Donnell O'Donnell

Sir Donnell O'Donnell (Irish: Domhnall Ó Domhnaill, died 1590) was a member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell in modern-day County Donegal. He was the eldest son of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, the ruler of Tyrconnell for much of the reign of Elizabeth I.

Biography

O'Donnell was the eldest son of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, the ruler of Tyrconnell. O'Donnell was a leading contender in the O'Donnell succession dispute of the 1580s which took place while his father was still alive. Amongst the other leading contenders were his half-brother Hugh Roe O'Donnell and his great-uncle Hugh Dubh O'Donnell. Donnell received the backing of the Crown, who felt he had a strong claim to the title although his father had not nominated him as his successor. The government felt that Donnell could command more support locally than his brother as Donnell's mother was a Donegal woman while Hugh Roe was the son of Iníon Dubh, a Scottish woman.^[1]

Shortly after the Armada shipwreck of 1588 O'Donnell was appointed as Sheriff of Donegal by the Lord Deputy William FitzWilliam.^[2] Fitzwilliam also had Sir Eoin O'Gallagher, an influential supporter of Hugh Roe arrested and imprisoned. In 1589 a force of Irish Army troops were sent into the area under Captain John Connill who assisted Donnell against his rivals.

Domhnall grew stronger in the late 1580s, and took control over much of western Tyrconnell. He was also powerful enough to interfere in a succession dispute in neighboring Fermanagh, where he established Hugh Maguire as chief ahead of his rival Connor Roe Maguire.^[2] Donnell also drew strength from the support of Sir Turlough O'Neill, whose daughter he married.^[3]

Faced with the eclipse of her son Hugh Roe's position, Iníon Dubh acted decisively. She hired large numbers of Redshank mercenaries from her native Scotland to confront her son's rival. Donnell was defeated and killed at the Battle of Doire Leathan on 3 September 1590.^[2] Two years later Hugh Roe successfully had himself made O'Donnell.

Family tree

O'Donnell family tree

Sir Hugh O'Donnell (Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill; died 1600)^{[lower-roman 1]}
- Married first: an unnamed Irish woman
  - Donnchadh (Scaite)
  - Donnell (Domhnall d.1590
    - Wife: daughter of Turlough O'Neill
      - Dómhnall Óg^{[lower-roman 2]}
  - Ruadhri (died 1575)
  - Siobhán, or Joan (died 1591)^{[lower-roman 1]}
    - Married: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.^{[lower-roman 3]}
      - Hugh (1585–1609)^{[lower-roman 3]} He was known as the baron of Dungannon, died in Rome and was buried in San Pietro di Montorio.^{[lower-roman 4]}
      - Henry O'Neill (1586?–1617×21)^{[lower-roman 3]} He became a colonel of an Irish regiment in Archduke Albert's army.^{[lower-roman 4]}
      - Margaret, who married Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret.^{[lower-roman 4]}
  - daughter (fl. 1579)
  - Nuala (fl. 1592)^{[lower-roman 1]}
    - Married Niall Garbh O'Donnel(1569–1626)
      - Grania
- Second marriage: Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" Ní Seamus MacDonnell (married Aodh in 1569)
  - Aodh Ruadh (1571–1602).^{[lower-roman 1]}
  - Rudhraighe (died 1608).^{[lower-roman 1]}
    - - Elizabeth^{[lower-roman 5]}
        Husband: Luke Plunket later 1st Earl of Fingall survived Elizabeth and married twice more.
    - Wife: Brigid daughter of Earl of Kildare
      - Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell.^{[lower-roman 5]}^{[lower-roman 2]}
        Married: Anna-Margaret, daughter of Maximilian de Hennin, Count de Bossut.^{[lower-roman 6]}
      - Mary Stuart O'Donnell (1607–1639?).^{[lower-roman 5]}
  - Maghnus alive 1608
  - Mairghead died 1662
  - Máire (died 1662)
    - Married: Tadhg Ó Ruairc, King of West Breifne (died 1605)
  - Cathbarr (dead by September 1608)
    - Wife: Rosa (c.1588–1660) the daughter of Sir John O'Doherty — married secondly Owen Roe O'Neill (c. 1585–1649) who she met in the Low Countries
      - Hugh O'Donnell (died 1625), became a captain in the Spanish Army, serving in Flanders in the regiment of his stepfather (Owen Roe O'Neill). He was killed during the Siege of Breda.^{[lower-roman 7]}

Notes:

1 2 3 4 5 Burke 1866, p. 409.
1 2 If the Earldom of Tyrconnell had not been attained, then next in line as 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell would have been Dómhnall Óg son of Sir Donnell O'Donnell (an elder half brother of the 1st Earl)
1 2 3 Canny 2008
1 2 3 Dunlop 1895, p. 196
1 2 3 "Hugh Albert O'Donnell, born [to Rory and Brigid] about October 1606, was the only son of this marriage, Mary Stuart O'Donnell being born about a year later. Some authorities give an eldest child, Elizabeth, probably illegitimate, who became first wife of Luke Plunkett, first earl of Fingall" (Silke 2006).
↑ Burke 1866, p. 410.
↑ Casway 1984, pp. 27–28.

Sources:

Burke, Sir Bernard (1866), A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, Harrison, pp. 409–410
Canny, Nicholas (January 2008) [2004], "O'Neill, Hugh , second earl of Tyrone (c.1550–1616)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20775 (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Casway, Jerrold (1984), Owen Roe O'Neill and the Struggle for Catholic Ireland, University of Pennsylvania Press
Dunlop, Robert (1895), "O'Neill, Hugh (1540?-1616)", Dictionary of National Biography, 42, pp. 188–196
Silke, John J. (May 2006) [2004]. "O'Donnell, Rury , styled first earl of Tyrconnell (1574/5–1608)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20559. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Notes

↑ Morgan 1999, p. 124.
1 2 3 Morgan 1999, p. 130.
↑ Morgan 1999, p. 107.

References

Morgan, Hiram (1999), Tyrone's Rebellion, Boydell Press

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