was a direct descendant of Sir Eochaidh, and through him the lords of Orior. The family moved down east from south Armagh's hill communities to the west. Hugh's father was Hugh Ruadh O’Hanlon of Killeavy and his uncle was the "Bard of Armagh", Patrick Donnelly, Bishop of Dromore (1679–1716). This branch of the family took part in the Volunteer Movement. Hugh of Newry served on Dublin's Catholic Committee. He is also thought to have founded, in part, the Bank of Newry, dying in 1808. The O’Hanlon vault in Newry's Saint Mary's Cemetery bears the O’Hanlon coat-of-arms. Hugh Padraig O’Hanlon, Jr., eldest son of Hugh of Newry, was admitted to the bar after the ban against Roman Catholics was lifted, and was known locally as "Counselor O’Hanlon". The Counselor was a member of the Volunteer Movement, but was radicalized and moved briefly out of the colonial circle of his father, becoming an Irish nationalist of United Ireland. Moving the Newry branch into the nationalist, republican camp, Hugh, Jr. was friend and acquaintance to Theobald Wolfe Tone, mentioned in the Tone's diaries. O’Hanlon became publican of the Crown Inn at 106–108 Hill Street, Newry, where the local chapter of the United Irishmen was formed and met. Though many United men were reprised against following the defeats at the Battle of Ballynahinch and the Battle of Vinegar Hill, Hugh and his brother escaped censure. In 1812, Hugh, Jr. supported the failed campaign of John Philpot Curran, Master of the Rolls, as Member of Parliament (Westminster) for Newry. At a dinner in Curran's honour, held at the Whitecross Hotel in Margaret Street, Hugh was lauded for efforts made on behalf of the Patriot-lawyer's election. During Daniel O’Connell's agitation for Catholic Emancipation through repeal of the remaining apartheid laws, Hugh, Jr. campaign furiously for religious tolerance and equal protection of the laws. In 1826, however, he departed for colonial India. He became a leading barrister. In 1846, he raised funds in Calcutta for Famine relief. Hugh O’Hanlon III, Counselor O’Hanlon's eldest son, returned from colonial service in India to become a London barrister in the Irish Colonial Office at Westminster. There, Hugh III founded Ireland's system of local government through a pilot program for Newry in the form of a Westminster bill, for "Better Lighting, Watching, Cleansing and Paving". The legislative system proved so successful that it was applied nationally. Hugh III was then applied