Lord Martin O’Reilly, Prince of the House
of Breifne: “ Where Democracy and Monarchy can
Truly Work Hand in Hand and Where the Common
Good is the Common Goal,
There is a Higher Probability of Success”
Lord Martin O’Reilly was born at the end of World War II. His father Hugh had left Ireland just prior to the outbreak of war, heading for New Zealand. His plans were thwarted by the outbreak of war and he met Martin’s mother Doris, and married her in 1940. The family lived in an oasis of Irish abroad. Hugh was from Cavan, that small area that has been the home of Breifne O’Reilly for millennia. Martin was educated in a number of Catholic schools and later by the Jesuits. He was educated in Eng-
land, Ireland and Spain and at a higher level this continued in Australia.
Now retired, Lord Martin lives with his wife Lady Ingrid on a property in rural New South Wales (Australia).
Having lived a very busy and intellectually stimulating life, Lord Martin found that retirement was leading to some hibernation of his brain. He began writing as an exercise in mental gymnastics. Initially, and with no plans to publish, he began writing about childhood memories, focusing mostly on the places that gave rise to the story. The places in the stories are all ficti-
tious, but have been created by combining those places from childhood and young adulthood.The characters are all totally fictitious, although some idiosyncrasies may reflect some friends and relatives of the author. There may even be a few traces of the author himself!
While Lord Martin has published in his professional life, the trilogy ‘The Umbria Collection’is his first attempt at fiction. He found he had too much to say for one novel and created a series of three. He is a senior member of the noble / royal family O’Reilly of Breifne (Breifne Ua Raighaillaigh) of the Royal Court of Breifne and is an approved member of several royal / noble courts around the world. The function of the Royal Court of Breifne, as with the novels, is to demonstrate that not only the ancient family has survived but that they have much to offer society. The ancient legal system (Brehon) that governed the Celtic world prior to Christianity provided a magnificent system of true democracy. While Lord Martin has no ambition of working to reinstate this ancient system he does believe that much can be learned from days past.
Interviewed By: Ghada Osta
Editor-in-Chief
Q: Are you a citizen of Ireland, England or
Australia?
Actually, Ghada, I am a citizen of all three. Ire-
land by blood.
I am a citizen of England because I was born
there and in honour of my mother and her
family, I also received much of my education
there.
I chose to migrate to Australia when I was in
my thirties. The reasons are complex and not
related to terrorism, but that is another story.
After five years I returned to Ireland for a visit
and on my return accepted Australian citizenship.
Q: How do you assess the current regimes in
the world?
What are your views about: Communism,
Democracy, Constitutional Monarchy, Socialism?
You are very good at your job, Ghada. You
gain much information from questions with very
few words! I feel very frustrated at the moment as I
look around the world, including here in
Australia. The notion of democracy is magnifi-
cent. Anyone with any knowledge of the Ancient
Brehon law that governed Ireland prior to St Pat-
rick knows that this is a wonderful example of what
can be achieved. The present system of democracy
where many politicians have great ideas of how to
improve what is happening with an eye on what
is equitable are constantly frustrated by the need
to please voters and to fit in with colleagues. We
have seen that here in Australia recently where the
elected Prime Minister was forced from office by
a loud voice that rejected the need to focus on the
dangers that face our planet from the miss-use it has
received from human kind. We see it in the United
States where attempts at providing a more equita-
ble health service is constantly thwarted by those
who can afford whatever they want and have no
intention of contributing to the distribution of that
wealth. Having said all that and in spite of there
being theatres of war all over the planet I do have
faith in the basic goodness of humanity.
The principles of communism and socialism are
wonderful – they express what equity, as opposed
to equality, really means. However, whenever there
is total power in the hands of one person, or even
a small group of people, that power is very soon
abused. We have seen this throughout the history
of the world and we still see it today. Democracy
is at the other end of that spectrum and on its own
it poses the threat I have just described. The Phi-
losopher from the middle ages, St. Thomas Aqui
nas, wrote: “virtus stat in media”, which loosely
translate as ‘the middle path is probably the better
option’. I firmly believe that where democracy and
monarchy can truly work hand in hand and where
the common good is the common goal there is a
higher probability of success. The presence of a
monarchy within a democracy also lends a certain
order of permanence that helps us over those times
of excessively stormy turbulence that is an inevi-
table part of the democratic process where opinions
differ.
Q: What is your participation on social level,
Human Rights, and other activities? What can you
offer the world today?
I am an avid supporter of equal rights for all,
especially the rights of women. I believe women
should enjoy equal rights with men, no more and no
less! Most importantly I support efforts to prevent
violence again others, especially women. I also
believe in the rights of all peoples for self-determi-
nation. I have spoken on these issues very often.
As a member of the golden age (I think of it as ‘the
ancients’) I am a member of the local university of
the third age where I sing in the choir where Lady
Ingrid is the accompanist.
Q; What is your assessment to the Arab Spring
revolutions?
Having identified my support for peoples’ rights for
self-determination I must also support the rise of
resistance against oppression. I support non-violent
methods, but appreciate that dictators will rarely, if
ever, give up their influence. This does not, how-
ever, allow the continuation of oppression. I believe
the road ahead is going to be difficult and there will
undoubtedly be some back sliding. People have
spoken, however and the trend will continue.
Q: Would you like to add anything to our readers?
The Umbria Collection: Volumes I to III:
The trilogy by Lord Martin, mentioned ear-
lier in this interview, consists of three volumes.
Volume I: The Lord, the Lady and the Duke is about
a young duke dispossessed by heavy death duties
following bad investments by his father and grand-
father, struggles to regain his inheritance and in
the process raises the image of the monarchy and
improves the lot of ordinary people.
Volume I is published by Publish America.
Volume II: Resurrection of Southumbria describes
the re-establishment of the Duke in his family
home. This volume continues some of the contro-
versies of volume I, culminating in a royal wedding
and coronation.
Volume II is published by Strategic Publishing.
Volumes I and II are available from the publishers
and from such on-line bookshops as Amazon and
Barnes and Noble. The titles are also carried by a
number of traditional bookshops in different coun-
tries and by contacting the author.
Volume III: The New Restoration follows the estab-
lishment of a new King and Queen, sees new inter-
national connections with more royal involvement
than has been seen for a long time. Cooperation
within parliament and between parliament and the
crown reaches new heights of popularity with the
people.
Volume III is still in production.
This trilogy, while a work of fiction reflects the
principles discussed throughout the interview.
These novels demonstrate that by using a non-self-
ish approach and working for the common good
what seems impossible can indeed happen.
Lord Martin O’Reilly, Prince of the House of
Breifne.
www.dmhype.com
You can find the original article from this is the link to the latest newspaper of Ghada Osta, page 6: http://www.an-nournews.com/
Article was published early in June 2012 issue 126, before launch of dmhype.com
