Hugh Gough was born on 3rd November 1799 at Woodstown in County Limerick, and was a descendent of a former bishop of the county.

He saw service in Africa, the West Indies, the Iberian Peninsula, Ireland, India, and China.

He rose rapidly through the ranks and eventually attained the level of Field Marshal in 1862. He died in 1869.

He became a symbol of British oppression for the IRA who blew up his statue in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Wikipedia tells us they did it once in 1957. My own, probably defective, memory is that his statue was the object of a number of attacks around that time.

In any event, the fact that his name could be rhymed with "off" ensured him of a permanent, if not very elegant, place in the Dublin oral tradition. Which is probably just as well, as his statue is no more. You can get loads of information on him and on the many other statues in Dublin here.

Addendum: a friend has told me the following -

I understand that the loyal heroes who blew up the statue in the 1960s were under the impression it was that of Gough of the Curragh Mutiny and WWI, who was fired by Haig for his stupid front attacks, not realising it was his granduncle who butchered the Indians