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.