Hugh McShane O'Neill
Encyclopedia
Hugh "McSeáin" O'Neill genealogies list Hugh as the son of Con MacShane O'Neill
, 3rd son of Shane O'Neill and as the 10th son of Shane O'Neill
. In both cases he was a grandson of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone
and Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and of the primary line of the O'Neill of Tyrone clan
. Shane was the Prince of Ulster and Chief of all the O'Neill septs until his death in 1567. Hugh gained his patrimony, like his father, from the O'Neill sept clan he'd been fostered by; the McShanes of Killetragh and the Glenconkeyn forest. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills"
. Hugh was an active rebel and commander in the 1580s through 1615. His first item of historical note was a raid his brothers conducted on Maguire of Fermanagh
and his lands in early 1573. They were stated to have done great damage to the lands of Maguire. The genealogy that states Hugh was the son of Shane "The Proud" O'Neill is based on his moniker and the fact that he is often in the company of other known sons of Shane O'Neill, collectively known across Ireland in the late 16th century as "The Mac Shanes". According to Scottish sources, he and his brothers Henry MacShane O'Neill
and Art "MacShane" invaded Ireland with 3000 Scots from his cousin Lachlan MacLean in 1587
. The link between the MacLeans
and the MacShanes was close in that their mother was the daughter of Hector Mor, Chief of the MacLeans, and he and two other brothers had been secured with the MacLeans after the murder of their father, Shane in 1567. See O'Neill dynasty
.
When his cousin Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone
went into rebellion in 1593 against Queen Elizabeth
, Hugh and some of the McShane
s put aside internal family fighting and joined their cousin the Earl. Some did not, and were eventually imprisoned by the Earl. During this war Hugh commanded a force of "200 foot and 50 Horsemen" raised out of the McShane Clan from forests of Killetragh and Glenconkeyn, then the most inhospitable and desolate forests in all of Ireland. Carew is guoted as stating that Hugh was able to field this force in 24 hours against the English. The State Papers of Ireland, in the various assessments of the strength of the rebellious Earl 1586 to 1602, state that this territory and the "woodkern race of outlaws" who lived there (the clan McShane) is considered primary to O'Neill, as it was his most secure refuge for cattle, goods, and people, and away from the military might of the English. Further, it was the Earl's secure, geographical "connection to the Clanaboy O'Neill". However, the Lord Lieutenant also lamented in 1599 that they (the English) should have "given Glenconkeyn to the sons of Shane, instead of the Earl". It was with Hugh and his McShanes that the Earl spent the final months of his rebellion in the winter of 1602-03. The Earl lived with the McShane-O'Neills after the Battle of Kinsale and the fall of Dungannon to Lord Mountjoy
on the slopes of Sleive Gallion. Finally in March of 1603, the Earl made peace.
for conspiring against him. In 1593 the Earl had his cousin Phelim McTurlough, Lord of Loughinshollin and chief of a sept within the Clanaboy O'Neill, murdered on Toome on the Bann River, and instilled himself as the Lord of Loughinshollin.
Hugh and his McShanes were able to weather the rise of the Earl and had split loyalties to the Earl when fighting the English. However, with the loss of the 9 Years War in 1603, Hugh McShane was able to edge out the Earl and became the new Lord of Killtragh and controlling most of the Lordship of Loughinshollin. He maintained independence from 1600 to 1606, and then replaced the Earl as the sole lord in the years following the Earl fleeing Ireland in 1607. However, with the Flight of the Earls
and the power vacuum that created, Hugh McShane and the other smaller lords had to deal with the sudden presence of the English military in Ulster. For a while, Hugh benefited from this independence. Sir Arthur Chichester put out a warrant for wanted rebels and in 1608 Hugh McShane, his brother Phelim, and Hugh's wild McShanes captured Shane Carragh O'Cahan in Glenconkeyn forest. They turned him over to Chichester for a pardon and remit of some leases for two years. In 1610 Hugh McShane was on the jury that divided the lands out of the forfeited estate of his cousin the Earl of Tyrone. In doing so Hugh received 1000 acres (4 km²) of the Earl's lands around Dungannon, and in 1611 another 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Tyrone. Conn MacShane held an adjoining portion, and he and Henry both received large estates in Armagh and Fermanagh. Hugh's new neighbor and friend was the departed Earl's nephew Brian Crossagh, son of Sir Cormac MacBaron O'Neill, something that would cement a friendship impacting them both in later life..
. He was granted 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) outside the ancestral home in Dungannon in 1611 and used them as a point of strength to combat outside influence. As planters moved into the territories to the north, the combination of the dense forest and Hugh's reputation kept most new arrivals out. By 1615 he had lost his lands in Dungannon over a struggle with the Lord Lieutenant. Sir Thomas Phillips tried in vain from the small fort in Desertmartin to subdue the old Chief, but his strength with the McShanes was unmatchable with the local Irish, and he was never captured. He remained on his former lands, but eventually became known as a highwayman, controlling the forests and roads of southern Londonderry and the GlenShane pass.
In 1615 he, along with Brian Crossagh (son of Cormac MacBaron O'Neill), Rory O'Cahan, and Alexander McDonald (son of the Earl of Antrim), he was named by Lord Chichester as a primary conspirator in a short-lived rising called "the Natives Rebellion.. They were accused of fomenting a rebellion against the English and Scots planters, and planning the escape of the Earl of Tyrone's young son from a castle in Tyrone.. Unlike the other conspirators, Hugh McShane was never captured and brought before the English. He escaped the gallows and died sometime after 1621 still in the forest. The last historical notation was an inquisition taken within Derry in 1621 that listed him as a "gentleman". Hugh McShane had a son named Brian McHugh McShane O'Neill and possibly another named Cullough Boy and one named Owen McHugh McShane O'Neill. Brian was named the chief of McShane-O'Neills in the 1620s.
Hugh's son Brian continued a restless and aggressive life. He was imprisoned for raiding in 1627, and led the Confederate forces as "the O'Neill of Killetra" in 1643 at the Battle of Tullahoge near Dungannon against Colonel Clotsworthy of Masserene.. That war (1641–1650) was the end of McShane-O'Neill dominance in Glenconkeyne and Killetragh. The tone in Ireland took a major turn with the entrance of Oliver Cromwell
and his New Model Army
in 1648. In response to this new Protestant army in Ireland, Brian McShane O'Neill took a Royal commission and fought for the King. However, when King Charles I was defeated, Brian fled Ireland and into the exiled service of King Charles II, posted to the Spanish court. From 1656 until 1660, Captain Brian O'Neill served in an Irish regiment in Spain. By the census of 1659 the O'Neill name was dwindling as a surname use and there remained only five McShane households in all of County Londonderry. However, Captain Brian returned to Ireland with a pardon upon the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. Hugh's grandchildren continued to live on the lands Brian eventually settled in the Draper's portion of Loughinshollin barony, part of his father's old estate. In 1687, during the war between King James II and William and Mary, the grandson of Hugh, Captain Bryan McShane Og O'Neill (Og = the younger) joined the Army of King James IIand was attainted in 1690 for being a Jacobite supporter,as did his son Hugh "Boy" McShane O'Neill of Ballinascreen,according to John D'Alton in his 1855 book.
The permanent establishment of lands by the family was by Hugh's great grandson Owen McShane (Eoghan McShane). In the Census of 1740 they had a farm called Moneyneany in Ballinascreen, and another called "Carnacose" in Desertmartin, both just outside Draperstown. The family stayed and farmed the same lands and do so today; as well as in Australia and America. During the times of anti-Catholic legislation of the 18th century and again in the early 19th century, the family took the practice of translating the name from the gaelic Mac Shane or "son of John" to the English "Johnson" or "Johnston". This was the case of one of their more famous relatives Sir William Johnson whose father had been a MacShane.
Con MacShane O'Neill
Con MacShane O'Neill was the son of Shane O'Neill known as "an Diomas" or "The Proud", an Irish flaith or Prince of Ulster, the Lord of Clabbye, nobleman, rebel, and political leader in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Conn was born circa 1560 to the ruling monarch of Ulster at the time...
, 3rd son of Shane O'Neill and as the 10th son of Shane O'Neill
Shane O'Neill
Seán Ó Néill, anglicised Shane O'Neill , nicknamed 'Seán an díomais', was an Irish king of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be The Ó Néill Mór - Sovereign of the dominant Ó Néill Mór family of Tyrone... and thus head...
. In both cases he was a grandson of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone
Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone
Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone King of Tír Eógain, c. 1480–1559.-Biography:A son of Conn Mór, King of Tír Eógain, grandson of Henry Ó Néill, the King of Tír Eógain, was the first of the Ó Néills whom the attempts of the English in the 16th century to subjugate Ireland brought to the front as...
and Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and of the primary line of the O'Neill of Tyrone clan
. Shane was the Prince of Ulster and Chief of all the O'Neill septs until his death in 1567. Hugh gained his patrimony, like his father, from the O'Neill sept clan he'd been fostered by; the McShanes of Killetragh and the Glenconkeyn forest. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills"
. Hugh was an active rebel and commander in the 1580s through 1615. His first item of historical note was a raid his brothers conducted on Maguire of Fermanagh
Maguire of Fermanagh
List of the Macguires of Fermanagh ....
and his lands in early 1573. They were stated to have done great damage to the lands of Maguire. The genealogy that states Hugh was the son of Shane "The Proud" O'Neill is based on his moniker and the fact that he is often in the company of other known sons of Shane O'Neill, collectively known across Ireland in the late 16th century as "The Mac Shanes". According to Scottish sources, he and his brothers Henry MacShane O'Neill
Henry MacShane O'Neill
Henry MacShane O'Neill or Anraí MacSéan Ó Néill was an Irish flaith, a son of Shane O'Neill who was known as "an Diomas" or "The Proud". Henry was the leader of the MacShane in the late 1500s and early 1600s, he also fought for control of the O'Neill Clan, helping his father against Hugh...
and Art "MacShane" invaded Ireland with 3000 Scots from his cousin Lachlan MacLean in 1587
. The link between the MacLeans
Clan MacLean
Clan Maclean is a Highland Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early MacLeans became famous for their honour, strength and courage in battle. They were involved in many clan skirmishes with...
and the MacShanes was close in that their mother was the daughter of Hector Mor, Chief of the MacLeans, and he and two other brothers had been secured with the MacLeans after the murder of their father, Shane in 1567. See O'Neill dynasty
O'Neill dynasty
The O'Neill dynasty is a group of families that have held prominent positions and titles throughout European history. The O'Neills take their name from Niall Glúndub, an early 10th century High King of Ireland from the Cenél nEógain...
.
The Nine Years War
main article Nine Years War (Ireland)When his cousin Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone
Earl of Tyrone
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of the Kingdom of Ireland...
went into rebellion in 1593 against Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Hugh and some of the McShane
McShane
McShane may refer to:People*See: McShane Other uses* McShane Bell Foundry, church bell manufacturer, located in Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA* McShane's identity, geometric topology...
s put aside internal family fighting and joined their cousin the Earl. Some did not, and were eventually imprisoned by the Earl. During this war Hugh commanded a force of "200 foot and 50 Horsemen" raised out of the McShane Clan from forests of Killetragh and Glenconkeyn, then the most inhospitable and desolate forests in all of Ireland. Carew is guoted as stating that Hugh was able to field this force in 24 hours against the English. The State Papers of Ireland, in the various assessments of the strength of the rebellious Earl 1586 to 1602, state that this territory and the "woodkern race of outlaws" who lived there (the clan McShane) is considered primary to O'Neill, as it was his most secure refuge for cattle, goods, and people, and away from the military might of the English. Further, it was the Earl's secure, geographical "connection to the Clanaboy O'Neill". However, the Lord Lieutenant also lamented in 1599 that they (the English) should have "given Glenconkeyn to the sons of Shane, instead of the Earl". It was with Hugh and his McShanes that the Earl spent the final months of his rebellion in the winter of 1602-03. The Earl lived with the McShane-O'Neills after the Battle of Kinsale and the fall of Dungannon to Lord Mountjoy
Mountjoy
Mountjoy may refer to:* Brockagh , a hamlet in County Tyrone in present-day Northern Ireland* Mountjoy Castle, a castle in Magheralamfield, County Tyrone* Mountjoy Prison, a closed prison in County Dublin, Ireland opened in 1850...
on the slopes of Sleive Gallion. Finally in March of 1603, the Earl made peace.
Internal O'Neill Struggles
The struggles within the O'Neill family are well known. The Earl Hugh suppressed his own cousins more than he did the English in the first few years of his reign. In 1583 & 1587, the Earl put down any other claimants to the Chiefship, including Tirlough O'Neill, until he had himself recognized as Sir Tirlough Linneach's heir as The O'Neill Mor. In 1590, the Earl hung Hugh "Gaveloch", son of Shane O'NeillShane O'Neill
Seán Ó Néill, anglicised Shane O'Neill , nicknamed 'Seán an díomais', was an Irish king of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be The Ó Néill Mór - Sovereign of the dominant Ó Néill Mór family of Tyrone... and thus head...
for conspiring against him. In 1593 the Earl had his cousin Phelim McTurlough, Lord of Loughinshollin and chief of a sept within the Clanaboy O'Neill, murdered on Toome on the Bann River, and instilled himself as the Lord of Loughinshollin.
Hugh and his McShanes were able to weather the rise of the Earl and had split loyalties to the Earl when fighting the English. However, with the loss of the 9 Years War in 1603, Hugh McShane was able to edge out the Earl and became the new Lord of Killtragh and controlling most of the Lordship of Loughinshollin. He maintained independence from 1600 to 1606, and then replaced the Earl as the sole lord in the years following the Earl fleeing Ireland in 1607. However, with the Flight of the Earls
Flight of the Earls
The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...
and the power vacuum that created, Hugh McShane and the other smaller lords had to deal with the sudden presence of the English military in Ulster. For a while, Hugh benefited from this independence. Sir Arthur Chichester put out a warrant for wanted rebels and in 1608 Hugh McShane, his brother Phelim, and Hugh's wild McShanes captured Shane Carragh O'Cahan in Glenconkeyn forest. They turned him over to Chichester for a pardon and remit of some leases for two years. In 1610 Hugh McShane was on the jury that divided the lands out of the forfeited estate of his cousin the Earl of Tyrone. In doing so Hugh received 1000 acres (4 km²) of the Earl's lands around Dungannon, and in 1611 another 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Tyrone. Conn MacShane held an adjoining portion, and he and Henry both received large estates in Armagh and Fermanagh. Hugh's new neighbor and friend was the departed Earl's nephew Brian Crossagh, son of Sir Cormac MacBaron O'Neill, something that would cement a friendship impacting them both in later life..
Later life
After his pardon in 1608, Hugh slipped back into the forests of Loughinshollin barony and held on to what power he could during the early years of the Plantation of the newly established County LondonderryCounty Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
. He was granted 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) outside the ancestral home in Dungannon in 1611 and used them as a point of strength to combat outside influence. As planters moved into the territories to the north, the combination of the dense forest and Hugh's reputation kept most new arrivals out. By 1615 he had lost his lands in Dungannon over a struggle with the Lord Lieutenant. Sir Thomas Phillips tried in vain from the small fort in Desertmartin to subdue the old Chief, but his strength with the McShanes was unmatchable with the local Irish, and he was never captured. He remained on his former lands, but eventually became known as a highwayman, controlling the forests and roads of southern Londonderry and the GlenShane pass.
In 1615 he, along with Brian Crossagh (son of Cormac MacBaron O'Neill), Rory O'Cahan, and Alexander McDonald (son of the Earl of Antrim), he was named by Lord Chichester as a primary conspirator in a short-lived rising called "the Natives Rebellion.. They were accused of fomenting a rebellion against the English and Scots planters, and planning the escape of the Earl of Tyrone's young son from a castle in Tyrone.. Unlike the other conspirators, Hugh McShane was never captured and brought before the English. He escaped the gallows and died sometime after 1621 still in the forest. The last historical notation was an inquisition taken within Derry in 1621 that listed him as a "gentleman". Hugh McShane had a son named Brian McHugh McShane O'Neill and possibly another named Cullough Boy and one named Owen McHugh McShane O'Neill. Brian was named the chief of McShane-O'Neills in the 1620s.
Hugh's son Brian continued a restless and aggressive life. He was imprisoned for raiding in 1627, and led the Confederate forces as "the O'Neill of Killetra" in 1643 at the Battle of Tullahoge near Dungannon against Colonel Clotsworthy of Masserene.. That war (1641–1650) was the end of McShane-O'Neill dominance in Glenconkeyne and Killetragh. The tone in Ireland took a major turn with the entrance of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and his New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
in 1648. In response to this new Protestant army in Ireland, Brian McShane O'Neill took a Royal commission and fought for the King. However, when King Charles I was defeated, Brian fled Ireland and into the exiled service of King Charles II, posted to the Spanish court. From 1656 until 1660, Captain Brian O'Neill served in an Irish regiment in Spain. By the census of 1659 the O'Neill name was dwindling as a surname use and there remained only five McShane households in all of County Londonderry. However, Captain Brian returned to Ireland with a pardon upon the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. Hugh's grandchildren continued to live on the lands Brian eventually settled in the Draper's portion of Loughinshollin barony, part of his father's old estate. In 1687, during the war between King James II and William and Mary, the grandson of Hugh, Captain Bryan McShane Og O'Neill (Og = the younger) joined the Army of King James IIand was attainted in 1690 for being a Jacobite supporter,as did his son Hugh "Boy" McShane O'Neill of Ballinascreen,according to John D'Alton in his 1855 book.
The permanent establishment of lands by the family was by Hugh's great grandson Owen McShane (Eoghan McShane). In the Census of 1740 they had a farm called Moneyneany in Ballinascreen, and another called "Carnacose" in Desertmartin, both just outside Draperstown. The family stayed and farmed the same lands and do so today; as well as in Australia and America. During the times of anti-Catholic legislation of the 18th century and again in the early 19th century, the family took the practice of translating the name from the gaelic Mac Shane or "son of John" to the English "Johnson" or "Johnston". This was the case of one of their more famous relatives Sir William Johnson whose father had been a MacShane.
Notable Descendents
- Steve McShane - Linguist
- Paul McShane - Footballer
- Anthony McShane - Economist
- Major General, Sir William Johnson, British Army General
- J. Leonard JohnsonJ. Leonard JohnsonJames Leonard Vincent "Len" Johnson was an American scientist."Len" Johnson was an American engineer, designer, and scientist in the mid-twentieth century in the field of metallurgy and nuclear technology...
, Scientist - James McShain, Monument Builder
- Robert Treat PaineRobert Treat PaineRobert Treat Paine was a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts.-Early life and ancestors:...
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, cousin through his father - Molly Kaufman- Actress, UK
Sources
Notes- The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1621, by T. W. Moody, pg 51, 166;
- Plantation in Ulster, by George Hill, pg 65, 250;
- Londerry Lands & Families, by George Hill, pg 425;
- Ireland Under the Tudors, by Richard Bagwell, pg 284;
- Tyrone's Rebellion, by Hyram Morgan, pg. 18;
- The History of Ulster, by Ramsey Colles, pg 173;
- The Parishes of Kilrea, by J.W. Kernohan, pg. 30;
- London and the LondonDerry Companies, by Sir T. Phillips, March 18, 1614, pg. 47 & 58;
- Life and Time of Aodh O'Neill, by John Mitchel, pg. 223;
- Calendar of the State Papers of Ireland, 1608–1610, pg. 15;
- Calendar of the State Papers of Scotland 1657-1667, vol XI, pg 558:
- Moneyneena, A Hundred Years, Ballinascreen Historical Society, LondonDerry, June 2002. pg 7 and others
- The Pedigree of O'Neill, Coat of Arms, Government Office-Republic of Ireland, M.S. #168, pg. 138