Sean O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone
Encyclopedia
John O'Neill, who called himself 3rd Earl of Tyrone (also known as Shane, Seán and, in Spain, Juan, c.1599-29 January 1641) was the youngest son of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
during the Flight of the Earls
in September 1607 and went to the European continent. He was considered too young to accompany his father on the journey to Rome and was left in Flanders in the care of his brother Henry. He was educated by Franciscans in Louvain
.
. He became titular colonel of the Regiment of Tyrone on the death of his half-brother Henry at the request of his father. (O'Neill's cousin Owen Roe O'Neill
, although he failed in a bid to assume command of the regiment, later served as second-in-command and acting commander of the regiment until John O'Neill was old enough to assume the role) In 1613 he was at court in Brussels as the page of the Infanta Isabella. After his father died in Rome in 1616, John assumed the title of Earl of Tyrone. His ascent was recognized by both the Pope Urban VIII
and the Infanta Isabella of Spain, the Royal Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. His title, Conde, or Count, was recognised in Spain but no longer in England or Ireland. The title had been granted to his great-grandfather Conn Bacach O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone by Henry VIII of England
, and confirmed to his father Hugh by Elizabeth I; it was forfeit by an act of attainder passed by the Irish Parliament in 1608.
A 1625 proposal to the Infanta by Irish expatriates in the Spanish Netherlands, notably Fláithrí Ó Maol Chonaire (anglicised as Florence Conry), then Archbishop of Tuam and O'Neill's cousin, Owen Roe O'Neill
for an invasion of Ireland by Spanish forces was rejected; the Archbishop and Owen Roe O'Neill made their way to Madrid to present the plan to the King of Spain, Philip IV of Spain
, arriving in 1627. The proposal called for a landing at Killybegs
, with the city of Derry
to be taken to provide a defensible port. The proposal also called for the Spanish forces to be led by John O'Neill and Hugh O'Donnell
, son of Hugh Roe O'Donnell
. who had accompanied his father to Flanders during the Flight of the Earls. To ease tensions between the two families, it was proposed that both were to be appointed as generals of the invasion force and would be considered equals; O'Donnell would be in command of a second Irish regiment created from the existing regiment and the two new regiments would be supplemented with men drawn from drawn from other Spanish forces in the Netherlands.
Although a fleet of 11 ships was assembled at Dunkirk, with the fleet anticipated to sail in September 1627, disagreements remained over the composition and leadership of the invasion force. The Infanta in Brussels, wishing to reduce the repercussions to Spain in the event of failure, wanted to reduce the number of Walloons and wished for John O'Neill to be in sole command. while Madrid favoured O'Donnell. The final plan proposed in December 1627 called for the establishment of new Irish parliament and that it would be known that O'Neill and O'Donnell were not undertaking the invasion for the personal gain, but for the establishment of a "Kingdom and Republic of Ireland". In the end, the plan was abandoned by the King of Spain.
O'Neill was considered as a threat to English supremacy in Ireland. A 1627 letter from the Lord Deputy of Ireland
, Viscount Falkland
, claimed evidence existed to the effect that the King of Spain planned to send O'Neill to Ireland at the head of a Spanish army to claim the throne of Ulster for O'Neill himself, and to be proclaimed as governor of Ireland on behalf of the Spanish monarch. (Falkland also claimed that a story was circulating among the Irish that O'Neill had already received a crown of gold, which he kept on a table beside his bed).
John O'Neill approached Philip IV with another proposal for an invasion in 1630; this proposal was rebuffed. During his time in Madrid, O'Neill was made a Knight of Calatrava
and a member of the Spanish Supreme Council of War. In 1639, another request by O'Neill to the Spanish king Philip IV
that he be allowed lead a Spanish army to Ireland was rejected. In 1641, Rory O'More
, unaware of O'Neill's death, sought his assistance for the planned rebellion of 1641
.
O'Neill used his influence with the Pope to have his former tutor Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil (anglicised as Hugh MacCaghwell) installed as Archbishop of Armagh
and Primate of Ireland
in 1626. In 1630 he founded the College of San Pedro, y San Pablo y San Patricio in Alcala; it closed after his death.
In 1638, the Irish regiments commanded by O'Neill and O'Donnell were transferred from the Army of Flanders to Spain to bolster forces there in the face of an expected French invasion. These regiments were involved in the Spanish attempt to put down the Catalan Revolt
. John died in January 1641, leading his regiment during the Battle of Montjuic
near Barcelona, dying from a musket-ball wound to his chest near the town of Castelldefels
. His regiment suffered catastrophic losses in the engagement. His brother Brian had died two days earlier.
in 1599. His mother was Catherine Magennis, daughter of Sir Hugh Magennis.
While in Madrid after 1630, he met Isabel O'Donnell and they had a child out of wedlock, Hugh Eugene O’Neill, who was later legitimised by the King. (One suggestion to allay tensions between the O'Neills and O'Donnells during the planning of the aborted 1627 invasion was the marriage of John O'Neill to Mary Stuart O’Donnell, the daughter of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, sister of O'Neill's rival Hugh and cousin of Isabel.)
The family tradition of the O'Neills of Martinique is that John also had a legitimate son Patrick, and that John and Patrick both fought with Owen Roe O'Neill in 1642; according to this tradition, Patrick married and settled in Ireland. The Martinique family claims descent from his son Henry, who emigrated at some time during the reign of James II.
Owen Roe O'Neill was asked whether he was the Earl of Tyrone, and he denied it, saying that the true Earl was Constantino O'Neill, then in Spain; the relationship of this Conn to the rest of the family is unclear.
Early life
He left Ireland with his father and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of TyrconnellRory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell was the last King of Tír Chonaill . An apparent original of the Letters Patent of the Earldom are in the possession of Graf O'Donell von Tyrconnell in Austria, although that family did not inherit the title, nor the related territorial Lordship of...
during 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:...
in September 1607 and went to the European continent. He was considered too young to accompany his father on the journey to Rome and was left in Flanders in the care of his brother Henry. He was educated by Franciscans in Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
.
Military service
Once old enough, he took up service to the Spanish crown in one of the Irish regiments in Flanders. While there he, like his other O'Neill cousins, constantly planned the return of his father and the restoration of the Gaelic order in UlsterUlster
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 became titular colonel of the Regiment of Tyrone on the death of his half-brother Henry at the request of his father. (O'Neill's cousin 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 :...
, although he failed in a bid to assume command of the regiment, later served as second-in-command and acting commander of the regiment until John O'Neill was old enough to assume the role) In 1613 he was at court in Brussels as the page of the Infanta Isabella. After his father died in Rome in 1616, John assumed the title of Earl of Tyrone. His ascent was recognized by both the Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
and the Infanta Isabella of Spain, the Royal Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. His title, Conde, or Count, was recognised in Spain but no longer in England or Ireland. The title had been granted to his great-grandfather Conn Bacach O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone by Henry VIII of England
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...
, and confirmed to his father Hugh by Elizabeth I; it was forfeit by an act of attainder passed by the Irish Parliament in 1608.
A 1625 proposal to the Infanta by Irish expatriates in the Spanish Netherlands, notably Fláithrí Ó Maol Chonaire (anglicised as Florence Conry), then Archbishop of Tuam and O'Neill's cousin, 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 :...
for an invasion of Ireland by Spanish forces was rejected; the Archbishop and Owen Roe O'Neill made their way to Madrid to present the plan to the King of Spain, Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
, arriving in 1627. The proposal called for a landing at Killybegs
Killybegs
Killybegs is the largest fishing port in County Donegal and in Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. The town is situated at the head of a scenic harbour and at the base of a vast mountainous tract extending northward...
, with the city of Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
to be taken to provide a defensible port. The proposal also called for the Spanish forces to be led by John O'Neill and Hugh O'Donnell
Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell
Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell , was titular King of Tír Conaill, and son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell whose title was however attainted.Aodh , was three weeks shy of his first birthday he sailed from Lough Swilly during the Flight of the Earls, and...
, son of Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill, anglicised as either Hugh Roe O'Donnell or Red Hugh O'Donnell , was An Ó Domhnaill and Rí of Tir Chonaill . He led the Irish forces against the English conquest of Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years' War from 1595 to 1603...
. who had accompanied his father to Flanders during the Flight of the Earls. To ease tensions between the two families, it was proposed that both were to be appointed as generals of the invasion force and would be considered equals; O'Donnell would be in command of a second Irish regiment created from the existing regiment and the two new regiments would be supplemented with men drawn from drawn from other Spanish forces in the Netherlands.
Although a fleet of 11 ships was assembled at Dunkirk, with the fleet anticipated to sail in September 1627, disagreements remained over the composition and leadership of the invasion force. The Infanta in Brussels, wishing to reduce the repercussions to Spain in the event of failure, wanted to reduce the number of Walloons and wished for John O'Neill to be in sole command. while Madrid favoured O'Donnell. The final plan proposed in December 1627 called for the establishment of new Irish parliament and that it would be known that O'Neill and O'Donnell were not undertaking the invasion for the personal gain, but for the establishment of a "Kingdom and Republic of Ireland". In the end, the plan was abandoned by the King of Spain.
O'Neill was considered as a threat to English supremacy in Ireland. A 1627 letter from the Lord Deputy of Ireland
Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...
, Viscount Falkland
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland ; son of a Hertfordshire knight; said to have studied at Oxford; served abroad; gentleman of the bedchamber to King James I; K.B., 1608; controller of the household, 1617-21; created Viscount Falkland in the Scottish peerage, 1620; lord-deputy of Ireland, 1622;...
, claimed evidence existed to the effect that the King of Spain planned to send O'Neill to Ireland at the head of a Spanish army to claim the throne of Ulster for O'Neill himself, and to be proclaimed as governor of Ireland on behalf of the Spanish monarch. (Falkland also claimed that a story was circulating among the Irish that O'Neill had already received a crown of gold, which he kept on a table beside his bed).
John O'Neill approached Philip IV with another proposal for an invasion in 1630; this proposal was rebuffed. During his time in Madrid, O'Neill was made a Knight of Calatrava
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164.-Origins and Foundation:...
and a member of the Spanish Supreme Council of War. In 1639, another request by O'Neill to the Spanish king Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
that he be allowed lead a Spanish army to Ireland was rejected. In 1641, Rory O'More
Rory O'More
Rory O'More, also known as Rory Oge O'More , was an Irish rebel.-Early life:He was the second son of Ruairí Ó Mórdha, captain of Leix, and Margaret, daughter of Thomas Butler, and granddaughter of Pierce or Piers Butler, eighth earl of Ormonde...
, unaware of O'Neill's death, sought his assistance for the planned 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...
.
O'Neill used his influence with the Pope to have his former tutor Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil (anglicised as Hugh MacCaghwell) installed as Archbishop of Armagh
Archbishop of Armagh
The Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...
and Primate of Ireland
Primacy of Ireland
The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. Primate is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in the Middle Ages there was an intense rivalry between the two...
in 1626. In 1630 he founded the College of San Pedro, y San Pablo y San Patricio in Alcala; it closed after his death.
In 1638, the Irish regiments commanded by O'Neill and O'Donnell were transferred from the Army of Flanders to Spain to bolster forces there in the face of an expected French invasion. These regiments were involved in the Spanish attempt to put down the Catalan Revolt
Catalan Revolt
The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...
. John died in January 1641, leading his regiment during the Battle of Montjuic
Battle of Montjuïc (1641)
Battle of Montjuïc took place on 26 January 1641 during the Catalan Revolt. A Spanish force under Pedro Fajardo launched an attack on a Catalan rebel force, made up mainly of Miquelet militias led by Francesc de Tamarit, and their French allies....
near Barcelona, dying from a musket-ball wound to his chest near the town of Castelldefels
Castelldefels
Castelldefels is a town in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain and part of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 63.151 .-Geography and location:...
. His regiment suffered catastrophic losses in the engagement. His brother Brian had died two days earlier.
Family
John was born in DungannonDungannon
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...
in 1599. His mother was Catherine Magennis, daughter of Sir Hugh Magennis.
While in Madrid after 1630, he met Isabel O'Donnell and they had a child out of wedlock, Hugh Eugene O’Neill, who was later legitimised by the King. (One suggestion to allay tensions between the O'Neills and O'Donnells during the planning of the aborted 1627 invasion was the marriage of John O'Neill to Mary Stuart O’Donnell, the daughter of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, sister of O'Neill's rival Hugh and cousin of Isabel.)
The family tradition of the O'Neills of Martinique is that John also had a legitimate son Patrick, and that John and Patrick both fought with Owen Roe O'Neill in 1642; according to this tradition, Patrick married and settled in Ireland. The Martinique family claims descent from his son Henry, who emigrated at some time during the reign of James II.
Owen Roe O'Neill was asked whether he was the Earl of Tyrone, and he denied it, saying that the true Earl was Constantino O'Neill, then in Spain; the relationship of this Conn to the rest of the family is unclear.