Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell

Gaelic Irish nobleman, titular Lord of Tír Conaill

Hugh Albert O’Donnell, at 10 years of age as a page at the court of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria.

Hugh Albert O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (Irish: Aodh Ailbhe mac Rudhraighe Uí Dhomhnaill; October 1606 – August/September 1642[1]) was titular King of Tír Conaill, and son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell whose title was however attainted in 1614.[a] In adult life, he used the style Earl of Tyrconnell, Baron of Donegal and Lifford, Lord of Sligo and Lower Connaught, and Knight Commander of the Order of Alcántara.[2]

Biography

O'Donnell was the son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell and his wife Bridget, the daughter of Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare.[3][b]

O'Donnell was three weeks shy of his first birthday when he sailed from Lough Swilly during the Flight of the Earls. He accompanied his father to Rome, where his father and uncle Cathbarr O'Donnell died of fevers. His aunt Rosa, the wife of Cathbarr, met and married Owen Roe O'Neill, and it is probable that O'Donnell was in her care, because both he and his cousin, also named Hugh O'Donnell, received a modest pension from Archduke Albert, governor of the Low Countries, from 1615,[c] and were raised in Leuven where they were educated by Franciscan colleagues of Archbishop Conry.[4][5] He was a page to the Infanta Isabella, daughter of King Philip III of Spain.[4][6] In time he joined the service of King Philip, and was commissioned colonel of a tercio in 1632.[5] He was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire.[citation needed]

O'Donnell left no immediate heirs, although the Earldom, were it not attainted in 1614, would have passed by remainder to his uncle Cathbarr O'Donnell, whose line was extinct by then, and thence, to his 1st cousin Donal Oge O'Donnell, according to the terms of the letters patent.[7]

As Hugh had never recognised James VI and I as his monarch, he had no hope of being recognised as the 2nd Earl, under the principle of the "Fount of honour". He had an undoubted claim to the title, but took no steps in 1614 to defend it when it was debated in the Irish House of Lords. He would at least have had to submit to King James to take his place in the House of Lords, and until then he did so the title was "in abeyance".

Family

O'Donnell married Anna-Margaret, daughter of Maximilien II de Hénin, 5th Count of Bossu, Knight of the Golden Fleece (died 8 December 1625) and Alexandrine Franeoise de Gavre; and a near kinswoman of the last eccentric Charles, Duke of Guise.[4][8][d]


  • v
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O'Donnell family tree

Issue of Hugh McManus O'Donnell (Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill; c. 1520 - 1600)[i]

First marriage: (Unknown woman)

  • Duncan "Scaite" O'Donnell (Donnchadh Ó Domhnaill)[ii]
  • Rory O'Donnell (Ruaidhri Ó Domhnaill)
    • Died 1575

Second marriage, c. 1569: Fiona MacDonald (Fionnghuala Nic Dhomhnaill, also known as Iníon Dubh; fl. 1567–1611), daughter of James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg and Agnes Campbell.[xxiii][viii]

  • Manus O'Donnell (Maghnus Ó Domhnaill)
  • Margaret O'Donnell (Mairghead Ní Domhnaill)
    • fl. 1608, possibly died 1662
  • Gráinne O'Donnell (Gráinne Ní Domhnaill)[liii]

Notes

  1. ^ There is debate on the identity of her mother. Concannon believes Siobhán was born c. 1569, and that her mother was Iníon Dubh,[vi] who married Sir Hugh around that time. However, Siobhán married Hugh O'Neill in 1574, making that date of birth unlikely. Casway and Walsh believe Siobhán's mother was Sir Hugh's first wife.[vii][viii]
  2. ^ In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill references Siobhán's recent death.[viii]
  3. ^ Her death date has alternately been given as 1639, 26 April 1640, or sometime after 31 March 1642.[viii]
  4. ^ Walsh believes her birth date was c. 1588.[viii]
  5. ^ Sources disagree on Henry's date of death: 1610,[vii] c. 1620,[xxii] or c. 1626.[xi] It is clear that he died sometime before the publication of Philip O'Sullevan's Historia Catholica in 1621.[viii]
  6. ^ Some modern news sources have given his birthdate as 30 October 1572.

References

  1. ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'Donnell (Ó Domhnaill), Sir Aodh mac Maghnusa". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006332.v1.
  2. ^ The historicity of this person is disputed; Ó Domhnaill, Niall; Na Glúnta Rosannacha (1952), page 87
  3. ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "1590: ...the son of O'Donnell himself, who, being unable to display prowess or defend himself, was slain at Doire-leathan, on one side of the harbour of Telinn, on the 14th of September."
  4. ^ Morgan, Hiram (1993). Tyrone's Rebellion : the outbreak of the Nine Years War in Tudor Ireland. Internet Archive. [London] : Royal Historical Society ; Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, NY, USA : Boydell Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-86193-224-5.
  5. ^ Hegarty, Roddy. Imeacht Na nIarlí: The Flight of the Earls: 1607 - 2007 (PDF). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Concannon, p. 218-219 "Siobhan was probably the eldest of the family, and must have been born not later than 1569." "We know little of Siobhan, who can hardly have been more than one-and- twenty, when she died in 1590."
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Casway 2016
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Walsh, Paul (1930). Walsh, Paul (ed.). THE WILL AND FAMILY OF HUGH O NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE [WITH AN APPENDIX OF GENEALOGIES] (PDF). Dublin: Sign of the Three Candles.
  9. ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, p. 511-512
  10. ^ O'Byrne, Emmett; Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy (October 2009). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006953.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e Lee 1895, p. 196
  12. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, p. 839
  13. ^ Morgan, Hiram (September 2014). "O'Neill, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006962.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  14. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
  15. ^ a b Hill 1873. "Sir Randal Macdonnell was married about the year 1604 to Ellis or Alice O'Neill, the third daughter of Hugh earl of Tyrone. This lady, who was born in 1583, was in her twenty-first year at the time of her marriage, and was younger than either of her sisters, lady Macmahon or Lady Maginnis. She was older than her brother Hugh, the baron of Dungannon."
  16. ^ Cokayne 1910. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
  17. ^ Ohlmeyer, Jane H (2001) [1993]. Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms: The Career of Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim. Dublin: Four Courts Press. p. 359. ISBN 978-0521419789.
  18. ^ Cokayne 1910. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
  19. ^ Ohlmeyer, Jane H (2001) [1993]. Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms: The Career of Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim. Dublin: Four Courts Press. p. 359. ISBN 978-0521419789.
  20. ^ Concannon, p. 218 "The inscription on the tomb in San Pietro in Montorio shows that her eldest child, Hugh, was born in 1585."
  21. ^ Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459: "..he died unmarried on the 23rd of September, 1609, aged twenty-four... and was buried in the church of St. Peter's in Montorio..."
  22. ^ a b Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459
  23. ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (2009). "MacDonnell (Nic Dhomhnaill), Fiona (Fionnghuala) ('Iníon Dubh')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006337.v1.
  24. ^ a b c Morgan, Hiram (October 2009). "O'Donnell, 'Red' Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006343.v1.
  25. ^ a b Concannon, p. 218
  26. ^ Donegal County Archives. The Flight of the Earls: Document Study Pack.
  27. ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "1602:...O'Donnell should take the disease of his death and the sickness of his dissolution; and, after lying seventeen days on the bed, he died, on the 10th of September, in the house which the King of Spain himself had at that town (Simancas)...""
  28. ^ a b c Bagwell 1895
  29. ^ a b c O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'Donnell (Ó Domhnall), Ruaidhrí". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006701.v1. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  30. ^ a b c Webb, Alfred (1878). "Rury O'Donnell". A Compendium of Irish Biography.
  31. ^ a b Silke 2006 "Hugh Albert O'Donnell, born [to Rory and Bridget] about October 1606, was the only son of this marriage, Mary Stuart O'Donnell being born about a year later."
  32. ^ Bagwell 1895 "About ninety persons sailed with the earls, among whom were Tyrconnel's son Hugh, aged eleven months..."
  33. ^ Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013), Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lulu.com, p. 136, ISBN 978-1-304-58135-8 "Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1606-1642) Prince and Lord of Tryconnell".
  34. ^ "O'Donnell, Lady Mary Stuart (b. 1607?, d. in or after 1639), noblewoman". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20557. Retrieved 24 April 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  35. ^ Casway 2009. Casway gives her birthdate as c. 1575
  36. ^ Concannon, p. 218 "O'Clery tells us that Nuala was already married to Niall Garbh in 1592. This will place her birth-year with some degree of probability about 1577 — not later."
  37. ^ Casway, Jerrold (July 2007). "Women in Flight". History Ireland. 15 (4). Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  38. ^ a b c Casway 2009
  39. ^ O'Sullivan Beare 2008. Philip O'Sullivan Beare notes that Manus's death (October 1600) occurred shortly after Nuala and Niall separated.
  40. ^ a b Dunlop, Robert. "O'Donnell, Niall Garv". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. 41.
  41. ^ Hill, George. Historical account of the Macdonnells of Antrim. p. 221. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  42. ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "1608: Niall Garv O'Donnell, with his brothers Hugh Boy and Donnell, and his son, Naghtan, were taken prisoners about the festival of St. John in this year."
  43. ^ McGurk, John (August 2007). "The Flight of the Earls: escape or strategic regrouping?". History Ireland. 15 (4).
  44. ^ According to the English officials who wrote the Calendar of State Papers, Hugh Roe personally killed Niall Garve's four-year-old son (also his own nephew)
  45. ^ "O'Donnell". 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 20. 1911.
  46. ^ Concannon, p. 218 "Manus may have been born about 1579 or 1580. He was old enough to play a man's part in the battle in which he met his death at the hands of Niall Garbh (A.D. 1600)" Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh names the sons in the order of their birth: Hugh Roe, Ruairi, Manus and Cathbar.
  47. ^ Concannon, p. 232
  48. ^ a b c Clavin, Terry (October 2009). "O'Cahan, Sir Donnell Ballach". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006536.v1. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  49. ^ Pollard, Albert Frederick. "O'Cahan, Donnell Ballagh". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. 41.
  50. ^ a b Gallogy, Dan (1963). "Brian Oge O'Rourke and the Nine Years War". Breifne Journal. 2: 194–195.
  51. ^ a b c d e Darren, McGettigan (October 2009). "O'Donnell, Caffar". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.002288.v1.
  52. ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "[Flight of the Earls, September] 1607: ...Rose, the daughter of O'Doherty, and wife of Caffar, with her son, Hugh, aged two years and three months..."
  53. ^ O'Donnell, Eunan; Reflection on the Flight of the Earls; Donegal Annual, Bliainiris Dhún na nGall, Journal of the County Donegal Historical Society, No. 58 (2006); pp. 31-44. Gráinne is known only as a sister of the Earl (i.e., Rory), with no additional information.

Bibliography

  • Bagwell, Richard (1895). "O'Donnell, Rory" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. pp. 444–447.
  • Casway, Jerrold (2009). "O'Donnell, Nuala". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006696.v1. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  • Casway, Jerrold (2016). "Catherine Magennis and the Wives of Hugh O'Neill". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 26 (1): 69–79. JSTOR 48568219.
  • Cokayne, George Edward (1910). The Hon. Vicary Gibbs (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom : extant, extinct, or dormant. The St. Catherine Press Ltd. p. 174.
  • Concannon, Helena (1920). "'The Woman of the Piercing Wail' (The Lady Nuala O'Donnell)". The Irish ecclesiastical record. 16. Dublin: John F. Fowler.
  • Dunlop, Robert (1895). "O'Neill, Hugh, third Baron of Dungannon and second Earl of Tyrone 1540?–1616". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. XLII. New York: MacMillan and Co. pp. 188–196. OCLC 8544105.
  • Hill, George (1873). An historical account of the Macdonnells of Antrim: including notices of some other septs Irish and Scotch. Belfast: Archer & Sons. p. 222.
  • Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, Brian, eds. (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: in association with the British Academy: from the earliest times to the year 2000. Vol. 41. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1.
  • O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (2008). Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth. Translated by Byrne, Matthew J. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts.
  • Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1867). "PROCEEDINGS AND PAPERS". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 5: 459.
  • Silke, John J. (May 2006). "O'Donnell, Rury , styled first earl of Tyrconnell (1574/5–1608)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20559. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)


Notes

  1. ^ he was also equally styled Hugh-Albert or Albert-Hugh O'Donnell (Burke 1866, p. 410).
  2. ^ Bridget was left behind in the haste of Tyrconnel's flight, and lived to marry Nicholas Barnewell, Lord Kingsland (Macneill 1911, p. 8).
  3. ^ The "Conde de Tyrconnell" and Don Hugo O'Donnell were in the receipt of a modest pension from Archduke Albert. As both boys were called Hugh, Conde de Tyrconnell was given the additional name of Albert, after Archduke Albert, his protector, and who was in all likelihood his godfather in confirmation, which is the reason why Tyrconnell was known as Hugh-Albert or Albert-Hugh (Burke 1866, p. 410).
  4. ^ Maximilian de Hennin, Baron of Liederkerke, Viscount of Brussels, Count of Bossut, etc., Knight of the Golden Fleece (Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 1866, p. 461).
  1. ^ Ulwencreutz 2013, p. 136.
  2. ^ *O’Donnell, Francis Martin (2018), The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, Washington, D.C.: Academica Press LLC (page 146), ISBN 978-1-680534740
  3. ^ Macneill 1911, p. 8.
  4. ^ a b c Burke 1866, p. 410.
  5. ^ a b Campbell 2015, p. 103.
  6. ^ RIA 1830, p. 134.
  7. ^ The text of the Letters Patent is referenced in G.O. Ms. 169 (National Library of Ireland) and in several slight variations as follows: (a) in pages 2388-2389 of the Appendix in Volume VI of the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (De Burca’s 1990 re-print of the 1856 edition by John O’Donovan); (b) in page 39 of the Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, by Rev. C.P. Meehan (1870); (c) in a partial translation of the Latin original of the Letters Patent held by Count O’Donnell von Tyrconnell in Austria, and recounted in O’Domhnaill Abu (the O’Donnell Clan Newsletter no. 12 of Winter 1989). Versions (a) and (b) referenced above make explicit reference to the remainder to Donal Oge O’Donnell
  8. ^ Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 1866, p. 461.

References

  • Burke, Sir Bernard (1866), A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, Harrison, p. 410
  • Campbell, Ian (2015), Renaissance Humanism and Ethnicity Before Race: The Irish and the English in the seventeenth century, Manchester University Press, p. 103, ISBN 978-1-5261-0264-5
  • Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society (11 April 1866), "Proceedings and Papers", The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, 5: 464
  • Macneill, Ronald John (1911), "O'Donnell" , in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 20 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 6–8
  • O’Donnell, Francis Martin (2018), The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, Washington, D.C.: Academica Press LLC, ISBN 978-1-680534740
  • RIA (1830), "Section II Government, Constitution, Legislation etc.", The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Academy, p. 314
  • Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013), Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lulu.com, p. 136, ISBN 978-1-304-58135-8 "Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1606-1642) Prince and Lord of Tryconnell.

Further reading

  • Bagwell, Richard (1895). "O'Donnell, Rory" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 446. — in passing
  • "O'Donnell coat of arms and Family History", www.araltas.com - The Internet Heraldry Store, retrieved 15 January 2017
  • Jennings, Brendan (1941), "The career of Hugh, son of Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, in the Low Countries, 1607–42", Studies, xxx: 219–234
  • O'Muraile, Nollaig, ed. (2003), Irish Leaders and Learning, Dublin: Paul Walsh, Four Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-543-6
  • Silke, John J. (May 2006) [2004]. "Hugh Albert O'Donnell, styled second earl of Tyrconnell (1606–1642)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74430. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Tir Conaill
1608–1642 		Vacant
Preceded by Earl of Tyrconnell
1608–1642 		Vacant