated.

After 43 years of effective service, including 6 years of campaigns, Barthélemy is retired, definitely this time, with 6 000 francs pension, maximum amount for his rank. He writes to the minister on September 10 to report his financial difficulties and request a salary advance ... which could not be granted.

During the visit of the Duke of Angouleme to Rennes, he had represented before this prince, on September 19, 1817, a vaudeville of the composition of his son Arsène, entitled: A day of happiness , whose success was prodigious in the departments of the West, "by the lively painting of that ardent and pure royalism which the author had drawn from his habitual sentiments."

On the 23rd of the same month, he was replaced at his command by Lieutenant-General Dubreton and retired. He himself announced this news to troops of his division, by an order of the day which he ended thus:

An ordinance of the King dated October 21, 1818, wound up thirty-two pension balances provisionally payable on the half-balances fund until they can be registered. to the treasury: "these pension balances will cease to be paid out of the half-balances fund from the day when they can be charged to the military pensions fund". Follows the table of thirty-two officers concerned. Bartholomew is first on the list; his half-pay was 7,500 francs, and his retirement was 6,000 francs ( Bulletin of the Laws of the French Republic 1818-07). .

This battle was definitely lost; he had another one to win: the great cross of St. Louis! The King granted him in 1819 an annual pension of 2,000 francs on the funds of the order of St. Louis. On July 5, he witnesses the wedding in Rennes of his relative Charlotte Jacquemine The Vaillant with Louis Charles Putecotte of Reneville, bodyguard. He is then qualified: M. Count Barthélemy O'Mahony, Lieutenant General of the King's Armies, Commander of the Order royal and military of Saint-Louis, knight of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, major living in Paris

On July 2, 1820, he addresses the Minister, the Marquis de Latour-Maubourg, from the rue Royale in Versailles, a request for the Grand'Croix de Saint-Louis. The minister replied on August 25, saying that "the King had shown him the desire to see the opportunity soon to grant you the dignity of great cross of the order of St. Louis". Barthélemy writes again on 14 September saying he beleives that "this circumstance is present today, on the occasion of the happy event that is the jubilation of all good French ".

We should notice that Barthélemy was still colonel in the britsh army.

In 1820 the couple left the hotel of 58 Chaussée d'Antin in Paris to settle at Versailles, 88 rue Royale. Barthélemy nevertheless kept the Parisian home.
January 21, 1821, anniversary of an eternal mourning for France and meditation for Christians , he writes his will. The choice of this date is not left to chance and thus testifies to the infinite fidelity of Barthélemy to the memory of Louis XVI, guillotined January 21, 1793.

His wife, Monique de Gouy d'Arsy, dies at Versailles on April 4, 1823, in their appartment, rue royale, n°88, at the age of 73 (see her will ). Himself, whose usual home was 58 rue de la Chaussee d'Antin, Paris, died four years later, on May 16, 1825, in Versailles, at his son's home, 1 rue Saint-Honore, aged 77 years. Some time before his death, he had experienced two great joys. August 25, 1823, in the throne room at the Tuileries Castle, Louis XVIII had decorated it with the insignia of Grand Cross of the Order of St. Louis, supreme dignity of this military order. Then, on September 27, 1824, his son married at Versailles Celestine de Galard de Bearn-Brassac.