Owen Wynn (or Wynne) was the son of Owen Wynn of Lurganboy, Co Leitrim, who came from Wales and settled in Ireland. His mother was Catherine Hamilton, daughter of 2nd Baron Strabane and Earl of Abercorn. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, gaining a BA in 1686.
He was an officer in the army of King James II but, as a Protestant was happy to serve under King William III after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was in the force under the notorious Major-General Percy Kirke, fighting at Londonderry and Enniskillen, and throughout William’s Irish War against the Jacobites. He was an officer in his brother’s regiment of dragoons which later became the 5th Lancers, and went with them to Flanders from 1694 to 1697, during which campaign he was captured by the French but later exchanged.
Whilst fighting in Marlborough’s campaigns he was promoted to Colonel, and in 1715 appointed to raise Wynn’s Dragoons (later 9th Lancers). This lasted 4 years before moving to the 5th Horse and then to the Royal Dragoons of Ireland (later 5th Lancers). As a lieutenant general he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Forces on the Irish Establishment.
Owen Wynn was MP for Carrick from 1692 to 1695, and for Ballyshannon from 1715 to 1727. From 1727 to 1737 he was MP for Sligo. He was a Privy Councillor in 1726, and in 1736 appointed Governor of Londonderry and Culmore Fort. He built an impressive house in Sligo called Hazelwood and became a prominent figure in the County, appointed High Sheriff in 1735. He was married to the daughter of Robert Miller of Milford, Co Mayo, but there were no children. The portrait of Owen Wynn is taken from A Short History of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancer 1715 - 1949.
1665 Born in Ireland
1689 Captain in the Earl of Roscommon’s Regiment of Foot
1694 Major in James Wynn’s Dragoons (later 5th Lancers)
1695 Lieutenant-Colonel in James Wynn's Dragoons
1703 Colonel
1705 Raised the 23rd Regiment of Foot
1706 Brigadier-General
1709 Major-General
1715 Raised Wynn’s Dragoons (9th Lancers) 22 July
1719 Colonel of 5th Horse (4th DG) 6 July
1726 Lieutenant General
1728 Commander-in-Chief in Ireland
1732 Colonel of The Royal Dragoons of Ireland (later 5th Lancers) 6 Aug
1735 Governor of Londonderry
1737 Died on 28 February
