Rose MacDonnell of Antrim

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Rose McDonnell, was the granddaughter of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and was born at Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, in about 1619.

Her brother Randal MacDonnell, 2nd Earl of Antrim, married Katherine Manners / Villiers in 1635. Katherine was reputed to be the richest woman in Britain, and her money enabled the MacDonnells to restore Dunluce Castle between 1636-39.

In about 1637 Rose MacDonnell married the Hon. George Gordon, younger brother of Lord John Gordon, 14th Earl of Sutherland.

Following the Irish Rebellion of 1641 the couple moved to the safety of Dunrobin Castle in the Sutherland Highlands - the Scottish seat of the Gordon family.

Lady Rose, who was probably painted by Cornelis van Ceulen Janssens in 1636, had two surviving children and died in Belfast in 1683. Her portrait, recently identified under the title "Rose McDonnel of Waterford", has hung in a country house outside Colchester since 1965.

The Earls of Antrim resided in the Waterford area from 1641 until 1745, when they re-established the family seat in Glenarm, County Antrim.