O'Neill dynasty
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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
. Confusion then arises because the Cenél nEógain, descendants of Eógan mac Néill, were a branch of the Uí Néill
dynasty who took their name from Niall of the Nine Hostages
, a legendary 5th century King of Tara. The Uí Néill were in turn a branch of the Connachta
, descendants of the legendary Conn of the Hundred Battles
, son of Fedlimid Rechtmar
, son of Tuathal Techtmar.
, seven in all, were Conall Gulban
, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill
dynasty, Éndae, progenitor of the Cenél nÉndai, Eógan mac Néill, ancestor of the Cenél nEógain
dynasty, Conall Cremthainne
, ancestor of both the Clann Cholmáin
and Síl nÁedo Sláine
dynasties, Coirpre
, ancestor of the Cenél Coirpri, Lóegaire
, progenitor of the Cenél Lóegaire, and Fiachu
, progenitor the Cenél Fiachach.
Together these dynasties are known to historians as the Uí Néill
. They are then divided into the Northern Uí Néill, comprising the first three mentioned above, and the Southern Uí Néill, comprising the remainder. The Northern Uí Néill established themselves in western Ulster
with their capital at Ailech
which centers around what is today known as Innishowen in County Donegal. The Kings of Ailech
were the Northern Uí Néill overkings, who for several centuries rotated as Kings of Tara
with the Southern Uí Néill overkings. For most of that period the Tara
kingship was rotated exclusively between the dominant Southern Uí Néill Clann Cholmáin and the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain. The system finally broke down in the 10th century.
The O'Neill dynasty is a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain dynasty, descendants of the 5th century Eógan mac Néill, through the 10th century Niall Glúndub
.
A son of Niall Glúndub was Muirchertach mac Néill
, father of Domnall ua Néill
, who was the first king to be named High King of Ireland
in his obituary. Through Domnall's grandson Flaithbertach Ua Néill
descend the Kings of Tír Eógain
, or Tyrone
, and the O'Neill dynasty. Most closely related to the O'Neills are the Mac Lochlainn
s, also of the Cenél nEógain, who in addition to providing two High Kings, Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, also contested the kingship of Tyrone with the O'Neills until the mid-13th century.
In the 12th century, the O'Neill's began to push east and south against their cousins, the MacLoughlins. After more than a century of warfare between the two clans, the O'Neills defeated the MacLoughlins and went on to dominate central Ulster. Over time the greater O'Neill sphere of influence self divided into three major O'Neill lordships. Later, both the chief rivals and allies of the O'Neills in Ulster were the O'Donnell dynasty
of Tyrconnell, a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél Conaill.
in 1169 to their benefit and were able to consolidate their hold on the northern half of Ireland. Though there was conflict between the Normans
and the O'Neills, both had enough turmoil within their own lands to prevent any long-term warfare. Except for the short lived Norman Earldom of Ulster which was patiently dealt with by the O'Neills until the Earldom was detached from Ireland and made a part of the Crown holdings within a few generations, no Normans held land within the greater province for another 300 years.
Irish leaders at that time are often characterized as being uncivilized rulers of barbarians. However, the dominant Gaelic
and Anglo-Irish
leaders were much more in tune with their contemporary peers of the Middle Ages
with regards to education, international trade, and diplomacy. The Kings of Tyrone
began to blunt the combative relationship of the English by intermarrying with the most powerful Normans permanently established in Ireland as well as the powerful Scottish clans along the western islands. Specifically the O'Neills of Tyrone had strong family relationships with the FitzGerald dynasty, both the Earls of Kildare and Earls of Desmond, the Earl of Pembroke
via de Clare's marriage to the Irish house of Diarmuid, King of Leinster, and the MacDonnells
, Bissetts
, MacLeans, and Campbell
s. In 1171, King Henry II
came to Ireland to take back the authority of the newly established Norman lords in Ireland. At that time, he met with and received the pledge of feilty from the leading Irish kings. They were happy to establish their relationship directly from their own kingdoms to London, as opposed as through a Norman viceroy in Ireland. During the Middle Ages, the O'Neills of Tyrone were active politically and militarily throughout Ireland and occasionally sending its nobility afield to fight within Ireland and in campaigns in Europe. From 1312 to 1318, the O'Neill kings were staunch supporters of King Robert, The Bruce, and his brother Edward Bruce in their struggle for Scottish independence. The Irish sent troops and supported Edward in his attempt to become King of Ireland in 1315. However relations between the English and Irish monarchs was not always unfriendly. In 1394 King Richard II deemed King Niall Mor "Le Grand O'Neill" upon a friendly hosting of the two kings. King Edward III of England called Tyrone "the Great O'Neill" and invited him to join a campaign against the Scots in the 15th century, and another O'Neill Prince accompanied the English King on a crusade to the Holy Land
. In 1493, King Henry VII
referred to Henry O'Neill, King of Tyrone, as "the Chief of the Irish Kings" and gave him a gift of livery from the future King.
Their independent stature within Ulster began to change with the ascent of King Henry VIII
in 1509. Soon after he took the throne, Henry decided to exert his direct grasp on Ireland via an old Papal Bull that granted the English King the Lordship of Ireland. This was spurred on by the failed rebellion of the Fitzgeralds, circa 1537, known as the Silken Thomas Affair. The O'Neills supported their Geraldine
cousins in that rebellion and had to maneuver politically to keep the English from toppling their hold on power in Ulster when the rebellion failed. King Henry decided he could not have other Kings within his realm and began a policy to reduce the leadership of Ireland to the same rank and structure as the English nobility. Thus in the policy called Surrender and regrant
Irish monarchs surrendered their titles and independent lands to King Henry, and in return he created them Earls of the Kingdom of Ireland and granted them their own lands back. The last King of Tyrone and first original earldom was one such grant by Henry VIII
in 1542 to Conn Bacach O'Neill, on the creation of the Kingdom of Ireland
. The submission of Conn O'Neill led to a fifty year civil war within Ulster that eventually led to downfall of O'Neill power in 1607 with the departure of the 3rd Earl for Rome and permanent exile.
Shane an Diomas
(1530–1567), the eldest surviving, legitimate son of Conn Bacach O'Neill, was styled as the Prince of Tyrone, the Prince of Ulster, and 'dux Hibernicorum' (Prince of Ireland) by his European peers. He did not share the moderate relationship with the English that his father had cultivated. During his reign, he was almost always at war with the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin. An act of the English Parliament in 1562 gave Shane O'Neill the English title of "Lord O'Neill" until his claim for his father's estate was settled. The writ for Shane to be named the 2nd Earl of Tyrone was written, but held up on Dublin. Shane went into rebellion and was killed before he could be invested and in 1569, the retrospective attainer of Shane O'Neill banned the use of the title of "The O'Neill Mor".
In addition, the title of "The O'Neill Mor" was not a patrilineal hereditary title, but rather was conferred upon the individual duly elected and inaugurated to rule Tir Eoghain. And today there is no recognized head of the O'Neills of Tyrone. Traditionally they were raised to the position of The O'Neill Mór, but the title does not have to be from a Tyrone sept, as at least two Clannaboy chiefs also served as The O'Neill Mor. However, there are a few families that may, and some do, claim the rights of O'Neill of Tyrone. These claimants are made up of descendants of the last King and first Earl's (Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone
) sons: Shane an Diomas (Shane O'Neill
), Ferdocha (Mathew) O'Neill, and Phelim Caoch O'Neill
. These include O'Neill of Corab, O'Neill of Waterford, McShane
-Johnson O’Neills of Killetragh, and O’Neill of Dundalk
, as well as the primogeniture of the Marqués de Larraín who still use the titular title of Prince of Tyrone. All descend from one of the last chiefs of the O'Neills of Tyrone.
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, continued to use his title after he fled to the Continent in the Flight of the Earls
, although in the law of the Kingdom of Ireland it was forfeit by act of the Irish Parliament a year later. So did his son Shane O'Neill, whose will left his title to his only, if illegitimate, son Hugo Eugenio O'Neill; he died young, and other Spanish O'Neills continued to use the title through the seventeenth century.
The barony of Dungannon was created in 1542 as the title designated for the declared heir of the Earldom. Ferdocha or Mathew O'Neill, natural son of Conn Bacach the 1st Earl, was the first to hold the title of Baron Dungannon
. The line that descended from Mathew kept the Baron of Dungannon as one of its junior titles at least through the death of Don Eugenio O'Neill, Conde de Tiron in 1695. There were other titles laid out in the will of Don Juan (John/Shane/Sean) O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone in 1660. They indlude: Viscount of Tyrone, Viscount of Montoy, Baron of Strabane, and Lord of the Clannaboy. There is a later account of the O'Neills acquiring the comital title of Clanawley. Although the title of Baron of Dungannon would traditionally still be preserved with the title of Count/Earl of Tyrone, it is not presently used by anyone in the extended O'Neill family.
Another of the more famous O'Neills of Tyrone was Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicized as Owen Roe O'Neill
(c. 1590–1649), "Red Owen", was a 17th century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill family of Ulster. Red O'Neill was the son of Art O'Neill, a younger brother of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. As a young man, he left Ireland in the Flight of the Earls
to escape the English conquest of his native Ulster
. He grew up in the Spanish Netherlands and spent 40 years serving in the Irish regiment of the Spanish army. He saw most of his combat in the Eighty Years' War against the Dutch Republic
in Flanders
, notably at the siege of Arras
, where he commanded the Spanish garrison. O'Neill was, like many Gaelic
Irish officers in the Spanish service, very hostile to the English Protestant presence in Ireland. Owen returned to Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1641
to command the Catholic Army for during the Irish Confederate Wars
. He was reportedly poisoned by Cromwell
supporters and died in 1649.
The Slight-Arte O'Neills
This is another branch of the Tyrone O'Neills which started in the mid 15th century. The name is Gaelic translates to "of the sept of Art". Eoghan Mor O'Neill (Owen the Great), King of Tir Eoghan (Tyrone) 1432 to 1456 had four sons that each started independent lines. His eldest Henry was King of Tyrone from 1455 to 1489 and was the grandfather of Conn Bacach. Aodh, his second son started the line of the Fews. Art, his third son was King of Tyrone 1509-1514. This branch of the family held its lands in western Tyrone and was typically at a distance from those O'Neills centered around the traditional capitol of Dungannon
. Art was unable to elevate his son to the kingship, but his grandson was Sir Turlough Luineach Ó Neill, The O'Neill Mor 1567-1593, the Earl of ClanConnell, and de jure King of Tyrone for a rocky period during the 1570s. On his death bed he reliquished his chiefship authorities to his cousin Hugh Mor O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone. That family, after Sir Turlough's death, remained hostile to the Earl and often sided with the English when in conflict with the rest of the Tyrone O'Neills.
. He had come to an arrangement with the Norman Earls of Ulster which allowed his sons to consolidate O'Neill power within Ulster at the expense of the O'Donnell
s. Aodh Buidhe was married Eleanor de Nangle, a kinswoman to his nominal enemy, Walter de Burgh, the Earl of Ulster
and Jocelyn de Angulo
; Aodh died in 1283. At this time, there was only one O'Neill clan. However, the line he established remained one of the leaders of the overall O'Neill clan, and in 1338 they became independent with a relatively peaceful split of territory within the family. Having helped the Anglo-Normans barons in a rebellion against their fellow Norman lord, the Earl of Ulster, the family was removed from the main chiefship line by treaty and granted a war-torn strip of land in south Antrim. That was the official establishment of the Lordship of Clann Aodh Buide, or the O'Neills of Clandeboye
. There were incursions by the Normans from the south and the Scots from the east. And though they made small gains, Ulster remained firmly in the control of the O'Neills until 1608. The family fought on both sides of the civil wars that wracked Ireland from 1642-1693. The end result was a significant loss of territory and influence due to political alliances and an influx of new families flowing in from Scotland and England.
In the beginning of the 18th century Phelim O'Neill (in English Felix O'Neill), The O'Neill Clannaboy was dispossessed of all his estate through the confiscation applied via the Penal Laws, which led him to emigrate to France. He was a Cavalry Officer who took part in many battles with the vaunted Irish Brigade
of the French Army. He fought aside with the French against the British, the Austrians, and the Dutch (during the War of the Spanish Succession), in the celebrated Battle of Malplaquet (settlement located in the former Province of Flanders, in Belgium, present-day France), and where he died on September 11, 1709.[1][2]
His son was Conn (Constantine) O'Neill
, an officer who spent his life in exile in France and married to Cecilia O'Hanlon. Their eldest son, João O'Neill (in Irish Shane O'Neill, in English John O'Neill), who was born in County Tyrone, Richhill Village, Parish of Kilmore, Ireland and died in Lisbon, Santos o Velho, on January 21, 1788. He left France with his brothers and established their noble line permanently under in the Kingdom of Portugal. He was the titular head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, whose family have been in Portugal since the 18th century. The current head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty is a direct descendant of João and a Portuguese nobleman named Hugo Ricciardi O'Neill
, the son of Jorge Maria O'Neill
, whose family has been remarkable in the modern history of Portugal
. He is officially recognized by the offices of arms throughout Europe
as titular Prince and Count of Clanaboy, but he uses the title and style of The O'Neill of Clanaboy. The name Clanaboy (or Clandeboye) is a curruption of the Gaelic family name of 'Clann Aoidh Bhuí' or the 'Family of Fair Hugh' 'fair' being a reference to hair colour, most likely. The O'Neills of Bellaghy are of this line. Count O'Nelley of the Austro-Hungarian Army (circa 1750) is of this line, as are the O'Neills of the Feeva. The traditional title of the head of this family branch is The O'Neill Buidhe or The O'Neill of Clannabuidhe. The O'Neill of Clanaboy is the only O'Neill prince recognized as one of the hereditary Chiefs of the Name
of Ireland. They are a dominant family to this day in Counties Antrim, Louth, and eastern Armagh.
nobleman, Don
Carlos O'Neill, 12th Marquess
of la Granja
. He is also stylized as the Prince of the Fews. "The Fews" is an area in County Armagh
and was a sub-territory under the O'Neills of Tyrone. They are related to the O'Neill of Tyrone through King Eoghan Mor, circa 1432-1436. The king's younger son Aodh (Hugh) pushed in the territory known as the Fews and conquered its various independent lordships. Aodh then established an independent chiefship under his father and then brother.
In the rebellion of 1642, Sir Henry O'Neill, a member of the Fews O'Neills, remained loyal to the English crown, while his sons and brothers played a prominent part in the rising. In spite of his loyalty, the result was the confiscation of his lands, which were divided up among a number of Cromwellian settlers. The chief beneficiary was Thomas Ball whose various grants totaled more than 6000 acres (24.3 km²). Sir
Henry O'Neill was banished to Connaught
, Ireland, where he was awarded an estate in County Mayo
, Ireland
. Also exiled with Sir Henry was his brother Captain Sean/Shane O'Neill. His son's took the moniker "Mac Shane" or son of Shane. His grandson William anglicized the name MacShane (meaning son of John) and assumed the surname of Johnson from that point forward. He was later promoted to Major General in the American Colonial Army and fought the French at Niagara, New York in French-Indian War. For his significant victory he was granted a Baronetcy and made Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
of New York
in 1753. The present day holder of that estate is the Sir Colpoys Johnson, 8th Baronet of New York.
In 1755, the 99-year lease on the Mayo landgrant of Sir Henry, that of Meelick, Carrowrory and Carrowconnell expired. It was held by his grandson Henry O'Neill (Enrique O'Neill). Henry O'Neill and his wife Hanna née O'Kelly, the daughter of counselor John O'Kelly of Keenagh
, Co. Roscommon
, moved with their family to Spain around 1758. As a result of his departure, James Knox of Moyne from Killala, Co. Mayo took legal steps against O’Neill to confiscate his lands. Cromwell
had a policy of eliminating by legal means any native Irish gentry.
Henry and Hanna O'Neill became the parents of Arthur O'Neill of Tyrone in 1736. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. As an adult he served in the Spanish colonial service and was known by the name Don Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone
, eventually gaining the title of the 1st Marques Del Norte and Governor of the Yucatan
on the 3rd of October, 1792. Don Arturo was named Governor
of West Florida
and appointed to the Supreme Council
of War of Spain (replacing Governor Miguel de Uztaraiz). His brother Lieutenant-Colonel. Niall 'Nicolas' O'Neill y O'Kelly was b. 1734 and died at Zaragoza
in Spain. Their son Don Tulio O'Neill y O'Kelly married Catherine O'Keffe y Whalen and became the parents of Arturo O'Neill y O'Keffe and Tulio O'Neill y O'Keffe. Don Tulio O'Neill O'Kelly and his brother Don Enrique O'Neill O'Kelly were granted linceses by the Spanish crown to create sugar plantations on the island of Puerto Rico in 1784 and became the first of the O'Neill's of the Fews to settle in Puerto Rico.
Don Tulio was born in St. Croix, Danish West Indies in 1784 he became a General
and won many distinctions during the Peninsular War
fighting the French Army. He married Manuela de Castilla the daughter of a Spanish noble family. They became parents of Don Juan Antonio Luis O'Neill born in 1812 who married Dona Luisa de Salamanca
. He latter inherited his mother's titles in 1847: the Marques de la Granja, the Marques de Caltojar, the Count
of Benajiar and the Marques de Valdeosera. He died in 1877. From then on the family is known as the O'Neill of the Fews of Seville
.
Don Arturo O'Neill y O'Keffe was born in 1783 on St. Croix, Danish West Indies. He became Lieutenant Colonel on the 17th of August, 1828. in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
. A Knight
of the Royal Order of King Carlos III
of Spain
and 2nd Marques
del Norte. He died in Sept 7, 1832 and is buried in the Roman Catholic Church of Frederiksted, Saint Croix (Santa Cruz), Danish West Indies. He was married to Joanna Chabert Heyliger on April 19, 1802 in St. Croix.
The present Prince of the Fews is descended from Don Tulio O'Neill and presently lives in Spain with his family. The O'Neill family council recognizes him as the hereditary chief of the Fews O'Neills.
is a closely related branch of the Tyrone
O'Neills. When Shane an Diomas O'Neill, Prince of Tyrone and chief of all the O'Neill clans, was killed in 1567, he had an estimated ten male children from his various wives and girlfriends. As a group they were very young. During Shane's lifetime, he made claim to the patrimony of these children and thus they were raised in the courts of their various maternal grandfathers and aunts upon his death. These houses included the Gaelic noble families of O'Donnell, Maguire, O'Quinn, MacDonald, and MacLean. Sixteen years later in 1583 a confederation of the brothers met at the court of their uncle, the Chief of the MacLean clan in the Scottish isles. They were given an army of more than 2000 Scots to return to Ulster to attempt to retake their father's estate and title. When they invaded the brothers took the English and the O'Neill chiefs by surprise and created a large sphere of control in eastern Ulster, allied with the MacDonald's of Antrim. In an attempt to characterize them, the English began to refer to the group of brothers as "the Mac-Shanes" which in Gaelic meant "the sons of Shane O'Neill
". For seven years they battled Sir Turlough O'Neill, the recognized O'Neill Mor at the time, and the rising Baron Dungannon
and eventually Earl of Tyrone
, Hugh Rua O'Neill. The brothers were dealt a blow in 1590 when the Earl of Tyrone captured and hung three of the men. The earl succeeded in capturing and imprisoning another three over the remainder of the decade until there were only two possibly three of the brothers and nephews hiding out in the Glenconkeyne forest in eastern Tyrone. Two sons of Con MacShane O'Neill
, Hugh and Ever, became warriors within the O'Neill clan living there. That family had saved them as babies when their father had been killed nearby and had since been referred to as the Clan Shanes. In 1593, the Earl of Tyrone had the Clan Shane's chief killed and the family turned to Hugh MacShane as their new leader. Hugh was elected as their chief, and that O'Neill branch has since forth taken on the "MacShane" surname as an honorific for their loyalty to Shane O'Neill and to his battling sons. Hugh McShane O'Neill
reigned as Chief until 1622 and his sons and grandsons served as the respective chieftains of the family and were active in the wars and politics of Ulster, Ireland, and Spain for the next two centuries.
Some of Shane's surviving son's were given land after the flight of the earls, that had previously belonged to Hugh O'Neill. Henry was given Land in Orior, Con was given the estate of Clabbye, and Brian was given land in Clinawly, Fermanagh. Brian's son Edmond was granted control of Lisdawericke, Megin, Cnoghan, Tollohiny Dirrilghta, Knockmcgallcrum & Gortnesillagh. Henry's son Cormocke was given land. This would spread the clan throughout the province.
When the family had been attainted as Irish Jacobites in the 1690s, the heir, Owen McShane, completely dropped any association with the O'Neill name in an attempt to hold his father's small estate. The penal laws and the influx of Scottish and English settlers into Ulster made it increasingly difficult for the Gaelic Irish to hold position and land within Irish society, and thus the name MacShane was eventually shortened to McShane and then again during the 18th and early 19th centuries, the surname was translated from the Gaelic "Mac Shane" which is the Ulster dialect spelling of "son of John" to the English "son of John" or Johnson, like their famous relation, Sir William Johnson did in 1720. Johnson, and to a lesser extent Johnston, was commonly used in counties Tyrone, LondonDerry, and Armagh until roughly the 1920s. Over the 20th century, many of the Irish branches returned to the Gaelic spelling. This family is still active and viable in Ulster, America, and Australia. The family leadership today is directly descended from Hugh MacShane and is closely involved in the greater O'Neill clan activities and their present head takes part in the Association of O'Neill Clans and is on the O'Neill family council.
that eventually moved into the Caribbean especially from the lines of the Counts of Tyrone
of Hugh MacFerdorcha Aodh Mór mac Feardorcha Ó Néill. The close connection to the Spanish government after the final fall of the O'Neills in 1690 provided the opportunity for new territory. The English controlled the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean until 1650. In that year the Spanish sent a fleet
of five ships and 1,200 men to St. Croix from Puerto Rico and slaughtered every man, woman and child. After a brief period the Spanish were replaced by the Knights of Malta under a French noble Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy. The Knights later sold the island to the French who sold it on to the Danes. Family documents that the O’Neill's had elements land on the Islands and were associated with the families of Rocco, Eammon, Constatino or Conn
Eoghan, Edmundo, and Gill. These were men who served in the Irish regiments of Spain, Ultonia and Hibernia regiments for the Crown of Spain. Often they allied with the French to eliminate the English from these Islands. Recent findings show that other O'Neill's settled in Puerto Rico in the in the 18th century. The earliest record show that of a man named Don Juan O'Neill arrived in Puerto Rico in the 1710s, based on documents from the Spanish Royal Courts. There were two O'Neill officers serving in the Spanish Army forces of Bernardo de Galvez as he fought the English in Florida and Alabama during the American Revolution.
Most O'Neill families of Puerto Rico have for many generations resided in the districts of Hato Nuevo, Mamey, and Sonadora of the city of Guaynabo located on the northern coast of the island of Puerto Rico. Other O'Neill families have settled in the cities of Río Piedras and Caguas. Many other O'Neill families that immigrated from Barbados
settled on the Island of Vieques. The O'Neill's have produced a few mayors in their respected cities.
The O'Neills of Martinique settled in the early 1700s; in the next century, they claimed to be Count of Tyrone
and lineally descended from Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. This claim (which rested on a single-sentence document in their own possession) is now regarded as unproven. The main stem of this family is now extinct in the male line; collateral descendants may exist.
dynasties
or principalities
, each of which are still represented by direct descendants of the once independent kings. The original titles passed under the elective derbfine
system of Irish Brehon law. Incumbents were then granted further titles that are inherited under primogeniture
by various Roman Catholic kingdoms in Europe
and today are titled O'Neills in Ireland, Spain, France, Scotland, Portugal, England, Australia, and the Americas. The family still maintains a loose confederation of its sept princes that is centered in Ireland and meets annually. The group met in 2010 outside Paris, France to announce a new, global clan organization that has as its major goal the construction of an O'Neill museum to be built in Ulster as a central repository for all the family artifacts spread across the world. Also planned is a library at that museum that will open historical writings that have been in private hands out of Ireland for centuries.
associated to everyone of a common surname, when, in fact, a coat of arms is property passed through direct lineage. This means that there are numerous families of O'Neill under various spellings that are related, but because they are not the direct descendants of an O'Neill that owned an armorial device do not have rights or claims to any arms themselves.
The coat of arms of the O'Neills of Ulster, which held the title of High Kings of Ireland, were white with a red left hand cut off below the wrist, and it is because of this prominence that the red hand (though a right hand is used today, rather than the left used by the high kings) has also become a symbol of Ireland, Ulster, Tyrone and other places associated with the ruling family of O'Neills. The red hand by itself has become a symbol of the O'Neill name, such that when other O'Neill family branches were granted or assumed a heraldic achievement, this red hand was often incorporated into the new coat of arms in some way.
The red hand is explained by several slightly differing legends, but which tend to have a common theme that begins with a promise of land to the first man that is able to sail or swim across the sea and touch the shores of Ireland. Many contenders arrive, including a man named O'Neill, who begins to fall behind the other. Using his cunning, O'Neill cuts off his left hand and throws it onto the beach before the other challengers are able to reach shore, thus technically becoming the first of them to touch land and wins all of Ireland as his prize. However, the legends seem to originate in the 17th century, several many centuries after the red hand was already borne by the O'Neill families.
, younger son of Áed Athlaman Ua Néill, King of Ailech (died 1033, and ancestor of the O'Neill dynasty), son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill
, King of Ailech (died 1036). After campaigning in Scotland, Ánrothán settled first in either Badenoch or Argyll
, marrying the daughter of a king in the region. These families are the Clan Sweeney
(who eventually reemigrated to Ireland), Clan Maclachlan
(who match the MacSweeney pedigree), Clan Lamont
(possibly alternative pedigree), Clan MacEwen of Otter (defunct, but related to the Maclachlans), and finally Clan MacNeil
(the latest to appear). Their pedigrees can be found in the works of Duald Mac Firbis, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh
, and Scottish compilations.
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Connachta
The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach...
, descendants of the legendary Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach , son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland, and the ancestor of the Connachta, and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early middle ages, and...
, son of Fedlimid Rechtmar
Fedlimid Rechtmar
Fedlimid Rechtmar or Rechtaid son of Tuathal Techtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Báine, daughter of Scál. He took power after killing his predecessor, and his father's killer, Mal mac Rochride...
, son of Tuathal Techtmar.
Origins
The sons of Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall of the Nine Hostages
Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
, seven in all, were Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban was an Irish king who founded the kingdom of Tír Conaill in the 5th century, comprising much of what is now County Donegal. He was the son of Niall Noígiallach....
, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill
Cenél Conaill
The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....
dynasty, Éndae, progenitor of the Cenél nÉndai, Eógan mac Néill, ancestor of the Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...
dynasty, Conall Cremthainne
Conall Cremthainne
Conall Cremthainne , also called Conall Err Breg, was an Irish king. He was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and one of the progenitors of the Uí Néill dynasty....
, ancestor of both the Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...
and Síl nÁedo Sláine
Síl nÁedo Sláine
Síl nÁedo Sláine is the name of the descendants of Áed Sláine , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne....
dynasties, Coirpre
Coirpre mac Néill
Coirpre mac Néill . , also Cairbre or Cairpre, was said to be a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Coirpre was perhaps the leader of the conquests that established the southern Uí Néill in the midlands of Ireland. The record of the Irish annals suggests that Coirpre's successes were reattributed to...
, ancestor of the Cenél Coirpri, Lóegaire
Lóegaire mac Néill
Lóegaire , also Lóeguire, is said to have been a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The Irish annals and king lists include him as a King of Tara or High King of Ireland. He appears as an adversary of Saint Patrick in several hagiographies...
, progenitor of the Cenél Lóegaire, and Fiachu
Fiachu mac Néill
Fiachu mac Néill was a king of Uisnech in Mide of the Ui Neill dynasty. He was the son of the high king Niall Noígíallach. According to the king list in the Book of Leinster, he succeeded his brother Conall Cremthainne as king of Uisnech.According to the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, Saint...
, progenitor the Cenél Fiachach.
Together these dynasties are known to historians as the Uí Néill
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
. They are then divided into the Northern Uí Néill, comprising the first three mentioned above, and the Southern Uí Néill, comprising the remainder. The Northern Uí Néill established themselves in western Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
with their capital at Ailech
Ailech
Ailech was a medieval kingdom in Ireland, roughly centred on modern-day County Tyrone and the Inishowen peninsula in Ulster....
which centers around what is today known as Innishowen in County Donegal. The Kings of Ailech
Kings of Ailech
The Kings of Ailech belonged to the northern Uí Néill and took their name from the Grianán of Ailech , a hillfort on top of Greenan Mountain in modern County Donegal...
were the Northern Uí Néill overkings, who for several centuries rotated as Kings of Tara
Kings of Tara
The term King of Tara was a title of authority in ancient Ireland. The position was considered an eminent authority in medieval Irish literature and mythology, though national kingship was never a historical reality in early Ireland....
with the Southern Uí Néill overkings. For most of that period the Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
kingship was rotated exclusively between the dominant Southern Uí Néill Clann Cholmáin and the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain. The system finally broke down in the 10th century.
The O'Neill dynasty is a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain dynasty, descendants of the 5th century Eógan mac Néill, through the 10th century Niall Glúndub
Niall Glúndub
Niall Glúndub mac Áedo was a 10th century Irish king of the Cenél nEógain and High King of Ireland. While many Irish kin groups were members of the Uí Néill, tracing their descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages , the O'Neill dynasty took their name from Niall Glúndub rather than the earlier Niall...
.
A son of Niall Glúndub was Muirchertach mac Néill
Muirchertach mac Néill
Muirchertach mac Néill , called Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks , King of Ailech.-Family ramifications:Muirchertach belonged to the Cenél nEógain sept of the northern Uí Néill...
, father of Domnall ua Néill
Domnall ua Néill
Domhnall ua Néill was High King of Ireland from 956 to 980.Domnall was the son of Muirchertach mac Néill, and grandson of Niall Glúndub, a member of the Cenél nEógain northern Uí Néill. He became co-King of Ailech with his brother Flaithbertach on the death of his father in 943...
, who was the first king to be named High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
in his obituary. Through Domnall's grandson Flaithbertach Ua Néill
Flaithbertach Ua Néill
Flaithbertach Ua Néill was king of Ailech, a kingdom of north-west Ireland. He abdicated in 1030 and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, for which reason he was known as Flaithbertach an Trostáin...
descend the Kings of Tír Eógain
Kings of Tir Eogain
This article lists the Kings of Tír Eoghain or Tyrone from 1185 to 1616. They are listed from their date of accession to date of death, unless otherwise stated....
, or Tyrone
Tyrone
The name Tyrone can refer to:*County Tyrone, a county in Northern Ireland, roughly corresponding to the ancient kingdom of Tír Eogain*An Earl of Tyrone*A small steam train which runs between Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland-Places:...
, and the O'Neill dynasty. Most closely related to the O'Neills are the Mac Lochlainn
McLaughlin
McLaughlin or MacLaughlin is a surname of Irish and Scottish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Lochlainn ....
s, also of the Cenél nEógain, who in addition to providing two High Kings, Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, also contested the kingship of Tyrone with the O'Neills until the mid-13th century.
In the 12th century, the O'Neill's began to push east and south against their cousins, the MacLoughlins. After more than a century of warfare between the two clans, the O'Neills defeated the MacLoughlins and went on to dominate central Ulster. Over time the greater O'Neill sphere of influence self divided into three major O'Neill lordships. Later, both the chief rivals and allies of the O'Neills in Ulster were the O'Donnell dynasty
O'Donnell dynasty
O'Donnell , which is derived from the forename Domhnaill were an ancient and powerful Irish family, kings, princes, and lords of Tír Chonaill in early times, and the chief allies and sometimes...
of Tyrconnell, a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél Conaill.
O'Neills of Tyrone
Once the MacLaughlins were defeated, the O'Neills spread out and slowly dominated the other client clans across Ulster and south to the other Irish kingdoms. They used the disruption of the Norman invasion of IrelandNorman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
in 1169 to their benefit and were able to consolidate their hold on the northern half of Ireland. Though there was conflict between the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
and the O'Neills, both had enough turmoil within their own lands to prevent any long-term warfare. Except for the short lived Norman Earldom of Ulster which was patiently dealt with by the O'Neills until the Earldom was detached from Ireland and made a part of the Crown holdings within a few generations, no Normans held land within the greater province for another 300 years.
Irish leaders at that time are often characterized as being uncivilized rulers of barbarians. However, the dominant Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
and Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
leaders were much more in tune with their contemporary peers of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
with regards to education, international trade, and diplomacy. The Kings of Tyrone
Tyrone
The name Tyrone can refer to:*County Tyrone, a county in Northern Ireland, roughly corresponding to the ancient kingdom of Tír Eogain*An Earl of Tyrone*A small steam train which runs between Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland-Places:...
began to blunt the combative relationship of the English by intermarrying with the most powerful Normans permanently established in Ireland as well as the powerful Scottish clans along the western islands. Specifically the O'Neills of Tyrone had strong family relationships with the FitzGerald dynasty, both the Earls of Kildare and Earls of Desmond, the Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...
via de Clare's marriage to the Irish house of Diarmuid, King of Leinster, and the MacDonnells
Clan Donald
Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
, Bissetts
Bissett family (Ireland)
The history of the Bissett family in Ireland can be studied independently from that of the originally identical family in Scotland, because of their unique experience following their arrival in Ulster in the early or mid-13th century...
, MacLeans, and Campbell
Campbell
-Places:In Australia:* Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra, AustraliaIn Canada:* Campbell, Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia* Campbell Road, Edmonton, AlbertaIn New Zealand:...
s. In 1171, King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
came to Ireland to take back the authority of the newly established Norman lords in Ireland. At that time, he met with and received the pledge of feilty from the leading Irish kings. They were happy to establish their relationship directly from their own kingdoms to London, as opposed as through a Norman viceroy in Ireland. During the Middle Ages, the O'Neills of Tyrone were active politically and militarily throughout Ireland and occasionally sending its nobility afield to fight within Ireland and in campaigns in Europe. From 1312 to 1318, the O'Neill kings were staunch supporters of King Robert, The Bruce, and his brother Edward Bruce in their struggle for Scottish independence. The Irish sent troops and supported Edward in his attempt to become King of Ireland in 1315. However relations between the English and Irish monarchs was not always unfriendly. In 1394 King Richard II deemed King Niall Mor "Le Grand O'Neill" upon a friendly hosting of the two kings. King Edward III of England called Tyrone "the Great O'Neill" and invited him to join a campaign against the Scots in the 15th century, and another O'Neill Prince accompanied the English King on a crusade to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. In 1493, King Henry VII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
referred to Henry O'Neill, King of Tyrone, as "the Chief of the Irish Kings" and gave him a gift of livery from the future King.
Their independent stature within Ulster began to change with the ascent of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1509. Soon after he took the throne, Henry decided to exert his direct grasp on Ireland via an old Papal Bull that granted the English King the Lordship of Ireland. This was spurred on by the failed rebellion of the Fitzgeralds, circa 1537, known as the Silken Thomas Affair. The O'Neills supported their Geraldine
Geraldine
The feminine form of the first name Gerald. Famous women named Geraldine include:*Geraldine Ferraro, United States congresswoman and 1984 Vice Presidential candidate*Geraldine Chaplin, actress*Geraldine Fitzgerald, actress*Geraldine Page, actress...
cousins in that rebellion and had to maneuver politically to keep the English from toppling their hold on power in Ulster when the rebellion failed. King Henry decided he could not have other Kings within his realm and began a policy to reduce the leadership of Ireland to the same rank and structure as the English nobility. Thus in the policy called Surrender and regrant
Surrender and regrant
During the Tudor conquest of Ireland , "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system...
Irish monarchs surrendered their titles and independent lands to King Henry, and in return he created them Earls of the Kingdom of Ireland and granted them their own lands back. The last King of Tyrone and first original earldom was one such grant by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1542 to Conn Bacach O'Neill, on the creation of the Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
. The submission of Conn O'Neill led to a fifty year civil war within Ulster that eventually led to downfall of O'Neill power in 1607 with the departure of the 3rd Earl for Rome and permanent exile.
Shane an Diomas
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...
(1530–1567), the eldest surviving, legitimate son of Conn Bacach O'Neill, was styled as the Prince of Tyrone, the Prince of Ulster, and 'dux Hibernicorum' (Prince of Ireland) by his European peers. He did not share the moderate relationship with the English that his father had cultivated. During his reign, he was almost always at war with the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin. An act of the English Parliament in 1562 gave Shane O'Neill the English title of "Lord O'Neill" until his claim for his father's estate was settled. The writ for Shane to be named the 2nd Earl of Tyrone was written, but held up on Dublin. Shane went into rebellion and was killed before he could be invested and in 1569, the retrospective attainer of Shane O'Neill banned the use of the title of "The O'Neill Mor".
In addition, the title of "The O'Neill Mor" was not a patrilineal hereditary title, but rather was conferred upon the individual duly elected and inaugurated to rule Tir Eoghain. And today there is no recognized head of the O'Neills of Tyrone. Traditionally they were raised to the position of The O'Neill Mór, but the title does not have to be from a Tyrone sept, as at least two Clannaboy chiefs also served as The O'Neill Mor. However, there are a few families that may, and some do, claim the rights of O'Neill of Tyrone. These claimants are made up of descendants of the last King and first Earl's (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...
) sons: Shane an Diomas (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...
), Ferdocha (Mathew) O'Neill, and Phelim Caoch O'Neill
Phelim Caoch O'Neill
Phelim Caoch O'Neill was a Prince of the Cenél nEógain from 1517 to 1542.The first son of King Conn Bacach O'Neill. Conn came from a long line of Ulster kings and was known throughout all the O'Neill provinces as "The O'Neill" or the most supreme among all the O'Neill Lords. Phelim's mother was...
. These include O'Neill of Corab, O'Neill of Waterford, 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...
-Johnson O’Neills of Killetragh, and O’Neill of Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
, as well as the primogeniture of the Marqués de Larraín who still use the titular title of Prince of Tyrone. All descend from one of the last chiefs of the O'Neills of Tyrone.
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, continued to use his title after he fled to the Continent in 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:...
, although in the law of the Kingdom of Ireland it was forfeit by act of the Irish Parliament a year later. So did his son Shane O'Neill, whose will left his title to his only, if illegitimate, son Hugo Eugenio O'Neill; he died young, and other Spanish O'Neills continued to use the title through the seventeenth century.
The barony of Dungannon was created in 1542 as the title designated for the declared heir of the Earldom. Ferdocha or Mathew O'Neill, natural son of Conn Bacach the 1st Earl, was the first to hold the title of Baron Dungannon
Baron Dungannon
The title Baron of Dungannon in the Peerage of Ireland was associated with the first creation of the title of Earl of Tyrone.-History:When Conn Bacach O'Neill...
. The line that descended from Mathew kept the Baron of Dungannon as one of its junior titles at least through the death of Don Eugenio O'Neill, Conde de Tiron in 1695. There were other titles laid out in the will of Don Juan (John/Shane/Sean) O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone in 1660. They indlude: Viscount of Tyrone, Viscount of Montoy, Baron of Strabane, and Lord of the Clannaboy. There is a later account of the O'Neills acquiring the comital title of Clanawley. Although the title of Baron of Dungannon would traditionally still be preserved with the title of Count/Earl of Tyrone, it is not presently used by anyone in the extended O'Neill family.
Another of the more famous O'Neills of Tyrone was Eoghan Rua Ó Néill, anglicized as Owen Roe O'Neill
Owen Roe O'Neill
Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill , anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill , was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster.- In Spanish service :...
(c. 1590–1649), "Red Owen", was a 17th century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill family of Ulster. Red O'Neill was the son of Art O'Neill, a younger brother of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. As a young man, he left Ireland in 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:...
to escape the English conquest of his native Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
. He grew up in the Spanish Netherlands and spent 40 years serving in the Irish regiment of the Spanish army. He saw most of his combat in the Eighty Years' War against the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, notably at the siege of Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
, where he commanded the Spanish garrison. O'Neill was, like many Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
Irish officers in the Spanish service, very hostile to the English Protestant presence in Ireland. Owen returned to Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
to command the Catholic Army for during the Irish Confederate Wars
Irish Confederate Wars
This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
. He was reportedly poisoned by 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....
supporters and died in 1649.
The Slight-Arte O'Neills
This is another branch of the Tyrone O'Neills which started in the mid 15th century. The name is Gaelic translates to "of the sept of Art". Eoghan Mor O'Neill (Owen the Great), King of Tir Eoghan (Tyrone) 1432 to 1456 had four sons that each started independent lines. His eldest Henry was King of Tyrone from 1455 to 1489 and was the grandfather of Conn Bacach. Aodh, his second son started the line of the Fews. Art, his third son was King of Tyrone 1509-1514. This branch of the family held its lands in western Tyrone and was typically at a distance from those O'Neills centered around the traditional capitol of Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
. Art was unable to elevate his son to the kingship, but his grandson was Sir Turlough Luineach Ó Neill, The O'Neill Mor 1567-1593, the Earl of ClanConnell, and de jure King of Tyrone for a rocky period during the 1570s. On his death bed he reliquished his chiefship authorities to his cousin Hugh Mor O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone. That family, after Sir Turlough's death, remained hostile to the Earl and often sided with the English when in conflict with the rest of the Tyrone O'Neills.
O'Neills of Clanaboy
This line was established by Aodh Buidhe, I the founder of the Clandeboy line. Aodh (Hugh the Fair) was the son of King Aodh Meith O'NeillAodh Méith
Aodh Méith or Áed Méith was a 13th-century Ó Néill chief and king of Tír Eoghain. The son of Aodh an Macaoimh Tóinleasg, first Ó Néill king in over a century, Aodh spent much of his career fighting off threats from Fir Manach, Tír Conaill and Galloway, as well as John de Courcy and the English crown...
. He had come to an arrangement with the Norman Earls of Ulster which allowed his sons to consolidate O'Neill power within Ulster at the expense of the O'Donnell
O'Donnell
O'Donnell , which is derived from the forename Domhnaill were an ancient and powerful Irish family, kings, princes, and lords of Tír Chonaill in early times, and the chief allies and sometimes...
s. Aodh Buidhe was married Eleanor de Nangle, a kinswoman to his nominal enemy, Walter de Burgh, the Earl of Ulster
Earl of Ulster
The title of Earl of Ulster has been created several times in the Peerage of Ireland and Peerage of the United Kingdom. Currently, the title is a subsidiary title of the Duke of Gloucester, and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's son, Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster...
and Jocelyn de Angulo
Jocelyn de Angulo
-Biography:De Angulo was one of fifty knights serving under Hugh de Lacy upon the latter's grant of Meath by Henry II in 1172. Jocelyn was awarded the barony of Navan by de Lacy...
; Aodh died in 1283. At this time, there was only one O'Neill clan. However, the line he established remained one of the leaders of the overall O'Neill clan, and in 1338 they became independent with a relatively peaceful split of territory within the family. Having helped the Anglo-Normans barons in a rebellion against their fellow Norman lord, the Earl of Ulster, the family was removed from the main chiefship line by treaty and granted a war-torn strip of land in south Antrim. That was the official establishment of the Lordship of Clann Aodh Buide, or the O'Neills of Clandeboye
Clandeboye
Clandeboye is in modern times an area of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is named after the Clandeboye family, a branch of the O'Neill dynasty. They settled in the 1330s after the death of the Earl of Ulster in what is now south Antrim and north Down, giving their name to the territory...
. There were incursions by the Normans from the south and the Scots from the east. And though they made small gains, Ulster remained firmly in the control of the O'Neills until 1608. The family fought on both sides of the civil wars that wracked Ireland from 1642-1693. The end result was a significant loss of territory and influence due to political alliances and an influx of new families flowing in from Scotland and England.
In the beginning of the 18th century Phelim O'Neill (in English Felix O'Neill), The O'Neill Clannaboy was dispossessed of all his estate through the confiscation applied via the Penal Laws, which led him to emigrate to France. He was a Cavalry Officer who took part in many battles with the vaunted Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade may refer to:* Irish Brigade , the Jacobite brigade in the French army, 1690–1792 * Irish Brigade , pro-Union Civil War brigade of Irish immigrants...
of the French Army. He fought aside with the French against the British, the Austrians, and the Dutch (during the War of the Spanish Succession), in the celebrated Battle of Malplaquet (settlement located in the former Province of Flanders, in Belgium, present-day France), and where he died on September 11, 1709.[1][2]
His son was Conn (Constantine) O'Neill
Conn (Constantine) O'Neill
Conn Ó Néill , was the titular head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty.-Life:...
, an officer who spent his life in exile in France and married to Cecilia O'Hanlon. Their eldest son, João O'Neill (in Irish Shane O'Neill, in English John O'Neill), who was born in County Tyrone, Richhill Village, Parish of Kilmore, Ireland and died in Lisbon, Santos o Velho, on January 21, 1788. He left France with his brothers and established their noble line permanently under in the Kingdom of Portugal. He was the titular head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, whose family have been in Portugal since the 18th century. The current head of the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty is a direct descendant of João and a Portuguese nobleman named Hugo Ricciardi O'Neill
Hugo Ricciardi O'Neill
Hugo Ricciardi O'Neill is the current head of the O'Neill dynasty of Clanaboy, whose family has been in Portugal since the 18th century.-Recognition:...
, the son of Jorge Maria O'Neill
Jorge Maria O'Neill
Jorge Maria O'Neill was the head of one of the Irish Royal Families, the Clanaboy O'Neill dynasty, which has resided in Portugal since the 18th century.-Recognition:...
, whose family has been remarkable in the modern history of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He is officially recognized by the offices of arms throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as titular Prince and Count of Clanaboy, but he uses the title and style of The O'Neill of Clanaboy. The name Clanaboy (or Clandeboye) is a curruption of the Gaelic family name of 'Clann Aoidh Bhuí' or the 'Family of Fair Hugh' 'fair' being a reference to hair colour, most likely. The O'Neills of Bellaghy are of this line. Count O'Nelley of the Austro-Hungarian Army (circa 1750) is of this line, as are the O'Neills of the Feeva. The traditional title of the head of this family branch is The O'Neill Buidhe or The O'Neill of Clannabuidhe. The O'Neill of Clanaboy is the only O'Neill prince recognized as one of the hereditary Chiefs of the Name
Chiefs of the Name
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
of Ireland. They are a dominant family to this day in Counties Antrim, Louth, and eastern Armagh.
O'Neills of the Fews
The O'Neill of the Fews dynasty, is presently led by a SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
nobleman, Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Carlos O'Neill, 12th Marquess
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
of la Granja
Granja
Granja is a town on São Tomé Island in the nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. Granja has a church and a square ....
. He is also stylized as the Prince of the Fews. "The Fews" is an area in County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
and was a sub-territory under the O'Neills of Tyrone. They are related to the O'Neill of Tyrone through King Eoghan Mor, circa 1432-1436. The king's younger son Aodh (Hugh) pushed in the territory known as the Fews and conquered its various independent lordships. Aodh then established an independent chiefship under his father and then brother.
In the rebellion of 1642, Sir Henry O'Neill, a member of the Fews O'Neills, remained loyal to the English crown, while his sons and brothers played a prominent part in the rising. In spite of his loyalty, the result was the confiscation of his lands, which were divided up among a number of Cromwellian settlers. The chief beneficiary was Thomas Ball whose various grants totaled more than 6000 acres (24.3 km²). Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Henry O'Neill was banished to Connaught
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
, Ireland, where he was awarded an estate in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, Ireland
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...
. Also exiled with Sir Henry was his brother Captain Sean/Shane O'Neill. His son's took the moniker "Mac Shane" or son of Shane. His grandson William anglicized the name MacShane (meaning son of John) and assumed the surname of Johnson from that point forward. He was later promoted to Major General in the American Colonial Army and fought the French at Niagara, New York in French-Indian War. For his significant victory he was granted a Baronetcy and made Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1753. The present day holder of that estate is the Sir Colpoys Johnson, 8th Baronet of New York.
In 1755, the 99-year lease on the Mayo landgrant of Sir Henry, that of Meelick, Carrowrory and Carrowconnell expired. It was held by his grandson Henry O'Neill (Enrique O'Neill). Henry O'Neill and his wife Hanna née O'Kelly, the daughter of counselor John O'Kelly of Keenagh
Keenagh
Keenagh is a village in County Longford, Ireland. It is situated on the R397 near the Royal Canal.A small village with two churches , a couple of shops and a pub, it lies south of Longford Town...
, Co. Roscommon
Roscommon
Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...
, moved with their family to Spain around 1758. As a result of his departure, James Knox of Moyne from Killala, Co. Mayo took legal steps against O’Neill to confiscate his lands. 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....
had a policy of eliminating by legal means any native Irish gentry.
Henry and Hanna O'Neill became the parents of Arthur O'Neill of Tyrone in 1736. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. As an adult he served in the Spanish colonial service and was known by the name Don Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone
Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone
Arthur O'Neill of Tyrone, best known as Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone, was an Irish-born colonel who served the Spanish crown as governor of several places in New Spain . He came from a lineage that occupied prominent European positions and titles, beginning before the sixteenth...
, eventually gaining the title of the 1st Marques Del Norte and Governor of the Yucatan
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
on the 3rd of October, 1792. Don Arturo was named Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
and appointed to the Supreme Council
Supreme Council
Supreme Council may refer to:In culture:* Supreme Council of Antiquities, part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture* Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, an umbrella organisation in Greece established in 1997In Freemasonry:...
of War of Spain (replacing Governor Miguel de Uztaraiz). His brother Lieutenant-Colonel. Niall 'Nicolas' O'Neill y O'Kelly was b. 1734 and died at Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
in Spain. Their son Don Tulio O'Neill y O'Kelly married Catherine O'Keffe y Whalen and became the parents of Arturo O'Neill y O'Keffe and Tulio O'Neill y O'Keffe. Don Tulio O'Neill O'Kelly and his brother Don Enrique O'Neill O'Kelly were granted linceses by the Spanish crown to create sugar plantations on the island of Puerto Rico in 1784 and became the first of the O'Neill's of the Fews to settle in Puerto Rico.
Don Tulio was born in St. Croix, Danish West Indies in 1784 he became a General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
and won many distinctions during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
fighting the French Army. He married Manuela de Castilla the daughter of a Spanish noble family. They became parents of Don Juan Antonio Luis O'Neill born in 1812 who married Dona Luisa de Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
. He latter inherited his mother's titles in 1847: the Marques de la Granja, the Marques de Caltojar, the Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
of Benajiar and the Marques de Valdeosera. He died in 1877. From then on the family is known as the O'Neill of the Fews of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
Don Arturo O'Neill y O'Keffe was born in 1783 on St. Croix, Danish West Indies. He became Lieutenant Colonel on the 17th of August, 1828. in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
. A Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Royal Order of King Carlos III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and 2nd Marques
Marqués
Marqués and Márquez may mean:People*A. H. de Oliveira Marques*Anderson Luís de Azevedo Rodrigues Marques, Brazilian footballer*Fernando Marqués, Spanish footballer...
del Norte. He died in Sept 7, 1832 and is buried in the Roman Catholic Church of Frederiksted, Saint Croix (Santa Cruz), Danish West Indies. He was married to Joanna Chabert Heyliger on April 19, 1802 in St. Croix.
The present Prince of the Fews is descended from Don Tulio O'Neill and presently lives in Spain with his family. The O'Neill family council recognizes him as the hereditary chief of the Fews O'Neills.
The MacShane O'Neills
The sept of MacShaneMacShane
MacShane is a patronymic surname originating in Ireland. The surname evolved from the given name Shane, a derivative of John, of Hebrew origin. Early records spelled the name Mac Seáin or Mac Seagháin. Historically, the MacShanes from Ulster are a branch of the O'Neills, while in County Kerry, the...
is a closely related branch of the Tyrone
Tyrone
The name Tyrone can refer to:*County Tyrone, a county in Northern Ireland, roughly corresponding to the ancient kingdom of Tír Eogain*An Earl of Tyrone*A small steam train which runs between Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland-Places:...
O'Neills. When Shane an Diomas O'Neill, Prince of Tyrone and chief of all the O'Neill clans, was killed in 1567, he had an estimated ten male children from his various wives and girlfriends. As a group they were very young. During Shane's lifetime, he made claim to the patrimony of these children and thus they were raised in the courts of their various maternal grandfathers and aunts upon his death. These houses included the Gaelic noble families of O'Donnell, Maguire, O'Quinn, MacDonald, and MacLean. Sixteen years later in 1583 a confederation of the brothers met at the court of their uncle, the Chief of the MacLean clan in the Scottish isles. They were given an army of more than 2000 Scots to return to Ulster to attempt to retake their father's estate and title. When they invaded the brothers took the English and the O'Neill chiefs by surprise and created a large sphere of control in eastern Ulster, allied with the MacDonald's of Antrim. In an attempt to characterize them, the English began to refer to the group of brothers as "the Mac-Shanes" which in Gaelic meant "the sons 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...
". For seven years they battled Sir Turlough O'Neill, the recognized O'Neill Mor at the time, and the rising Baron Dungannon
Baron Dungannon
The title Baron of Dungannon in the Peerage of Ireland was associated with the first creation of the title of Earl of Tyrone.-History:When Conn Bacach O'Neill...
and eventually 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...
, Hugh Rua O'Neill. The brothers were dealt a blow in 1590 when the Earl of Tyrone captured and hung three of the men. The earl succeeded in capturing and imprisoning another three over the remainder of the decade until there were only two possibly three of the brothers and nephews hiding out in the Glenconkeyne forest in eastern Tyrone. Two sons of Con MacShane O'Neill
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...
, Hugh and Ever, became warriors within the O'Neill clan living there. That family had saved them as babies when their father had been killed nearby and had since been referred to as the Clan Shanes. In 1593, the Earl of Tyrone had the Clan Shane's chief killed and the family turned to Hugh MacShane as their new leader. Hugh was elected as their chief, and that O'Neill branch has since forth taken on the "MacShane" surname as an honorific for their loyalty to Shane O'Neill and to his battling sons. Hugh McShane O'Neill
Hugh McShane O'Neill
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...
reigned as Chief until 1622 and his sons and grandsons served as the respective chieftains of the family and were active in the wars and politics of Ulster, Ireland, and Spain for the next two centuries.
Some of Shane's surviving son's were given land after the flight of the earls, that had previously belonged to Hugh O'Neill. Henry was given Land in Orior, Con was given the estate of Clabbye, and Brian was given land in Clinawly, Fermanagh. Brian's son Edmond was granted control of Lisdawericke, Megin, Cnoghan, Tollohiny Dirrilghta, Knockmcgallcrum & Gortnesillagh. Henry's son Cormocke was given land. This would spread the clan throughout the province.
When the family had been attainted as Irish Jacobites in the 1690s, the heir, Owen McShane, completely dropped any association with the O'Neill name in an attempt to hold his father's small estate. The penal laws and the influx of Scottish and English settlers into Ulster made it increasingly difficult for the Gaelic Irish to hold position and land within Irish society, and thus the name MacShane was eventually shortened to McShane and then again during the 18th and early 19th centuries, the surname was translated from the Gaelic "Mac Shane" which is the Ulster dialect spelling of "son of John" to the English "son of John" or Johnson, like their famous relation, Sir William Johnson did in 1720. Johnson, and to a lesser extent Johnston, was commonly used in counties Tyrone, LondonDerry, and Armagh until roughly the 1920s. Over the 20th century, many of the Irish branches returned to the Gaelic spelling. This family is still active and viable in Ulster, America, and Australia. The family leadership today is directly descended from Hugh MacShane and is closely involved in the greater O'Neill clan activities and their present head takes part in the Association of O'Neill Clans and is on the O'Neill family council.
The Caribbean O'Neills
There were many O'NeillsO'Neill (surname)
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...
that eventually moved into the Caribbean especially from the lines of the Counts of Tyrone
Count of Tyrone
The title of Count of Tyrone has been used by two European branches of the O'Neill family to claim affiliation with the O'Neill Earls of Tyrone in the Peerage of Ireland...
of Hugh MacFerdorcha Aodh Mór mac Feardorcha Ó Néill. The close connection to the Spanish government after the final fall of the O'Neills in 1690 provided the opportunity for new territory. The English controlled the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean until 1650. In that year the Spanish sent a fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
of five ships and 1,200 men to St. Croix from Puerto Rico and slaughtered every man, woman and child. After a brief period the Spanish were replaced by the Knights of Malta under a French noble Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy. The Knights later sold the island to the French who sold it on to the Danes. Family documents that the O’Neill's had elements land on the Islands and were associated with the families of Rocco, Eammon, Constatino or Conn
Conn
Conn is a surname and a masculine given name meaning "chief" in Irish. As a given name it is also used as a short form of Connor.-American:*Billy Conn was a Light-Heavyweight boxing champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis....
Eoghan, Edmundo, and Gill. These were men who served in the Irish regiments of Spain, Ultonia and Hibernia regiments for the Crown of Spain. Often they allied with the French to eliminate the English from these Islands. Recent findings show that other O'Neill's settled in Puerto Rico in the in the 18th century. The earliest record show that of a man named Don Juan O'Neill arrived in Puerto Rico in the 1710s, based on documents from the Spanish Royal Courts. There were two O'Neill officers serving in the Spanish Army forces of Bernardo de Galvez as he fought the English in Florida and Alabama during the American Revolution.
Most O'Neill families of Puerto Rico have for many generations resided in the districts of Hato Nuevo, Mamey, and Sonadora of the city of Guaynabo located on the northern coast of the island of Puerto Rico. Other O'Neill families have settled in the cities of Río Piedras and Caguas. Many other O'Neill families that immigrated from Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
settled on the Island of Vieques. The O'Neill's have produced a few mayors in their respected cities.
The O'Neills of Martinique settled in the early 1700s; in the next century, they claimed to be Count of Tyrone
Count of Tyrone
The title of Count of Tyrone has been used by two European branches of the O'Neill family to claim affiliation with the O'Neill Earls of Tyrone in the Peerage of Ireland...
and lineally descended from Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. This claim (which rested on a single-sentence document in their own possession) is now regarded as unproven. The main stem of this family is now extinct in the male line; collateral descendants may exist.
The O'Neills today
Today the ancient O'Neills still flourish in Ireland, Europe, and the New World. There are the three ancient O'NeillO'Neill (surname)
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...
dynasties
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
or principalities
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
, each of which are still represented by direct descendants of the once independent kings. The original titles passed under the elective derbfine
Derbfine
The derbfine was an Irish agnatic kinship group and power structure as defined in the law tracts of the eighth century. Its principal purpose was as an institution of property inheritance, with property redistributed on the death of a member to those remaining members of the derbfine...
system of Irish Brehon law. Incumbents were then granted further titles that are inherited under primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
by various Roman Catholic kingdoms in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and today are titled O'Neills in Ireland, Spain, France, Scotland, Portugal, England, Australia, and the Americas. The family still maintains a loose confederation of its sept princes that is centered in Ireland and meets annually. The group met in 2010 outside Paris, France to announce a new, global clan organization that has as its major goal the construction of an O'Neill museum to be built in Ulster as a central repository for all the family artifacts spread across the world. Also planned is a library at that museum that will open historical writings that have been in private hands out of Ireland for centuries.
Coats of Arms
It is a common misconception that there is one coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
associated to everyone of a common surname, when, in fact, a coat of arms is property passed through direct lineage. This means that there are numerous families of O'Neill under various spellings that are related, but because they are not the direct descendants of an O'Neill that owned an armorial device do not have rights or claims to any arms themselves.
The coat of arms of the O'Neills of Ulster, which held the title of High Kings of Ireland, were white with a red left hand cut off below the wrist, and it is because of this prominence that the red hand (though a right hand is used today, rather than the left used by the high kings) has also become a symbol of Ireland, Ulster, Tyrone and other places associated with the ruling family of O'Neills. The red hand by itself has become a symbol of the O'Neill name, such that when other O'Neill family branches were granted or assumed a heraldic achievement, this red hand was often incorporated into the new coat of arms in some way.
The red hand is explained by several slightly differing legends, but which tend to have a common theme that begins with a promise of land to the first man that is able to sail or swim across the sea and touch the shores of Ireland. Many contenders arrive, including a man named O'Neill, who begins to fall behind the other. Using his cunning, O'Neill cuts off his left hand and throws it onto the beach before the other challengers are able to reach shore, thus technically becoming the first of them to touch land and wins all of Ireland as his prize. However, the legends seem to originate in the 17th century, several many centuries after the red hand was already borne by the O'Neill families.
Anrothan kindred
Finally, there are five Scottish clans who have traditionally claimed descent from Ánrothán Ua Néill, Lord of BadenochBadenoch
Badenoch is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by the Cairngorms and Braemar, on the south by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the west by Lochaber...
, younger son of Áed Athlaman Ua Néill, King of Ailech (died 1033, and ancestor of the O'Neill dynasty), son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill
Flaithbertach Ua Néill
Flaithbertach Ua Néill was king of Ailech, a kingdom of north-west Ireland. He abdicated in 1030 and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, for which reason he was known as Flaithbertach an Trostáin...
, King of Ailech (died 1036). After campaigning in Scotland, Ánrothán settled first in either Badenoch or Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
, marrying the daughter of a king in the region. These families are the Clan Sweeney
Clan Sweeney
Clan Sweeney is an Irish clan of Scottish origin. The clan did not permanently settle in Ireland before the beginning of the 14th century, when they became Gallowglass soldiers for the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell...
(who eventually reemigrated to Ireland), Clan Maclachlan
Clan MacLachlan
Clan Maclachlan, also known as Clan Lachlan, is a Highland Scottish clan that historically centred on the lands of Strathlachlan on Loch Fyne, Argyll on the west coast of Scotland...
(who match the MacSweeney pedigree), Clan Lamont
Clan Lamont
Clan Lamont is a Highland Scottish clan. Clan Lamont claim descent from Lauman who lived in Cowal in 1238. Tradition gives this Lauman a descent from an Irish prince of the O'Neill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036...
(possibly alternative pedigree), Clan MacEwen of Otter (defunct, but related to the Maclachlans), and finally Clan MacNeil
Clan MacNeil
Clan MacNeil, also known in Scotland as Clan Niall, is a highland Scottish clan, particularly associated with the Outer Hebridean island of Barra. The early history of Clan MacNeil is obscure, however despite this the clan claims to descend from the legendary Niall of the nine hostages...
(the latest to appear). Their pedigrees can be found in the works of Duald Mac Firbis, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh
Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh
Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh was an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery.-Life and work:Ó Cléirigh was a son of Diarmaid Ó Cléirigh, and thus a third-cousin once removed to Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, whom he assisted in compiling the Annals of the Four...
, and Scottish compilations.
See also
- Owen Roe O'NeillOwen Roe O'NeillEoghan Ruadh Ó Néill , anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill , was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster.- In Spanish service :...
- Chiefs of the Name#List of Ireland's Chiefs as at Abandonment, 2003
- Battle of St. George's CayeBattle of St. George's CayeThe Battle of St. George's Caye was a short military engagement that lasted from 3 to 10 September 1798, off the coast of what is now Belize...
- List of Colonial Governors of Florida
- Sir William Johnson, 1st BaronetSir William Johnson, 1st BaronetSir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
Places
- County TyroneCounty TyroneHistorically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
- Tullyhogue FortTullyhogue FortTullyhogue Fort, also spelt Tullaghoge or Tullahoge , is large mound on the outskirts of Tullyhogue village near Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It has a depressed centre and is surrounded by trees...
- DungannonDungannonDungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
Related
- Irish nobilityIrish nobilityThis article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...
- Chiefs of the NameChiefs of the NameThe Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
- MacShaneMacShaneMacShane is a patronymic surname originating in Ireland. The surname evolved from the given name Shane, a derivative of John, of Hebrew origin. Early records spelled the name Mac Seáin or Mac Seagháin. Historically, the MacShanes from Ulster are a branch of the O'Neills, while in County Kerry, the...
, McShaneMcShaneMcShane 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...
, JohnsonJohnsonJohnson is an English, Scottish, and Irish name of Norman origin. The name itself is a patronym of the given name John, literally meaning "son of John." The name John derives from Latin Johannes, which is derived through Greek Ἰωάννης Iōannēs, from Hebrew יוחנן Yohanan meaning "Yahweh has favoured"...
an O'Neill branch