Sir Bryan Thomas Mahon, (2 April 1862 – 29 September 1930) was an Irish general of the British Army, a senator of the short-lived Senate of Southern Ireland and a member for eight years of the Irish Free State Senate until his death.
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Early life and military career
Bryan Thomas Mahon was born at Belleville, County Galway, on 2 April 1862. After having served in the Galway Militia, into which he had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1879, he transferred to the 21st Hussars in January 1883, before finally transferring to the 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars in February 1883. He was promoted to captain in April 1888.
After being seconded for service with the Egyptian Army in January 1893, he served in Sudan in the Dongola Expedition in 1896 as a staff officer to Major General Sir Herbert Kitchener, and was present at the Battle of Ferkeh and the operations at Hafir. He was promoted to major in October 1897.
In 1899, he took part in the final defeat of the Khalifa as Assistant Adjutant general in charge of Intelligence, and was mentioned in despatches (dated 25 November 1899) by Colonel Wingate with the following words:
I cannot speak in sufficiently strong terms of the excellence of the services performed by this officer. I invariably placed him in general command of all the mounted troops; his personal disregard for danger, intrepid scouting, and careful handling of men, all fit him for high command; his bold and successful seizure of the position in front of Fedil's camp, and his conduct of the fight before I came up, show him to possessed of exceptional qualities as a commander.