Back هيو اونيل ايرل تيرون ARZ Hugh O'Neill Czech Aodh Mór Ó Néill, 2. Earl of Tyrone German Aodh Mór Ó Néill Esperanto Hugo O'Neill Spanish Hugh O’Neill Finnish Hugh O'Neill French Aodh Ó Néill Irish Aodh Mór Ó Néill Scots/Gaelic Hugh O'Neill Italian
| Hugh O'Neill Aodh Ó Néill | |
|---|---|
 Hugh O'Neill, part of a 1610 fresco in the Vatican | |
| An Ó Néill, King of Tír Eoghain | |
| Reign | 1595–1616 |
| Predecessor | Turlough Luineach O'Neill |
| Successor | Title Dormant |
| Earl of Tyrone | |
| Reign | 1585–1613 |
| Predecessor | Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone |
| Successor | Title attainted in 1614[a] |
| 3rd Baron Dungannon | |
| Reign | 1562–1587 |
| Predecessor | Brian O'Neill, 2nd Baron Dungannon |
| Successor | Hugh O'Neill, 4th Baron Dungannon |
| Born | c. 1550[b] Oneilland, Tír Eoghain, Ireland (present-day County Armagh) |
| Died | 20 July 1616 (aged about 66) Rome, Papal States |
| Burial | 21 July 1616[4] San Pietro in Montorio, Rome |
| Spouse |
|
| Issue | Conn, Rose, Alice, Hugh, Henry, Shane, Conn Ruadh and others |
| House | O'Neill dynasty (MacBaron branch) |
| Father | Feardorcha "Matthew" O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon |
| Mother | Siobhán Maguire |
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone[c] (Irish: Aodh Mór Ó Néill;[d] c. 1550 – 20 July 1616) was a Gaelic Irish lord and key figure of the Nine Years' War. Known as the "Great Earl",[6][7] he led the confederacy of Irish clans against the English Crown in resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I.
He was born into the O'Neill clan, Tír Eoghain's ruling noble family, during a violent succession conflict which saw his father assassinated. At the age of eight he was relocated to the Pale where he was raised by an English family. Although the Crown hoped to mold him into a puppet ruler sympathetic to the English government, by the 1570s he had built a strong network of both British and Irish contacts which he utilised for his pursuit of political power.
Through the early 1590s, Tyrone secretly supported rebellions against the Crown's advances into Ulster whilst publicly maintaining a loyal appearance. He regularly deceived government officials via bribes and convoluted disinformation campaigns. Via his web of alliances and the heavy taxation of his subjects, he could arm and feed over 8,000 men, making him well-prepared to resist English incursions. In 1591 he caused a stir when he eloped with Mabel Bagenal, younger sister of the Marshal of the Queen's Irish Army. During the Battle of Belleek Tyrone fought alongside his brother-in-law Henry Bagenal whilst covertly commanding the very troops they were fighting against. After years of playing both sides, he finally went into open rebellion in early 1595 with an assault on the Blackwater Fort. Despite victories at the Battle of the Yellow Ford and Battle of Curlew Pass, the confederacy began to suffer upon the arrival of Lord Deputy Mountjoy and commander Henry Docwra in Ulster. Tyrone was not able to secure Spanish reinforcements until late 1601. The confederacy was decisively defeated at the Siege of Kinsale, and Tyrone surrendered to Mountjoy in 1603 with the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.
Due to increasing hostility against Tyrone and his allies, in 1607 he made the "snap decision" to flee with his countrymen to continental Europe in what is known as the Flight of the Earls. He settled in Rome where he was granted a small pension by Pope Paul V. Despite his plans to return to and retake Ireland, he died during his exile.
In comparison to his "warlike and arrogant" ally Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Tyrone was cautious and deliberate.[15][16] A consummate liar, he is considered an enigma to historians due to the elaborate bluffs he employed to mislead his opponents.[17][18][19] Although wartime propaganda promoted Tyrone as a "Catholic crusader", historians believe his motivations were primarily political rather than religious - though he apparently underwent a genuine conversion around 1598. He also held the title 3rd Baron Dungannon, and in 1595 he became Chief of the Name of the O'Neill clan. He had four wives, many concubines and various children.[20][21]
- ^ Cokayne 1896, p. 450.
- ^ Walsh 1974, p. 320.
- ^ Walsh 1957a, p. 13.
- ^ Ó Fearghail 2009, p. 47. "Hugh O'Neill fell ill with fever in late 1615 and never recovered. He died on 20 July 1616 and was solemnly buried the following day in a Franciscan habit in the church of S. Pietro in Montorio after an elaborate funeral."
- ^ Canny 2004, p. 837.
- ^ a b The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (12 April 2024). "Hugh O'Neill, 2nd earl of Tyrone". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024.
- ^ a b McNeill 1911, p. 109.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Grahamwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'Neill (Ó Néill), Brian". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Cokayne 1896, p. 449.
- ^ "Aodh Ó Néill - Cartlann". Cartlann. 22 December 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "The Hugh O'Neill Commemorative Medal". O'Neill Country Historical Society. 7 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ McInerney, Luke (2017). "Six Deeds from Early Seventeenth Century Thomond". Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies. 10: 33–76. ISSN 1931-2539. JSTOR 26194030.
- ^ "mór". Dictionary and Language Library. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ Morgan 1993, pp. 216–217.
- ^ McGinty 2013b, p. 13.
- ^ Morgan 1993, p. 217.
- ^ Canny 2022, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Greene, Douglas G. (1 October 1987). "Walsh Micheline Kerney. "Destruction by Peace" Hugh O'Neill after Kinsale, Glanconcadhain 1602-Rome 1616. Armagh, Northern Ireland: Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 1986. Pp. xvi, 434. £30". The American Historical Review. 92 (4): 965. doi:10.1086/ahr/92.4.965.
- ^ McNeill 1911, p. 110.
- ^ Casway 2016, pp. 69, 73.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).