Brian O’Connell is a former chairman of Shannon Heritage, the State company which operates a network of cultural tourism venues, such as Bunratty Castle, in Counties Limerick and Clare. In that role, and as a member of the Hunt Museums Trust, he had the opportunity to observe the economic and cultural legacy that John Hunt left to the region. He has spent years travelling world-wide researching the life of Hunt and his impact internationally on the art world.

He initiated the publication in 2004 of an oral archive on regional development pioneer, Brendan O’Regan. He is the co-author of  ‘In Bello Fortis’, a biography of  Tipperary man General Sir William Parker Carrol, published in Spanish by Fundacion Gustavo Bueno, Oviedo, May 2009.