Henry Hovenden (fl. 1583–1607) was an Anglo-Irish secretary. He was foster-brother and chief advisor to Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone during the Irish Nine Years' War.
Historian John Marshall described Hovenden as O'Neill's "captain, councillor, and confidant". He was commonly known as Harry.
The Hovenden family have roots in Kent, England. Henry's parents were Giles Hovenden, an English settler in Laois, and Elizabeth Cheevers, daughter of Sir Walter Cheevers. He had five siblings – John, Peter, Richard, Walter and Joanne, all born and raised in Ireland – of which Henry was the youngest son.
Sometime after 1558, young brothers Hugh and Brian, grandsons of Irish Gaelic nobleman Conn O'Neill, were moved into the Hovenden family's care. Their father Matthew had been killed in a succession dispute, and the Crown sought to keep the children safe from harm. Ultimately, their aim was to raise Hugh and Brian in the English manner, so that they would be more sympathetic to the English administration once they came of age and took their places in the Gaelic nobility.
To this end, Giles acquired the lease to a property in Balgriffin formerly belonging to Conn, via an arrangement made with the Crown.[1] Giles had a pre-existing business connection with Conn. This is the residence where Henry grew up.[2]
Henry Hovenden and Hugh O'Neill remained close throughout the rest of their lives, and Hovenden became his secretary and advisor. One of the first records of their professional association is from 23 August 1583, when he was mentioned as being involved in a dispute between O'Neill and the Viscount Gormanston. In November 1583 and June 1585, Hovenden is mentioned as O'Neill's messenger and ambassador to the English Privy Council.
In May 1586, Hovenden bribed William Cecil to overlook O'Neill's increasingly dubious activities. O'Neill commonly bribed government officials throughout his career, and it appears that Hovenden was responsible for much of the logistics.
Henry and his brother Richard commanded O'Neill's troops in the late 1580s.[3] Circa late 1588, they organised the largest single massacre of Spanish Armada survivors in Inishowen.[4] On 14 September 1588, writing from Dungannon, Henry Hovenden reported to Lord Deputy William FitzWilliam that "they with 150 men attacked the Spaniards at Illagh, the O'Docartaig town, and the second day took them prisoners. Pray for a warrrant for their victualling &c, to Dublin. One of the prisoners has commanded over 30,000 men."
Around 1586, Henry Hovenden was ostensibly sent to assist military leader Hugh Roe O'Donnell in pacifying Connacht, however the state intercepted a letter which boasted that "all the delays that could possibly be used for prolonging the causes here have not been omitted".[5]
O'Neill trusted Hovenden to such a degree that, in January 1596, he paused negotiations with Elizabeth I's Commissioners purportedly due to Hovenden's absence. During this time Hovenden was busy meeting with a Spanish messenger.
Unlike Henry and Richard, their brother Walter remained loyal to the Crown. On 7 December 1597, Walter was killed in battle by the Irish forces of rebel leaders Owny MacRory O'More and Richard Tyrrell.
Henry Hovenden resided in Dungannon. He took part in the Flight of the Earls in 1607, leaving Ireland for Continental Europe.[6] [7]
It appears Hovenden never returned to Ireland, and it is probable he died in continental Europe.
Hovenden is a character in Brian Friel's play Making History.[8]