Padraig (‘Paddy’) O’Connor was a veteran of the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. He served under Michael Collins and held the rank of lieutenant in the 4th Dublin Brigade. In 1923 he was promoted to colonel in the National Army (he was one of the officers who took over Beggars Bush Barracks from the British) and was appointed director of training in May 1923. He instigated the formation of a completely Irish-speaking battalion in the Irish Army in 1924. In 1928 he became governor of Limerick Prison. He returned to army service during the Emergency. He died suddenly in 1953, aged 52.
1671 Irishman Col. Thomas Blood stole the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London. Having switched sides during the English Civil War, during which he gained a reputation for intrigue and espionage, Blood lost most of his lands with the Restoration and thereafter conducted a terror campaign against the Stuart establishment. None of his operations were remotely successful. A conspiracy to take Dublin Castle and stage a coup d’état was easily foiled, forcing him to flee to the Continent with a bounty of £1,000 on his head. A year later he reappeared in a kidnap attempt on the duke of Ormond in London, which was also unsuccessful, as was an attempt to assassinate the king as he was taking a dip in the Thames. The theft of the royal regalia was similarly botched. Pursued by the guards, with the crown, globe and sceptre stuffed under their clothing, he and his accomplices were promptly arrested. Yet in terms of outcome the botched robbery was his one big success. Refusing to speak to anyone except the king himself, he admitted to all of his conspiracies and warned the king that he had many friends who would ‘expose his majesty … to the daily fear and expectation of a massacre’. On the other hand, were he free to use his experience in the spying profession as a secret agent for the royal administration, he could prevent such attacks. And his arrogance prevailed. Charles was won over and accepted his offer. Blood lived in comfort on a generous royal allowance for another decade. Whether his services were of any use is not known.