Captain O'Shea filed for divorce in 1889; his reasons are a matter for speculation. He may have had political motives. Alternatively, it was claimed that he had been hoping for an inheritance from Katharine's rich aunt whom he had expected to die earlier, but when she died in 1889 her money was left in trust to cousins. After the divorce the court awarded custody of Katharine O'Shea and C.S. Parnell's two surviving daughters to her ex-husband.
