ARCO regrets to inform its members of the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas Stephen (Nicky) O’Connor, late of Summerseat Close, Clonee, County Meath. Deeply regretted and sadly missed by his brother Joseph, extended family, Defence Forces comrades, and friends.
May He Rest in Peace
Nicky O’Connor was born in Wicklow on 26th December 1945 and enlisted in Óglaigh na hÉireann as a member of 39 Cadet Class on 19th October 1964. Commissioned into the Artillery Corps on 26th September 1966 he was posted to 1 Field Artillery Regiment in Ballincollig, Cork. In 1973 he was posted to the Artillery School where he served in a number of instructional appointments. He was a Staff Officer with the Directorate of Artillery before appointment as a Battery Commander with 2 Field Artillery Regiment in McKee Barracks, Dublin in 1982. In 1986 he was an Aide to An tUachtarán, Dr Patrick Hillery, in the rank of Commandant and returned to 2 Field Artillery Regiment in 1989 as Second-in-Command. Nicky served with both 3 and 6 Field Artillery Regiments (An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil). He was Officer Commanding 7 Field Artillery Regiment (An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil) before promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1995 when he was appointed Officer Commanding 2 Field Artillery Regiment. Nicky served in Operations Section, Chief of Staff’s Branch, before his final appointment as Officer Commanding, Depot Artillery and retired from the Defence Forces on 1st January 1998. He was an active member of the Artillery Club.
Nicky had extensive overseas service. He served with UNFICYP in Cyprus in 1968 with the Heavy Mortar Troop, 10 Infantry Group. He was a Military Observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East during 1974/1976. He served three tours of duty with UNIFIL in Lebanon. Nicky was Operations Officer with both 54 Infantry Battalion in 1983/1984 and with 65 Infantry Battalion in 1989. He returned to Lebanon as Second-in-Command, 70 Infantry Battalion in 1991/1992. 1994/1995 saw Nicky serving with the United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission.
A celebration of Nicky’s life will take place at 1330 on Saturday, 16th May 2026, at Newlands Cross Cemetery & Crematorium, Dublin 24 (D24 K1CY).
Members may wish to leave personal messages in the ‘Condolences’ section of Nicky’s death notice when this has been published on www.rip.ie
