Patrick, Baron Connolly-Carew

Patrick Thomas Conolly-Carew was an Irish equestrian and hereditary peer who served as the 7th Baron Carew during the 1990s. Born in London in 1938 Conolly-Carew grew up in Kildare, but studied at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. With the Army he served in Cyprus and Germany before he joined the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. He returned home to Ireland where he began participating in competitive eventing, including the Badminton Horse Trials, and won a team silver at the 1962 European Eventing Championships. A decade later he competed at the 1972 München Olympics, finishing 28th in the individual competition and ninth in the team event. In 1976 Conolly-Carew was the chef d’equipe for the Irish eventing team at the Montréal Olympics, before serving as the chair of the jury at the 1992 and 1996 Games. From 1979 to 1985 he also served as the President of Horse Sport Ireland.

Following the death of his father in 1994 Conolly-Carew sat in the House of Lords until his seat was abolished in 1999. Horses were a huge part of his family’s life, which saw his sister Diana and his daughter Virginia also compete for Ireland in equestrian at the Olympics.