THE IRISH EARLS O'ROURKES IN BELARUS
Elinskaya M. (Minsk, Belarus) This article was published in "Belarus-Eire.
Materials of the Seminar <Belarusian-Irish Historical and Cultural
Relations>", Minsk, 2000. The background of the coat of arms is silver and is
divided vertically. In the right part there are three golden lions, the left
is divided horizontally. At the top there is the Lamb of God with a red
banner, at the bottom there is a running black wild boar. Above the helmet
with the Earl's crown there is a silver hand in armour with a sabre. The
casting net is silver with gold. Under the heraldic shield there is a silver
ribbon with the motto "victoriosus victorieux", "the victor of
the victors" (Lat.) Thus one of the Scandinavian heraldry collections
describes the emblem of the O'Rourke family.
This is a fine coat of arms, but what does it have to do
with Belarus? OK, they were earls, and even Irish earls, so what? The thing
is that those O'Rourkes are frequently mentioned among the landowners of the
Minsk province. They owned the estate of Usalub in Navahradak region. Is it
not interesting to find out why, when and how those people from a far island
in the sea happened to settle there? It turns out that the kin of O'Rourkes, the descendants of
Arthur, son of Rourke, is as ancient as the dynasty of the Polacak princes,
the descendants of Rahvalod and Izaslau. Izaslau's mother Rahneda was
violently forced to marry Kiev prince Vladimir; the wife of Tyrone O'Rourke,
who was the king of Breffni principality, was stolen by the king of the
Leinster province, Mac Dermott. According to the chronicles, it was the
reason for a feudal war. It is known
for sure that beginning with X-XI cc.. the O'Rourkes were the lords of the
county Leitrim. At the end of the XVI
c. Brian, Earl O'Rourke was one of the leaders of the uprising against
English oppression in Ireland. When in 1595 the rebels offered to Queen
Elisabeth to sign a truce, one of its demands was the "forgiveness"
of Brian. The uprising, though, continued and in 1599 the Irish led by
O'Donnell and O'Rourke defeated the Queen's troops. After the siege at
Kinsale, the end of uprising, about 70 of its leaders, among them earl
O'Rourke, had to leave the country.
At that time, according K. Kautski "everywhere in Europe one
could meet courageous Irish generals, smart Irish diplomats, earls, barons,
Irish knights of St. Louis and St. Leopold, of White Eagle and Gold Fleece,
who if they stayed in their country, would never be able to become either the
ensigns of platoons, or free citizens of their small communities". Eventually we meet Brian O'Rourke in France in 1688 from
whence the further journey of the family towards the East started. In 1760
Brian's grandsons, John and Cornelius were hired to serve the Russian Empress
Elisabeth. It is worth noting that the further history of the family can be
learned from the files preserved in the National Historical Archives in
Belarus. As it follows from one of the documents, "gentle
Elisabeth" hired Brian's grandsons to serve in her troops preserving
their Earldom. Earl Cornelius O'Rourke and his wife, who was the
descendant of the Earl family of Stuarts, moved to Russia. This Irish-French
immigrant managed to make a good career in the Russian Army, retiring as a
Major-General. His son Joseph (Iosif in Russian) had even more success. Earl Iosif Karnilevich O'Rourke was born
in Russia, in 1763 (or 1772). Being enlisted in his childhood into the elite
Izmailov life-guards Regiment in the rank of sergeant, he started his actual
service as a captain of cavalry in 1790. He participated in the
Russian-Swedish war for Finland, took part in the campaign against Polish
Confederation, fought in the Russian-Turkish war, in the main campaigns
against the Republican - and later Napoleon - France, including the Italian
campaign and battles at Austerlitz and Praslau. His service record was
adorned with numerous ranks and awards received for participation in battles:
major, colonel, major-general, orders of St. George and St. Anna, etc.
Apparently, general Iosif O'Rourke was a gifted cavalry commander. There was
no lack of brave and initiative cavalrymen among the contemporaries of prince
Bagration and ataman Platov. Nevertheless, the young general O'Rourke was
appointed to command the cavalry corps during the Russian-Turkish War and
later, in 1812 he was entrusted to command the vanguard of the Western Army.
He was the one to lead the cavalry in pursuit of the remains of "The
Great Army", from Biarezina to Kouna and Warsaw. Later there were more
campaigns and finally the marching of the Russian regiments into Paris. This
way the descendant of the former fugitive reached the place where his
great-grandfather was once seeking refuge, with the troops of the victorious
army. Perhaps, the Russian Irishman, being in the Tsar's suite of His Majesty
Alexander I at the congress of Vienna also met some British. In 1819,
however, in the peak of his military career, general O'Rourke retired to
settle in Navahradak region of Minsk province. He was quite a prominent
landowner, possessing around 20.000 acres of land, a small town of Usialub,
and the villages of Trascianka, Slochva, Kramusouka, Mezhniki and Henusy. The
revision inspection of 1858 informs us that he owned at that time 236 serfs.
In 1830 a new uprising started which spread along Minsk province. The
descendant of the keen Irish rebels organized and headed the irregular
reserve units which...."cleared the Navahradak region from rioters".
Emperor Nikolai I awarded the retired military man - an exceptional case! -
with a very high rank of the cavalry general. Iosif O'Rourke died in 1849 as a respectful and glorified
citizen. Perhaps, not in vain he was counting on Tsar's mercy when he
petitioned to His Majesty to allow him and all his family to retain the title
of Irish Earls. The response edict, signed by the Emperor of the Whole Russia
on November 24, 1848, reads as follows: "and so be itē. This way the officially Irish Earls appeared in Belarus.
They were Iosif Karnilevich, his sons, nephews and their children, 16 people
all together. Eight of them were military men: staff-captain of cavalry
Alexander-Patrick, lieutenants Patrick-Antony-Raphail and
Konstantin-Marcelin, major-general Voldemar-George-Reingold,
lieutenant-colonels Moritz-Dietrich and Cornelius-Iohann. The sons of Cornelius-Iohann ,
Eugene-Karl-Ludvig and Richard-Iohann-Willhelm, the Irish Earls O'Rourkes,
also were in service. Some sources
also tell us that Iosif Karnilevic had another son, Mikalai, for in 1889
among other landowners of the Minsk province "O'Rourkes, Ivan and Hanna,
of Mikalai, Earls", were mentioned. They were, perhaps, his children,
the owners of the Bardzac and Klukavicy estates in the Navahradak region. The wife of Michael-Lazar O'Rourke, Anela,
nee Bochvic (probably, a descendant of German-Baltic nobility), as well as
their two daughters, Amelia-izidora-Iosepha and Stefania-Elvira-Rosalia, also
had the title of Earless. According to the archive documents, in December 1896,
Minsk Nobles' Deputy Assemble received a petition from the landowners of
Navahradak region Iosif-Kanstantyn and Edward-Alexander-Uladzislau, sons of
Michael, Earls O'Rourkes. They were striving for the same thing as their
grandfather Iosif Karnilevich half a century ago, to be called the
"Irish Earls". Love for one's country worthy of respect! The
petition had all necessary documents. It was supported by the uncle of the
petitioners, Kanstantyn-Marcelin Iosifavich, because their father, Michail-Lazar
Iosifavich died of pneumonia in his estate Basin in Navahradak region, on May
2, 1897. The petition was complied on December 15, 1897. The last well-known offspring of the Irish Earls of
Navahradak was one of the brothers-petitioners, Edward-Alexander-Uladzislau
Michailavich, who was born in Basin, in 1876. Probably, this Belarusian
Irishman owed his catholic and Polish mentality to the Jesuit gymnasium,
which he finished in 1890. And this was the descendant of Iosif O'Rourke, who
not once fought with the Polish patriots. All in all, the grandson of the
Russian cavalry general was notable for his outstanding abilities, though not
in military service. Alexander O'Rourke received an excellent education:
after the Jesuit gymnasium he completed the one in Riga, where he studied
economics. After that he entered the university in Innsbruck, were he read
Foreign Languages and Theology. Since an early age he showed an inclination
for social activity and the gift of an organizer. In Riga he was the leader
of the Polish Students' corporation "Arkonia". After 1917 he was
the member of the Liquidation Committee for the Affairs of the Polish
Kingdom, and the member of the Polish Council of the Minsk lands. But church
activity occupied a primary position in his life. Earl O'Rourke made an
outstanding church career. He was bishop in Vilna, Riga, apostolic
administrator in Gdansk and the first bishop of Gdansk diocese which was
erected in 1922. The beginning of the war found him in their Usialub estate,
where his younger brother, Iosif-Kanstantyn Michailavich lived. Bishop
O'Rourke died in Rome on April 23 1943. In the 1970s his remains were brought
to Poland and buried in Oliwa, in the vault of the Gdansk Bishops. O'Rourkes, O'Rourkes... Kings, earls, rebels, generals,
bishops. We can have different attitudes towards each of them, but we should
not forget that they were children of their time. No doubt, all of them
belong to their native country - Ireland. But they also belong to Russia and
to Poland. And they also belong to their other native country - to our
Belarus! |