Mabel Bagenal | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Tyrone | |
| Born | c. 1571 Newry, Ireland |
| Died | December 1595 (aged 24) Newry, Ireland |
| Spouse(s) | Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone |
| Issue | No issue |
| Parents | Sir Nicholas Bagenal Eleanor Griffith |
Mabel O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone (née Bagenal; c. 1571 – December 1595) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman best known as the third wife of prominent Gaelic Irish lord Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
She was born in Newry to British parents. Her father, Marshal Nicholas Bagenal, died in February 1591 and her older brother Henry was charged with her safekeeping. In August, against Henry's will, Mabel eloped with Tyrone, a Gaelic lord twice her age who was a political opponent to Nicholas and Henry. The marriage caused a major scandal and intensified Henry and Tyrone's rivalry. Mabel ultimately became disillusioned with her marriage and eventually died of illness, aged 24.
As her brother and her husband commanded opposing forces during the Nine Years' War,[1] Mabel has been called the "Helen of the Elizabethan Wars".