O'Brien, Laurence (1842–1923), Fenian, was born in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, on 17 April 1842, but his family moved to the United States when he was a boy. On the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 he enlisted in the Union army, and shortly afterwards was recruited into the Fenian Brotherhood. In October 1865 he left for Ireland as a representative of the brotherhood and delivered funds to the IRB. He was appointed as a ‘captain’ in the IRB and escaped arrest during 1866, but after the abortive 1867 rising he was arrested and interned in Clonmel jail. A short time later he broke out of prison after a friend smuggled a file into his cell. On returning to the United States O'Brien settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he became a prosperous builder and helped to establish a branch of Clan na Gael. In 1875 he assisted James Reynolds (1831–97) and John Devoy (qv) to organise the rescue of six IRB convicts from Freemantle prison in Western Australia. He remained a respected member of Clan na Gael and a friend of Devoy for many years, but had little influence in the organisation outside the branches in the state of Connecticut. O'Brien died 1 January 1923 at his home, 11 Bishop Street, New Haven.
Sources
John Savage, Fenian heroes and martyrs (1868), 445; Gaelic American, 13 Jan. 1923; John Devoy, Recollections of an Irish rebel (1929), 221–2; William D'Arcy, The Fenian Brotherhood in the United States (1947), 77; William O'Brien and Desmond Ryan (ed.), Devoy's post bag, i (1948), 96, 203–4