Siobhán O'Donnell Siobhán Ní Domhnaill | |
---|---|
Countess of Tyrone | |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Born | Sixteenth century |
Died | c. January 1591 |
Noble family | O'Donnell dynasty |
Spouse(s) | Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (m. 1574) |
Issue | Numerous, including Alice O'Neill |
Father | Hugh McManus O'Donnell |
Mother | Nuala O'Neill |
Siobhán O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone[1] (née O'Donnell; Irish: Siobhán Ní Domhnaill; died c. January 1591), sometimes anglicised Joanna, Joan, or Judith,[2] was a sixteenth-century Irish Gaelic noblewoman of the O'Donnell clan. She is known for being the second wife of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, bearing him most of his children.
Family background
She was the daughter of Irish chief Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell.[3] Her mother was Sir Hugh's first wife, who historian Francis Martin O'Donnell has named as "Nuala, a daughter of O’Neill".[4]
Historian Helena Concannon believes Siobhán was born c. 1569,[5] and that her mother was Sir Hugh's second wife Iníon Dubh,[6] whom he married not later than 1569.[7][2] However, Siobhán's marriage in 1574 makes that date of birth extremely unlikely.[8][1]
Siobhán's most prominent full-sibling was Donal O'Donnell. He attempted to depose his father, and in September 1590's Battle of Doire Leathan, Donal was killed by Scottish Redshanks led by his step-mother Iníon Dubh.[7][9] Siobhan's younger half-siblings included chiefs Red Hugh O'Donnell[10] and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.[11]
Marriage
From the late-1560s to early-1570s, Hugh O'Neill, Baron Dungannon, allied with many neighbouring clans to strength his political position.[3] Siobhán married O'Neill in June 1574.[8][1] Walter Devereaux, the 1st Earl of Essex, announced their marriage on 14 June.[2] O'Neill had annulled his first marriage earlier the same year, on the grounds of consanguinity.[12] This was in order to cut ties with his first father-in-law, who had been arrested for treason.[13]
In 1579, O'Neill became frustrated with his failure to seize the title of The O'Neill from clan chief Turlough Luineach O'Neill. He repudiated his marriage to Siobhán, and planned to wed one of Turlough's daughters, in a ploy to become Turlough's tanist. His plan failed and Hugh reconciled with Siobhán.[3]
Death
In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill references Siobhán's recent death.[14] He remarried to Anglo-Irish noblewoman Mabel Bagenal on 3 August 1591.[14][15]
Children
Siobhán and Hugh had two sons and multiple daughters:
- Margaret who married Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret sometime before 8 October 1596.[16][17][18]
- Sarah (fl. 1595–1602),[a] who married Sir Arthur Magennis, 1st Viscount Iveagh sometime before 4 March 1595[17][20][21] - possibly in 1590.[22]
- Alice[b] (1583 - c. 1665)[c] who married Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim.[23][26][27]
- Hugh (1585 - 24 September 1609)[28][29] known as the Baron of Dungannon. He died in Rome and was buried in San Pietro di Montorio.[17]
- Henry (c. 1586[30] - c. 1620[d]) He became a colonel of an Irish regiment in the Archduke's army.[17]
- Mary (fl. 1608), who married Brian McHugh Og MacMahon.[26][33] According to historian George Hill, she is the same woman who married Sir Ross McMahon.[34][35]
Family tree
Issue of Hugh McManus O'Donnell (Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill; c. 1520 - 1600)[i] First marriage: Nuala O'Neill[α]
Second marriage, 1569: Fiona MacDonald (Fionnghuala Nic Dhomhnaill, also known as Iníon Dubh; fl. 1567–1611), daughter of James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg and Agnes Campbell.[xxiv][xxv][xxvi]
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Notes and references
Notes
- ^ Her death date has alternately been given as 1639, 26 April 1640, or sometime after 31 March 1642.[19]
- ^ Dunlop believes that her mother was Catherine Magennis.[17] More recently, Casway and Cokayne believe her mother was Siobhan O'Donnell,[1][23] which, based on Alice's birthdate, is more likely.
- ^ Most sources give her a birthdate of c. 1583,[24][23] though Walsh has demonstrated that a birthdate of c. 1588 is possible.[25]
- ^ Sources disagree on Henry's date of death: 1610,[31] c. 1620,[30] or c. 1626.[17] It is clear that he died sometime before the publication of Philip O'Sullevan's Historia Catholica in 1621.[32]
Citations
- ^ a b c d Casway 2016, p. 71.
- ^ a b c Walsh 1930, p. 17.
- ^ a b c Morgan, Hiram (September 2014). "O'Neill, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006962.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ O'Donnell, Francis Martin (15 November 2018). "The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy (Maunsel Irish Research Series)". Academica Press. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218-219. "Siobhan was probably the eldest of the family, and must have been born not later than 1569." "We know little of Siobhan, who can hardly have been more than one-and- twenty, when she died in 1590."
- ^ Concannon 1920.
- ^ a b O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "MacDonnell (Nic Dhomhnaill), Fiona (Fionnghuala) ('Iníon Dubh')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006337.v1.
- ^ a b Canny 2004, p. 511-512.
- ^ Annals of the Four Masters
- ^ Morgan, Hiram (October 2009). "O'Donnell, 'Red' Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006343.v1.
- ^ Webb, Alfred (1878). "Rury O'Donnell". A Compendium of Irish Biography.
- ^ Canny 2004.
- ^ Casway 2016, p. 70-71.
- ^ a b Walsh 1930.
- ^ O'Byrne, Emmett; Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy (October 2009). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006953.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f Dunlop 1895, p. 196.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 35-36.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 39.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 38-39.
- ^ Casway 2016, p. 71, 73, 78.
- ^ Guinness, Henry S. (1932). "Magennis of Iveagh". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 2 (1): 97. ISSN 0035-9106.
- ^ a b c Cokayne 1910, p. 174. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
- ^ Hill 1873. "Sir Randal Macdonnell was married about the year 1604 to Ellis or Alice O'Neill, the third daughter of Hugh earl of Tyrone. This lady, who was born in 1583, was in her twenty-first year at the time of her marriage, and was younger than either of her sisters, lady Macmahon or Lady Maginnis. She was older than her brother Hugh, the baron of Dungannon."
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 41-42.
- ^ a b Casway 2016, p. 71, 78.
- ^ Ohlmeyer 2001, p. 359. "O'Neill, Ellis (Alice), countess of Antrim (d. c. 1665) ..."
- ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218. "The inscription on the tomb in San Pietro in Montorio shows that her eldest child, Hugh, was born in 1585."
- ^ Casway 2016, p. 71-72.
- ^ a b Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459.
- ^ Casway 2016, p. 72.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 30.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 40.
- ^ Hill, George (1877). An historical account of the plantation in Ulster at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 1608-1620. Belfast: McCaw, Stevenson and Orr. p. 41.
- ^ Walsh 1930, p. 33.
Sources
- Canny, Nicholas (2004). "O'Neill, Hugh [Aodh O'Neill], second earl of Tyrone (1583–1616)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 837–845. ISBN 0-19-861391-1.
- Casway, Jerrold (2016). "Catherine Magennis and the Wives of Hugh O'Neill". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 26 (1): 69–79. JSTOR 48568219.
- Cokayne, George Edward (1910). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. I (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Ab-Adam to Basing
- Concannon, Helena (1920). "'The Woman of the Piercing Wail' (The Lady Nuala O'Donnell)". The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. 16. Dublin: John F. Fowler.
- Dunlop, Robert (1895). "O'Neill, Hugh, third Baron of Dungannon and second Earl of Tyrone 1540?–1616". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. XLII. New York: MacMillan and Co. pp. 188–196. OCLC 8544105.
- Hill, George (1873). An historical account of the Macdonnells of Antrim: including notices of some other septs Irish and Scotch. Belfast: Archer & Sons. p. 222.
- Ohlmeyer, Jane H (2001) [1993]. Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms: The Career of Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-0521419789. (Snippet view)
- Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1867). "PROCEEDINGS AND PAPERS". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 5: 459.
- Walsh, Paul (1930). Walsh, Paul (ed.). THE WILL AND FAMILY OF HUGH O NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE [WITH AN APPENDIX OF GENEALOGIES] (PDF). Dublin: Sign of the Three Candles.