Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill (31 December 1839-19 November 1928), known as Edward Chichester until 1855, was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician.

O'Neill was the eldest son of William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill

William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill

Reverend William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill , born William Chichester, he changed his surname to O'Neill in 1855; O'Neill was an Anglo-Irish hereditary peer, clergyman and musical composer.-Background and education:...

, and his first wife Henrietta (née Torrens). He was elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for County Antrim in 1863, a seat he held until 1880. In 1883 he succeeded his father in the barony and entered the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

Lord O'Neill married Lady Louisa Katherine Emma, daughter of Thomas Barnes Cochrane, 11th Earl of Dundonald

Thomas Barnes Cochrane, 11th Earl of Dundonald

Thomas Barnes Cochrane, 11th Earl of Dundonald was a Scottish nobleman. He was son of the radical politician and sailor Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. Cochrane joined the British Army and eventually gained the rank of Captain. On 31 October 1860, he succeeded his father as the 11th Earl...

, in 1873. Their third son Hugh

Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan

Robert William Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan PC , known as Sir Hugh O'Neill, Bt, from 1929 to 1953, was an Ulster Unionist member of both the UK Parliament and the Parliament of Northern Ireland....

 became a prominent politician and was created Baron Rathcavan

Baron Rathcavan

Baron Rathcavan, of The Braid in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1953 for the Unionist politician Sir Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Cleggan in the County of Antrim, in 1929...

 in 1953. Lord O'Neill died in November 1928, aged 88, and was succeeded in the barony by his grandson Shane, the son of his second but eldest surviving son Captain the Hon. Arthur O'Neill, who had been killed in the First World War. Arthur's younger son and another of Lord O'Neill's grandsons was Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...

. Lady O'Neill died in 1942.