O’Brien, William Smith (1803-1864), represented the Irish town of Ennis and, later, County Limerick in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons. In 1848, during the Great Irish Famine, he organized an unsuccessful rebellion against the British government, see Great Irish Famine . He was sentenced to exile and sent to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania, Australia). From Maria Island, O’Brien made an unsuccessful attempt to escape on an American whaler. Later, he was transferred to Port Arthur and was allowed his own cottage. In 1854, he was granted a conditional pardon and returned to Ireland. O’Brien was born on Oct. 17, 1803, in County Clare, Ireland. He died on June 16, 1864, in Bangor, Wales.
