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O'Neill dynasty
The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: Ó Néill) are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically one of the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell dynasty. Some O'Neills state that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Two of their progenitors were High Kings of Ireland: Niall Glúndub (from whom they take their name) and Domnall ua Néill. From 1232 until 1616, the O'Neills were sovereign kings of Tír Eógain, holding territories in the north of Ireland in the province of Ulster, particularly around modern County Tyrone, County Londonderry and County Antrim, in what is now Northern Ireland. After their territory was merged with the Kingdom of Ireland and the land was caught up in the Plantation of Ulster, they were involved in a number of events, such as Tyrone's Rebellion, the Flight of the Earls, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Irish Confederate Wars.
The O'Neill lineage claims descent from Niall Glúndub, a 10th-century king of Ailech as well as High King of Ireland. Niall was descended from the Cenél nEógain branch of the Northern Uí Néill. The first to adopt the patronymic surname was Niall Glúndub's great-grandson, Flaithbertach Ua Néill.
The clan is not mentioned in the Annals of Ireland between the 1080s and 1160s, during which period they emerged from a "very murky background". In 1167, King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobhair of Ireland marched north and split the kingdom of Ailech into two areas. The portion north of Slieve Gallion was given to Niall Mac Lochlainn (McLaughlin), with the portion south of Slieve Gallion given to Áed Ua Néill. The two rival dynasties contested for control over Tír Eoghain until the battle of Caimeirge in 1241, where the O'Neills killed the MacLoughlin leadership.
After 1241, the O'Neill house dominated and displaced other clans, using the disruption of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 to their benefit and consolidating power.[citation needed] The Bruce Invasion of Ireland devastated the Norman Earldom of Ulster, which held sway over eastern Ulster and most of its north coast all the way to Derry. Its collapse in 1333 allowed a branch of the O'Neill that had been on good terms with the Normans, Clandeboye, to step into the power vacuum and take control over large parts of eastern Ulster.
In 1493, Henry VII of England referred to Henry O'Neill, King of Tyrone, as "the Chief of the Irish Kings" and gave him a gift of livery.
The earldom of Tyrone was eventually granted in 1542.
After nearly a decade of warfare with the English forces in Ireland, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, surrendered in 1603, just days after the death of his enemy Queen Elizabeth. Hugh stayed in Ulster as the Earl for another five years. But after numerous threats to his life, he secretly departed Ireland for the French coast in 1607 in what is famously called the Flight of the Earls. Hugh 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; when he died in 1641 at the head of his regiment in Spain. Other Spanish exiled descendants of Hugh Rua continued to use the title and command the Ulster Irish Regiment in the Spanish Army through the seventeenth century.
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O'Neill dynasty
The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: Ó Néill) are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically one of the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell dynasty. Some O'Neills state that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Two of their progenitors were High Kings of Ireland: Niall Glúndub (from whom they take their name) and Domnall ua Néill. From 1232 until 1616, the O'Neills were sovereign kings of Tír Eógain, holding territories in the north of Ireland in the province of Ulster, particularly around modern County Tyrone, County Londonderry and County Antrim, in what is now Northern Ireland. After their territory was merged with the Kingdom of Ireland and the land was caught up in the Plantation of Ulster, they were involved in a number of events, such as Tyrone's Rebellion, the Flight of the Earls, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Irish Confederate Wars.
The O'Neill lineage claims descent from Niall Glúndub, a 10th-century king of Ailech as well as High King of Ireland. Niall was descended from the Cenél nEógain branch of the Northern Uí Néill. The first to adopt the patronymic surname was Niall Glúndub's great-grandson, Flaithbertach Ua Néill.
The clan is not mentioned in the Annals of Ireland between the 1080s and 1160s, during which period they emerged from a "very murky background". In 1167, King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobhair of Ireland marched north and split the kingdom of Ailech into two areas. The portion north of Slieve Gallion was given to Niall Mac Lochlainn (McLaughlin), with the portion south of Slieve Gallion given to Áed Ua Néill. The two rival dynasties contested for control over Tír Eoghain until the battle of Caimeirge in 1241, where the O'Neills killed the MacLoughlin leadership.
After 1241, the O'Neill house dominated and displaced other clans, using the disruption of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 to their benefit and consolidating power.[citation needed] The Bruce Invasion of Ireland devastated the Norman Earldom of Ulster, which held sway over eastern Ulster and most of its north coast all the way to Derry. Its collapse in 1333 allowed a branch of the O'Neill that had been on good terms with the Normans, Clandeboye, to step into the power vacuum and take control over large parts of eastern Ulster.
In 1493, Henry VII of England referred to Henry O'Neill, King of Tyrone, as "the Chief of the Irish Kings" and gave him a gift of livery.
The earldom of Tyrone was eventually granted in 1542.
After nearly a decade of warfare with the English forces in Ireland, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, surrendered in 1603, just days after the death of his enemy Queen Elizabeth. Hugh stayed in Ulster as the Earl for another five years. But after numerous threats to his life, he secretly departed Ireland for the French coast in 1607 in what is famously called the Flight of the Earls. Hugh 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; when he died in 1641 at the head of his regiment in Spain. Other Spanish exiled descendants of Hugh Rua continued to use the title and command the Ulster Irish Regiment in the Spanish Army through the seventeenth century.