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Siobhán O'Donnell

Siobhán O'Donnell
Countess of Tyrone
BornSixteenth century
DiedJanuary 1591
Noble familyO'Donnell dynasty
Spouse(s)Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (m. 1574)
IssueNumerous, including Alice, Hugh and Henry
FatherHugh McManus O'Donnell
MotherNuala O'Neill

Siobhán O'Donnell, Countess of Tyrone[1][a] (Irish: Siobhán Ní Domhnaill; died January 1591), sometimes anglicised Joanna, Joan, or Judith,[2] was a sixteenth-century Irish noblewoman of the O'Donnell clan. She was the second wife of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and bore him most of his children.

Family background

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Siobhán was the daughter of Hugh McManus O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell.[3] Her mother was Sir Hugh's first wife[1][4][5] (not his second wife, Iníon Dubh).[4][5][1] Historian Francis Martin O'Donnell has named Sir Hugh's first wife as "Nuala, a daughter of O’Neill",[6][7] and states that she was the daughter of Shane O'Neill. Siobhán's mother had probably died by 1566.[7]

Historian Helena Concannon believes Siobhán was born c. 1569,[8] and that her mother was Iníon Dubh,[9] whom her father married in 1569.[2][10][11] However, Siobhán's marriage in 1574 makes that date of birth extremely unlikely.[12][1][13]

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.[14][15] Siobhan's younger half-siblings included future clan chief Hugh Roe O'Donnell[16] and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.[17]

Marriage

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From the late-1560s to early-1570s, Hugh O'Neill (then 3rd Baron Dungannon) allied with many neighbouring clans to strength his political position.[3] Siobhán married Hugh in June 1574.[18][1][4] Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, announced their marriage on 14 June.[2] Hugh had annulled his first marriage earlier the same year, on the grounds of consanguinity.[19] This was in order to cut ties with his first father-in-law, who had been arrested for treason.[20]

In 1579,[21] Hugh became frustrated with his failure to seize the title of The O'Neill from clan chief Turlough Luineach O'Neill.[3] Hugh briefly repudiated his marriage to Siobhán,[21] who had not yet born Hugh a male heir,[3] and he prepared to wed a daughter of Turlough Luineach with the aim of becoming the O'Neill clan's tanist.[22] In February 1579 it was reported that Hugh and Turlough "knit up such a league of friendship". However this alliance did not last long and the new marriage was called off.[23] Hugh was bought off by a government commission[22] who convinced Hugh that, due to Turlough's age and ill health, Turlough would probably die soon enough.[24] This episode apparently convinced Hugh that his "fate was tied to that of O'Donnell" and he solidified his alliance with the O'Donnell clan by reconciling with Siobhán. However it is possible that his reconciliation with Siobhán was a calculated move to keep in the government's favour.[23]

The O'Neill-O'Donnell clan alliance would develop further by 1587, by which time Siobhán's younger half-brother Hugh Roe was betrothed to Rose, O'Neill's daughter[25][10][16] from an earlier marriage.[26][27]

Death

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In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill informed Lord Burghley of Siobhán's recent death.[28][29] He remarried to Anglo-Irish noblewoman Mabel Bagenal on 3 August 1591.[30]

Children

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Siobhán and Hugh had two sons and multiple daughters:

Family tree

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Notes

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  1. ^ It is unclear whether or not Siobhán took her husband's surname.
  2. ^ Her death date has alternately been given as 1639, 26 April 1640, or sometime after 31 March 1642.[35]
  3. ^ Dunlop believes that her mother was Catherine Magennis.[31] More recently, Casway and Cokayne believe her mother was Siobhan O'Donnell,[1][45] which, based on Alice's birthdate, is more likely.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Walsh, Paul (1922). Hugh Roe O'Donnell's Sisters. The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. XIX. Dublin: 358–364. p. 362.
  2. ^ Ó Domhnaill, Niall (1952). Na Glúnta Rosannacha. p. 87. The historicity of this person is disputed.
  3. ^ a b c d O'Donnell, Eunan (2006). Reflection on the Flight of the Earls. Donegal Annual (58): 31–44. pp. 37–38. Gráinne and Meadhb are known only as sisters of the Earl (i.e. Rory), with no additional information.
  4. ^ a b c d Walsh, Micheline Kerney (1996). An exile of Ireland, Hugh O'Neill, Prince of Ulster. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 62–63
  5. ^ Walsh, Paul (1929). The Book of O'Donnell's Daughter. The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. XXXIII. Dublin: 561–575. p. 571.
  1. ^ a b c d e f Casway 2016, p. 71.
  2. ^ a b c Walsh 1930, p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c d Morgan, Hiram (September 2014). "O'Neill, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006962.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Walsh 1930, pp. 17–18.
  5. ^ a b McGettigan 2005, p. 36.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Table C - Last regnant mainline dynasty (PDF), pp. 435–442, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2025. Footnote vi.
  8. ^ 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."
  9. ^ Concannon 1920.
  10. ^ a b Morgan 1993, p. 124.
  11. ^ Walsh 1922, p. 362.
  12. ^ Canny 2004, p. 511-512.
  13. ^ Walsh 1922, pp. 358–359.
  14. ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "MacDonnell (Nic Dhomhnaill), Fiona (Fionnghuala) ('Iníon Dubh')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006337.v1.
  15. ^ Morgan 1993, p. 130.
  16. ^ a b Morgan, Hiram (October 2009). "O'Donnell, 'Red' Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006343.v1.
  17. ^ Webb, Alfred (1878). "Rury O'Donnell". A Compendium of Irish Biography.
  18. ^ Canny 2004, pp. 511–512.
  19. ^ Canny 2004.
  20. ^ Casway 2016, pp. 70–71.
  21. ^ a b Canny 2004, p. 839.
  22. ^ a b Morgan 2005, p. 42.
  23. ^ a b McGinty 2013, p. 19.
  24. ^ Dunlop 1895, p. 188.
  25. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 36.
  26. ^ Casway 2016, p. 78.
  27. ^ Morgan 1993, p. 96.
  28. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 26.
  29. ^ Walsh 1922, p. 360.
  30. ^ Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy; O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.3318/dib.006953.v1. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024.
  31. ^ a b c Dunlop 1895, p. 196.
  32. ^ Walsh 1930, pp. 35–36.
  33. ^ Matthew, H. C. G. (Henry Colin Gray); Harrison, Brian; British Academy (2004). Oxford dictionary of national biography : in association with the British Academy : from the earliest times to the year 2000. Internet Archive. Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1. "Shortly before 8 October 1596 he married Margaret O'Neill, daughter of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, with whom he had three sons and six daughters."{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  34. ^ Edwards, David (October 2009). "Butler, Richard". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.001283.v1. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  35. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 39.
  36. ^ Dunlop 1895, p. 196; Casway 2016, pp. 71, 73, 78.
  37. ^ Walsh 1930, pp. 38–39.
  38. ^ Guinness, Henry S. (1932). "Magennis of Iveagh". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 2 (1): 97. ISSN 0035-9106. JSTOR 25513625.
  39. ^ Humphrys, Mark (21 May 2011). "The Queen's Irish ancestors". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  40. ^ Humphrys, Mark. "The Queen's Irish ancestry". humphrysfamilytree.com. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  41. ^ Casway 2016, pp. 71, 78.
  42. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 40.
  43. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 33.
  44. ^ 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.
  45. ^ 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."
  46. ^ a b Hill 1873, p. 222.
  47. ^ Ohlmeyer 2001, p. 359. "O'Neill, Ellis (Alice), countess of Antrim (d. c. 1665) ..."
  48. ^ Casway 2016, pp. 71, 78; Cokayne 1910, p. 174; Hill 1873, p. 222.
  49. ^ Casway 2016, p. 71–72.
  50. ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218. "The inscription on the tomb in San Pietro in Montorio shows that her eldest child, Hugh, was born in 1585."
  51. ^ a b Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. p. 3006
  52. ^ Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459.
  53. ^ Walsh, Micheline (April 1957). The O'Neills in Spain (PDF). pp. 7–9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 July 2024.

Sources

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