Michael O'Brien Dilkes

General Michael O'Brien Dilkes (1698 – August 1775) was a soldier of the British Army.

Biography

He was born in 1698,[1] the son of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes and his wife Lady Mary, daughter of Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin and widow of Henry Boyle of Castlemartyr. After his father's death in 1707 his mother married a third time, to Colonel John Irwin of Sligo.[2][3] Sir Thomas Dilkes was said to be related to the family of Dilke of Maxstoke Castle.[2][4]

Dilkes joined the Army as a cornet on 12 August 1712,[5] and, in 1723, he was made captain in the 14th Regiment of Dragoons.[6]

On 18 April 1728, he was elected to the Irish House of Commons for Castlemartyr, in a by-election following the death of John Fitzgerald.[7]

He got leave from his regiment to attend Parliament in 1735-36[6] and would represent the constituency until the demise of the Crown in 1760.[1] As a military Member of Parliament, Dilkes was mentioned, with Henry Clements and William Harrison, in Jonathan Swift's 1736 satirical poem on the Irish House of Commons, The Legion Club (the title alluding to Luke 8:30, where a possessed man says his name is Legion "because many devils were entered in him"):

There sit Clements, Dilkes, and Harrison,
How they swagger from their Garrison.
Such a Triplet could you tell
Where to find on this Side Hell?
Harrison, and Dilkes, and Clements,
Souse them in their own Excrèments.
Every Mischief's in their Hearts,
If they fail 'tis Want of Parts.[8][9]

He was promoted to major in the 14th Dragoons on 14 January 1738,[5][6] but had left the regiment by 1742.[6] On 14 November 1745 he was promoted colonel.[10]

Dilkes held the posts of Quartermaster-General and Barrack-Master-General of the Forces in Ireland,[3][11] but after voting alongside his half-brother Henry Boyle against the government in the Money Bill dispute in December 1753[11] he was deprived of his offices.[12][13] However, the following year he was promoted to major-general, with seniority of 11 March 1755,[10][14] and made Governor of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.[4][15] He was further promoted to lieutenant-general in 1759.[16] In about 1760 he attempted to convert the cemetery at Bully's Acre into a botanic garden for the Hospital, but the project was abandoned after the men of the Liberties rioted in protest.[15] Dilkes also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland.[4] He was promoted to full general in 1772[17] and in 1774 he was appointed colonel of the 50th Regiment of Foot,[18] holding the post until his death[19] in August 1775.[1]

On 16 October 1734 Dilkes had married Anne, daughter of Duncan Cummin MD; he was survived by their children Thomas, Henry, John and Mary.[3] The eldest son, Thomas, was serving in America as major of the 49th Regiment of Foot, but the "considerable pecuniary disappointments" he experienced on his father's death obliged him to sell out. Thomas Dilkes was the father of William Thomas Dilkes, who also became a general.[4]

References
  1. Johnston-Liik, Edith M. (2006). MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692–1800. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 84. ISBN 9781903688601.
  2. Laughton, John Knox (1888). "Dilkes, Thomas" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 15. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 78.
  3. Lodge, John; Archdall, Mervyn, eds. (1789). The Peerage of Ireland, vol. 2. Dublin: James Moore. pp. 56–57.
  4. Philippart, John, ed. (1813). The Royal Military Panorama or Officer's Companion. London: P. Martin. p. 297.
  5. Army List for 1740, p. 68.
  6. Hamilton, Henry Blackburne (1901). Historical Record of the 14th (King's) Hussars. London: Longman. p. 514.
  7. Tuckey, Francis H. (1837). Cork Remembrancer (PDF). p. 327.
  8. Scott, Walter, ed. (1814). The Works of Jonathan Swift, DD, Volume 10. Edinburgh. p. 555.
  9. Carpenter, Andrew, ed. (1998). Verse in English from Eighteenth-Century Ireland. Cork University Press. p. 228. ISBN 9781859181041.
  10. Army List for 1756, p. 3.
  11. Grattan, Henry (1839). Memoirs of the Life and Times of the Rt Hon. Henry Grattan, vol. 1. London: Henry Colburn. p. 425.
  12. Budgell, Eustace (1754). An Account of the Life, Character, and Parliamentary Conduct of the Right Honourable Henry Boyle, Esq. Dublin: G. Harrison. p. 17.
  13. Harris, Robert (2002). Politics and the Nation: Britain in the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780191554384.
  14. "No. 9530". The London Gazette. 18–22 November 1755. p. 2.
  15. "History of Inchicore". Inchicore.info. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  16. "No. 9871". The London Gazette. 17–20 February 1759. p. 1.
  17. "No. 11251". The London Gazette. 23–26 May 1772. p. 2.
  18. "No. 11435". The London Gazette. 26 February – 1 March 1774. p. 1. Correcting "No. 11434". The London Gazette. 22–26 February 1774. p. 1.
  19. "No. 11595". The London Gazette. 9–12 September 1775. p. 1.
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