| Hugh O'Neill Aodh Ó Néill | |
| Earl of Tyrone | |
| Tenure: | 1587–1607 |
| Predecessor: | Turlough Luineach O'Neill |
| Successor: | Henry O'Neill |
| Noble Family: | O'Neill dynasty (MacBaron branch) |
| Issue: | Hugh, Henry, Alice, Conn, Shane, Rose and others |
| Father: | Feardorcha "Matthew" O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon |
| Mother: | Siobhán Maguire |
| Signature: | Earl of Tyrone Signature (cropped).pdf |
| Birth Place: | Oneilland, Tír Eoghain, Ireland (modern-day County Armagh) |
| Death Date: | 20 July 1616 (aged about 66) |
| Death Place: | Rome, Papal States |
| Place Of Burial: | San Pietro in Montorio, Rome |
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (Irish: Aodh Mór Ó Néill; – 20 July 1616) was an Irish Gaelic lord and key figure of the Irish Nine Years' War. Known as the "Great Earl",[1] 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 to the O'Neill clan, a prominent Gaelic Irish 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 led 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, leaving 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 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 Irish confederacy began to suffer major losses due to Lord Deputy Mountjoy's scorched earth tactics. The confederacy was decisively defeated at the Battle of Kinsale, and Tyrone surrendered to Mountjoy in April 1603 with the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.
Due to increasing hostility against Tyrone and his allies,[2] 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.[3]
In comparison to his "warlike and arrogant" ally Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Tyrone was cautious and deliberative. He is considered an enigma to historians due to the elaborate bluffs he employed to mislead his opponents as well as his unknown religious convictions. Although wartime propaganda promoted Tyrone as a "Catholic crusader", modern historians believe his motivations were always more political than religious - though he apparently underwent a genuine conversion around 1598. He also held the title 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.
Hugh O'Neill was born in the barony of Oneilland, Tír Eoghain (modern-day northern County Armagh)—possibly in a crannog such as Marlacoo.[4] The O'Neill dynasty were Tír Eoghain's ruling Gaelic Irish noble family.[5] He was the second son of Feardorcha "Matthew" O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon (–1558) and his wife Siobhán Maguire (died 1600).[6] Matthew was the son of clan chief Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone (–1559) and Alison Kelly of Dundalk, a blacksmith's wife.[7] Siobhán was a daughter of Cúconnacht Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh (1480–1537).[8] Hugh had an elder brother, Brian O'Neill, and two half-brothers, Cormac MacBaron O'Neill and Art MacBaron O'Neill. During his youth, Hugh was fostered by the O'Hagan family.
During Hugh's childhood, a rivalry formed between his uncle Shane and his father Matthew. Matthew was born from an affair between Conn and Alison, but was accepted by Conn as his son and tanist. This affronted Shane, a younger legitimate son of Conn, who employed the ambivalent status of Matthew's paternity to affirm his own claim to the chieftaincy. Shane asserted that Matthew's father was actually Alison's husband John Kelly, which would render Matthew illegitimate in both Irish and English systems of succession.[3] In the ensuing conflict, the O'Neill family split into rival septs—the "MacShanes" (Shane's immediate family) and the "MacBarons" (Matthew's immediate family). The English encouraged this conflict as it weakened the powerful O'Neill clan.
Matthew was killed in 1558[1] [3] by the O'Donnelly clan, Shane's foster family, placing sons Brian and Hugh in a precarious situation. The continuing support for their claims came from the English administration in Dublin Castle, which was anxious to use the support of the MacBarons to break the independent power of the O'Neill lords of Ulster. This was part of a general English policy to transform Irish Gaelic titles into feudal titles granted under the Crown that would bring them entirely within the English legal system through a policy known as surrender and regrant, in which the Irish Clan Chiefs forcibly surrendered their lands to the Crown and had them granted back into their keeping as property of the Crown, rather than the property of the sept, or Gaelic extended family.[9]
Upon his father's murder, Hugh O'Neill became a ward of the Crown. Hugh and Brian were moved into the care of the Anglo-Irish Hovenden family, and were raised at their household in Balgriffin, County Dublin—a property formerly belonging to Conn.[3] [10] The Crown sought to keep the children safe from harm and to raise them 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.
Giles Hovenden, Hugh's foster father, was an English settler with a pre-existing business connection with Conn. Hugh would remain close with his adoptive family throughout the rest of his life.[3] His foster brother Henry became his chief advisor and accompanied Hugh on his flight in 1607.[11] Brothers Henry and Richard led Hugh's troops in the late 1580s, though another brother Walter died opposing the Irish confederacy in battle.
Growing up in the Pale, amongst English people, Hugh gained a knowledge of English customs and politics, mainly through his attendance at the Irish Parliament and the court in England. He was able to secure allies such as the Earls of Ormonde and Leicester.[10] He would have received a basic education, either by attending grammar school or from private lessons.
In 1562, Brian was assassinated by Shane's tanist Turlough Luineach O'Neill, and Hugh succeeded him as Baron Dungannon.[12] Four years later, war broke out between Shane and the Crown. It was previously considered unlikely that a MacBaron could sway Shane's dominance in Ulster, but in light of these events, the English government began to view Hugh as a significant contender who could bring Ulster under loyalist control. On the contrary, Hugh's main concern was the ruthless pursuit of political and military power, and he intended to remain autonomous and independent.
In June 1567, Shane was killed by Scots supporting the MacDonnells of Antrim.[13] Hugh's wardship formally ended the following November when he sued out his livery, returning to Ulster under the protection of Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney. Sidney granted Hugh territory in Oneilland, intending to keep Turlough from crossing south past the River Blackwater, thus creating further discord within the O'Neill family.
Now returned to his province of birth, Hugh began engaging the support of neighbouring Irish Gaelic families, including the O'Hagans, the O'Quinns and his own family the MacBarons. According to Sidney, these families "much repined that the great and regal estate of the O'Neill... should be so broken and dismembered". Hugh married into the family of favoured noble Brian McPhelim O'Neill, but in 1574 he hastily annulled the marriage when his father-in-law was implicated in a bloody conflict and tried for treason. Later the same year, Hugh established his most important and longlasting alliance by marrying Siobhán O'Donnell, daughter of chief Hugh McManus O'Donnell. The O'Donnell and O'Neill clans had traditionally been mortal enemies for centuries. Hugh O'Neill gained good standing with the 1st Earl of Essex after joining him in an abortive attack on Turlough. By the early 1570s, Hugh was using his combined support from the Pale and Ulster to put Turlough under heavy pressure.
In 1585 he attended the Irish House of Lords in Dublin, and in 1587, he successfully persuaded Elizabeth I in making him Earl of Tyrone. He was also awarded a patent to the lands of his grandfather Conn. From 1587, the Crown grew suspicious of Tyrone and began attempts at curbing his growing power. Elizabeth I would characterise Tyrone as "a creature of our own"—a noble raised as an Englishman who had nonetheless turned his back on the English court in favour of political independence. During this period, Tyrone regularly bribed government officials and relied on his extensive web of connections.
Per an arrangement with the Crown, Hugh agreed to defend the Pale's borders from fellow Ulstermen in exchange for soldiers. This arrangement allowed him to extend his influence over southeastern Ulster. In 1580, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in Munster, Hugh fought with the English forces against Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond. In 1584 he assisted Sir John Perrot against Sorley Boy, the first Chief of Clan MacDonnell of the Glens. Lord Deputy Arthur Grey praised him as "the only Irish nobleman that hath done any service and drawn blood since my coming". Tyrone feared that the Dublin government might appoint a sheriff in Tír Eoghain, which would weaken his power.
See also: Spanish Armada in Ireland.
In late 1588, 23 ships of the Spanish Armada were lost on Ireland's coast. Lord Deputy William FitzWilliam ordered the execution of Spanish survivors. Tyrone's response to the Armada is unclear - his mercenary forces massacred survivors in Inishowen, though Tyrone himself rescued various crew members in County Sligo. Historian Hiram Morgan admits that Tyrone may have been playing a "double game", as is common throughout his career.
The Armada ship La Trinidad Valencera sank in Kinnagoe Bay, Inishowen.[14] Tyrone's mercenary forces, commanded by his Hovenden foster-brothers, proceeded to Inishowen upon hearing of the presence of Spanish fugitives there. Tyrone's instructions to the Hovendens are unknown; ultimately his forces committed the largest single massacre of Armada survivors in Inishowen. FitzWilliam was suspicious of the Earl's activities and refused to believe this news, but it is confirmed in the report of a Spanish escapee.Historians Marshall and Morgan characterise Tyrone as reluctantly ordering the massacre to keep in the English government's good graces. Contemporary sources seem to imply that the massacre was carried out on the actions of the O'Donnell clan, who counselled O'Neill's troops, though this is possibly misdirection by Tyrone. Government officials reported that Tyrone heavily reprimanded Hugh McManus O'Donnell for betraying the Spaniards and their refuge, and he contemptuously told O'Donnell to seek dwelling in another country.
On 25 September, the ships La Lavia, La Juliana and the Santa Maria de Vison became shipwrecked at Streedagh Strand in County Sligo.[15] [16] [17] Tyrone himself assisted three sick officers and many commoners. One of the latter included ordinary seaman Pedro Blanco of La Juliana,[18] [19] who was kept on as Tyrone's footman and manservant throughout the whole of the Nine Years' War. Tyrone also helped stranded nobleman Don Antonio Manrique escape Ulster. Ultimately about a dozen Spaniards remained in Ireland.[17] Despite their desire to return home, Philip II of Spain believed they would be better used as interpreters and emissaries for Tyrone.[19]
It seems Tyrone never recruited any of these Spaniards as soldiers. His decision may have been affected by the hostility the English had towards Lord Brian O'Rourke for recruiting many Spanish survivors into his military.
Tyrone further developed his alliance with the O'Donnell clan—by 1587 his daughter Rose was betrothed to tanist Hugh Roe O'Donnell.[20] Via this alliance, Tyrone was able to secure Scottish mercenaries to fight the MacShanes. In turn, he supported O'Donnell in a succession dispute within his own kingdom.Lord Deputy Perrot ordered young O'Donnell's kidnapping in 1587 in hopes of destroying the O'Neill-O'Donnell alliance. O'Donnell was imprisoned in Dublin Castle, along with two MacShanes, Art and Henry. Tyrone was outraged, describing the ordeal as "the most prejudice that might happen unto me", and lobbied fruitlessly for his son-in-law's release. O'Donnell's father offered thirty Spanish officers, taken from the Inishowen shipwreck, as prisoners in the hope to exchange them for his son.
In January 1590, Hugh Roe O'Donnell made a failed prison break attempt. The same month, Tyrone's wife Siobhán (Hugh Roe's elder half-sister) died. In December 1591 Tyrone successfully aided Hugh Roe O'Donnell's (and ironically, the MacShanes') escape. He had bribed FitzWilliam - one of the most corrupt Lord Deputies of Tudor Ireland - with £1,000 to aid in O'Donnell's escape. Henry split from the others in Dublin; O'Donnell and Art fled to the Wicklow Mountains to seek shelter with Tyrone's ally Fiach McHugh O'Byrne.[21] O'Byrne's search party found the two men buried in snow and close to death. O'Donnell famously lost his two big toes to frostbite, but Art died. While it is believed Art died of exposure, there has been speculation as to whether Tyrone had the O'Byrnes kill Art when they found him, to remove him as a political opponent.
In the north, Tyrone also had to contend with his "grievous enemy" Sir Nicholas Bagenal, the Marshal of Her Majesty's Irish Army. Around 1589 Bagenal described Tyrone as "as so allied by kindred in blood and affinity as also by marriages and fosters and other friendships as if he should be ill-disposed might hap put the crown of England to more charges than the purchase of Ulster should be worth".[22] On 24 October 1590, his son Henry Bagenal suceeded him as Marshal.[23] In autumn 1590, Lord Hugh Roe MacMahon was executed on FitzWilliam's orders; MacMahon's land was confiscated, divided and allotted to English servitors rather than the Gaelic Irish. Tyrone, who had owned part of MacMahon's lands under brehon law, was passed over in favour of Henry Bagenal. Furthermore, Tyrone's authority was directly challenged when Bagenal was named chief commissioner of Ulster on 18 May 1591.
Soon afterwards, Tyrone began to woo Mabel Bagenal, the Marshal's younger sister. This was only months after the similarly-timed deaths of Bagenal's father and Tyrone's late wife. Tyrone professed his love and asked for Mabel's hand in marriage. Alarmed, Bagenal kept Mabel out of Tyrone's reach by sending her to live with his brother-in-law in Turvey. Nevertheless, Tyrone found excuses to visit Mabel, and in July he convinced her to elope.
According to biographer Seán Ó Faoláin, the Earl's ally William Warren arrived at Turvey and pretended to kidnap Mabel. They rode to Warren's house in Drumcondra to meet Tyrone. Mabel wished for a Protestant marriage ceremony, and so Bishop of Meath Thomas Jones was summoned. Jones was reluctant to perform the marriage, but after being assured of Mabel's free consent, the couple were married on 3 August 1591.[24]
The unusually romantic nature of this marriage has been noted. Jerrold Casway notes that this "whirlwind courtship" is unlike Tyrone's other marriages, which otherwise always had political motives. It is possible Tyrone's judgment was impaired by his feelings. Mabel was young and attractive, and clearly enamoured by the attention she received from Tyrone. She has been simplistically titled the "Helen of the Elizabethan Wars".[25] Historians believe that Tyrone would have recognised the advantages of marrying into the powerful Bagenal family.[26]
Henry Bagenal was outraged at the marriage. He refused to pay his sister's dowry and also had Tyrone's previous divorce investigated, though it was found to be valid. Because of this dramatic episode and their roles as opposing commanders during the Nine Years' War, Bagenal and Tyrone have been called "arch-enemies".
The aging chief Turlough had yet to choose a tanist, and the position was contested by Tyrone and his MacShane cousins. Tír Eoghain's population favoured the MacShanes, but outside the kingdom they were disliked due to their father's cruelty towards the various smaller neighbouring kingdoms. Furthermore, the MacShanes had lost a valuable ally in their kin, the Fitzgeralds of Desmond, following their defeat in the Desmond Wars.It is clear that Tyrone aspired to the position of O'Neill clan chief. In March 1583, news spread that Turlough had died. Tyrone rushed to Tullyhogue Fort, the ancient ceremonial site where the O'Neill chiefs were traditionally inaugurated.[27] It turned out that Turlough had not died but had only fallen into a brief coma from alcohol poisoning.
Tyrone's constant disputes with Turlough were fomented by the English with a view to weakening the clan. In 1584, Tyrone and Turlough were at Strabane to celebrate Easter together. The Dublin government was extremely alarmed at this news and feared that the O'Neill rivalry may be dissolving. By 1587, Turlough had established an alliance with the MacShanes. In 1588 Tyrone and Hugh McManus O'Donnell launched an attack on Turlough, but they were defeated at Carricklea to the satisfaction of Perrot.
In January 1590, Tyrone murdered his MacShane cousin Hugh Gavelagh, who had exposed to FitzWilliam that the Earl was making treasonous dealings with the Spanish. Tyrone reputedly hanged Gavelagh over a tree with his bare hands—though other sources claim the executioner was from Meath or Cavan, given Tír Eoghain's population were sympathetic to the MacShanes.[28] Tyrone proceeded to London where he sufficiently defended himself against England's Privy Council by alleging that Gavelagh was guilty of various crimes.[29] Tyrone was placed under house arrest but released by letters of commendation from FitzWilliam and the Dublin government.
After Hugh Roe O'Donnell's inauguration as O'Donnell clan chief, Tyrone and O'Donnell executed a pincer movement against Turlough. With an overwhelming alliance against him, in May 1593 Turlough was forced to surrender his lordship of Tír Eoghain and name Tyrone as his tanist. Turlough would receive a pension of £2,000 and the right to officially remain O'Neill chief until his death. The Earl had effectively become the ruler of Tír Eoghain. Turlough died in 1595.
Although historians disagree on the exact beginning of the Nine Years' War,[30] it is considered to have begun in May 1593, around the same time Tyrone became ruler of Tír Eoghain, with Gaelic lord Hugh Maguire resisting the occupation of Fermanagh.[31]
It is certain Tyrone was involved in the events in Fermanagh and Connacht during 1593-4, but historians disagree as to his true motivations during this period. Nicholas Canny has suggested Tyrone was reluctantly pushed into rebellion. Hiram Morgan represents Tyrone as a master strategist who was complicit from the start. According to John Dorney, Tyrone originally distanced himself from the rebellions because he hoped to be appointed Lord President of Ulster by Elizabeth I, but she recognised Tyrone's ambitions to usurp her as Ireland's sovereign and refused to grant him provincial presidency or similar powers.
The English government had their suspicions that Tyrone was plotting against them, but he repeatedly proved his loyalty in battles against Irish uprisings. His fellow Gaelic chiefs understood that Tyrone secretly belonged to their cause but hid his true allegiance. By this time, Tyrone had formally allied with chiefs O'Donnell and Maguire via their marriages to his daughters.[32] O'Donnell married daughter Rose in December 1592, and Maguire married daughter Margaret around May 1593.
In spring 1593, English captain Humphrey Willis was appointed by FitzWilliam as Sheriff of Fermanagh; he entered Fermanagh with at least 100 men and began pillaging and raiding, to the fury of chieftain Maguire. Maguire managed to obtain reinforcements which included 100 men led by Tyrone’s half-brother Cormac MacBaron and 120 men under the commands of Tyrone's O’Hagan foster-brothers. Tyrone often used his relatives and followers to make war on his behalf, and it is unlikely they would have assisted Maguire without Tyrone's permission. Maguire besieged Willis and his men in a church and planned to starve them out, but Tyrone intervened and negotiated their rescue safely out of Fermanagh.[33]
After a meeting on 8 May 1593, Maguire, O'Donnell and Brian Oge O'Rourke sent letters to Philip II of Spain requesting urgent reinforcements from the Spanish army. They tasked Catholic Archbishop of Tuam James O'Hely with delivering their message—he met with Juan de Idiáquez, the royal secretary. Idiáquez's notes to Philip II reveal Tyrone's relationship with the emerging confederacy:Subsequently Maguire launched raids across Connacht. Tyrone's nephews—sons of his half-brother Art MacBaron—also engaged in campaigns against loyalist clans.
On 14 May 1593, Phelim MacTurlough O'Neill, a client of Henry Bagenal, was assassinated by the O'Hagans, Tyrone's foster family. This murder permitted Tyrone to annex Killetra, which he had been attempting since the late 1580s. Tyrone was charged with involvement in the assassination. He swore his innocence, blamed it solely on the O'Hagans as a revenge murder, and accused the administration of manipulating the evidence against him. FitzWilliam had his doubts, but the council were satisfied.
Tyrone met with Maguire in early August—within weeks Maguire launched raids into Monaghan.
Maguire's attacks provoked a large-scale military expedition to be led by Bagenal. Tyrone was able to deflect the past allegations and prove his loyalty to the Crown by agreeing to assist Bagenal. On 26 September he joined Bagenal and his army at Enniskillen, but the Earl had brought far fewer troops than he had promised. The two commanders detested each other and there was a nervous awkardness between their troops. Bagenal proposed several plans of attack but these were all vetoed by Tyrone. On 7 October, they marched separately to the ford near Belleek.
Their combined forces moved on Maguire's positions on 10 October in what is known as the Battle of Belleek. O'Donnell was in nearby Ballyshannon when the battle was taking place, but he was ordered by Tyrone not to reinforce Maguire. It was estimated that 300 of Maguire's men were killed. Though Maguire's forces were not directly engaged, Fitzwilliam was convinced Maguire's revolt had been stopped. During the battle Tyrone was speared in the leg; the wound served as physical proof of his loyalty to the authorities in Dublin. Bagenal remain suspicious of his brother-in-law and later received intelligence that Tyrone had advised Maguire prior to the battle. Tyrone protested against Bagenal's accusation by claiming that Bagenal and FitzWilliam were conspiring to rob him of the honour he was due.
By late April, there were more allegations against Tyrone from Irish lords Hugh Dubh O'Donnell and Sir Hugh Magennis. According to the Sheriff of Monaghan, a large group of Irish noblemen including Tyrone, Maguire and O'Donnell had taken treasonous oaths in support of Spain. FitzWilliam summoned Tyrone to Dublin, but Tyrone refused and made excuses, so the council went to Dundalk to confront him in person. During the proceedings, which occurred 14–28 June, the main charge was foreign conspiracy. FitzWilliam and Bagenal favoured the Earl's arrest. Three councillors were already well-disposed to Tyrone; the rest felt threatened by his power in Dundalk. Certain councillors feared Tyrone's arrest would only exacerbate the growing conflict in the north and could lead to a Gaelic invasion of the Pale. Ultimately Tyrone managed to avoid arrest. When Elizabeth I was later briefed on the proceedings, she concluded that Tyrone should have been arrested.
More allegations emerged in 1594. Captain Willis, Sir Edward Herbert and Joan Kelly claimed Tyrone was ordering the Irish raids. In March, it appeared that Tyrone was behind the burning of Bagenal's lands. In a 1616 letter to Philip II, Tyrone inadvertently admitted his involvement in the Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits, which occurred on 7 August.
FitzWilliam was succeeded as Lord Deputy by William Russell, who was sworn in on 11 August. To the surprise of the council, Tyrone appeared in Dublin four days later to tender his submission. Russell allowed Tyrone to leave in safety, but he later realised his mistake and unsuccessfully shifted blame to the council. The queen was furious.[34]
On 16 February 1595 Tyrone's half-brother Art MacBaron assaulted and captured the English-held Blackwater Fort in Blackwatertown. More significant however was the presence of Tyrone at the assault. The evidence against Tyrone became too great to ignore, and the government deemed an immediate attack essential. Sir John Norris was ordered to Ireland at the head of a considerable force for the purpose of subduing Tyrone. Tyrone anticipated this and struck the first blow by invading and burning Louth. When Norris arrived at Waterford on 4 May 1595, Tyrone had already succeeded in taking the Blackwater Fort.
According to John Dorney, if Tyrone did not go into open rebellion once the English encroached onto Tír Eoghain, he could have risked estranging his followers and allowing another O'Neill clansman to oust him.
See main article: Battle of Clontibret.
In May 1595, 1,750 English troops led by Bagenal were ambushed near Clontibret by an army led by Tyrone. The English column had been sent to relieve the besieged English garrison in Monaghan. The battle spanned multiple days as Bagenal's forces attempted to outrun Tyrone's. During the battle, Tyrone entered a melee with a cornet who had thrown him off his horse. An O'Cahan severed the cornet's arm then Tyrone stabbed him under the corslet.
In a report to the Lord Deputy, Norris warned that the proficiency of the Irish rebels was far greater than expected: "their number greater, their arms better, and munition more plenty". The discipline and co-ordination of Tyrone's pike and shot technique caused extreme concern. Firearms were the primary weapon in Tyrone's army. Many of the Irish soldiers were being trained in firearms by veterans returned from the Spanish army. The English recorded 31 killed and 103 wounded, though Irish sources have claimed that the English losses were significantly higher. The Irish victory shocked and demoralised the English and was a severe setback early in the war.[35]
On 24 June Tyrone was proclaimed a traitor at Dundalk. The queen's advisor William Cecil advised a compromise, writing that Elizabeth "would be content to see what was in the traitor's heart, and what he would offer". Tyrone insisted on a general pardon but this was refused.
Turlough Luineach died in September, making Tyrone officially O'Neill clan chief under brehon law. According to Norris, "the coming to the place of [clan chief] hath made [Tyrone] much prouder and harder to yield to his duty, and he flattereth himself much with the hope of foreign assistance."
Tyrone ruled Tír Eoghain as a sort of absolute monarchy. Unsatisfied with the tribute or rents entitled to him as The O'Neill, he heavily increased taxes on his subjects. He also tied the peasantry to the land, effectively making them serfs, increasing production of materials and guaranteeing his supply of labour. Eventually he was generating revenue of £80,000 per year. For comparison, in the 1540s the Tudor monarchy's total tax revenue was about £31,000. Although that figure had certainly increased since then, in financial terms Tyrone was in a position to challenge the English administration. This revenue allowed him to purchase muskets, pikes and ammunition from Britain. He also had several Spanish and English military advisors in his pay, the Spanish ones having been sent by King Philip II.
Like his predecessor Shane O'Neill, Tyrone introduced conscription to all men within his country, regardless of their social class. Ultimately, the increased cash flow, coupled with the production of materials from the larger labour force, allowed Tyrone to arm and feed over 8,000 men—impressive for a Gaelic lord. The force was trained and equipped with the latest European weapons and tactics.
When Tyrone started warring against the Crown, his infantry were primarily armed with firearms. Across late 1594 and early 1595, he bought £8,000 worth of gunpowder, lead and firearms from Scotland. The Crown allowed Tyrone to obtain six tonnes of lead, obstensibly to weatherproof his hall in Dungannon, but he melted the lead into bullets for his army.
Tyrone and O'Donnell opened communications with Philip II and his general Juan del Águila. In letters to the king—intercepted by Russell—they promoted themselves as champions of the Roman Catholic Church, claiming liberty of conscience as well as political liberty for the Gaelic Irish. They also offered Philip the kingdom of Ireland in return for military support. It had long been suspected that Tyrone was in league with the Spanish but this was the English government's first piece of hard evidence. In fact Philip II had sent a ship to gather intelligence in March 1594, but the crew died in a shipwreck off Biscay.
Tyrone sought to delay the war in order to buy time for the arrival of Spanish troops. In September 1595, he sent overtures of submission to the Crown, and a ceasefire was enacted whilst the settlement could be negotiated. This timing was advantageous to the Crown, as the queen's Irish Army was facing shortages of manpower and supplies. After much deliberation and negotiation, a cessation of arms was signed by Tyrone on 27 October. This pardoned certain confederates and give them local autonomy. It also acknowledged a tolerance of Catholicism. The confederacy proved to be unsatisfied with the terms, but this policy was a success in that Tyrone managed to defer English attempts on his territory for more than two years.
In April 1596, Tyrone received promises of help from Spain and thereafter chose to temporize with the authorities, professing his loyalty to the crown whenever circumstances required. Further negotiations to develop a peace treaty were almost complete by May. Spanish captain Alonso Cobos met with Tyrone, O'Donnell and Cormac MacBaron in early May. After the meeting, the Irishmen agreed to abandon the peace treaty and become vassals of Philip II. Tyrone and O'Donnell also petitioned Philip II to make Albert VII, Archduke of Austria the new monarch of Ireland. After these developments, Tyrone and O'Donnell began to deliberately derail peace negotiations and provoke war in previously peaceful parts of the country. It became clear to the English that Tyrone intended the war to be not just a war for Ulster, but for all of Ireland.
Tyrone's strategy became more aggressive once he had received promises that a large-scale Spanish military expedition would be incoming. In 1598, a cessation of hostilities was arranged and a formal pardon was granted to Tyrone by Queen Elizabeth. Within two months he was again in the field, and on 14 August he destroyed an English army at the Battle of the Yellow Ford on the Blackwater river, in which engagement the English Commander, Bagenal, was killed. It was the greatest of all setbacks to English arms in Ireland. If the Earl had been capable of driving home his advantage, he might have successfully upset English power in the country, as discontent had broken out in every part—and especially in the south, where James FitzThomas Fitzgerald with Tyrone's support was asserting his claim to the Earldom of Desmond at the head of a formidable army of clans loyal to the Geraldines—discontent broke into open rebellion. But Tyrone, who possessed but little generalship, procrastinated until the golden opportunity was lost.
See main article: Essex in Ireland. Eight months after the battle of the Yellow Ford, a new Lord Lieutenant, the 2nd Earl of Essex, landed in Ireland with an expeditionary force sent there from England of 16,000 troops and 1,500 horses. After months of ill-managed operations in the south of the country, and the loss of three-quarters of his forces to disease, desertion, and execution of hundreds of troops for cowardice he had a parley with Tyrone at a ford on the Lagan on 7 September 1599, when a truce was arranged. Elizabeth I was displeased by the favourable conditions allowed to Tyrone and by Essex's treatment of him as an equal. The Lord Lieutenant then travelled back to the Queen's court near London without permission—a desperate move, which culminated, more than a year later, in a failed attempt at an uprising in London, and weeks after, his execution for high treason on 25 February 1601.
The queen was in a tricky situation because political discourse was dominated by the issue of the succession to the throne, just as her most illustrious military commanders were being frustrated by Tyrone in the middle of the Anglo-Spanish War. Tyrone continued to concert measures with the Irish Clans in Munster, and issued a manifesto to the Catholics of Ireland, summoning them to join his standard as he protested that the interests of religion were his first care. After a campaign in Munster in January 1600, during which the Anglo-Irish Plantation of Munster was destroyed, he hastened north to Donegal, where he received supplies from Spain and a token of encouragement from Pope Clement VIII. At this point the controversial Jesuit, James Archer, was effectively operating as his representative at the Spanish court.[36]
In May 1600 the English achieved a strategic breakthrough, when Sir Henry Docwra, at the head of a considerable army, took up a position in Tyrone's rear at Derry; meanwhile, the new lord deputy, Sir Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy (a protégé of Essex), marched in support from Westmeath to Newry, compelling Tyrone to retire to Armagh. A large reward was offered for the rebel's capture, dead or alive.
In October 1601, the long-awaited aid from Spain appeared in the form of an army under Don Juan de Aguila, which occupied the town of Kinsale in the extreme south of the country. Mountjoy rushed to contain the Spanish, while Tyrone and O'Donnell were compelled to hazard their armies in separate marches from the north, through territories defended by Sir George Carew, in the depths of a severe winter. They gained little support en route. At Bandon they joined, and then blockaded the English army that was laying siege to the Spanish. The English were in a poor state, with many of their troops disabled with dysentery, and the extreme winter weather made life in camp very difficult. But owing to poor communications with the besieged Spanish and a crucial failure to withstand the shock of a daring English cavalry charge, Tyrone's army was quickly dispersed. The Irish clans retreated, and the Spanish commander surrendered. The defeat at the battle of Kinsale was a disaster for Tyrone and ended his chances of winning the war.
O'Donnell went to Spain to seek further assistance, where he died soon afterwards—allegedly poisoned by double agent James "Spanish" Blake, but more likely due to illness.[20] With a shattered force, Tyrone made his way once more to the north, where he renewed his policy of ostensibly seeking pardon while warily defending his territory. English forces managed to destroy crops and livestock in Ulster in 1601–1602, especially in the lands of Tyrone's principal vassal, Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan. This led to O'Cahan's withdrawal from Tyrone, and fatally weakened his power. In June 1602 Tyrone destroyed his capital at Dungannon and retreated into the woods of Glenconkeyne. Early in 1603, Elizabeth instructed Mountjoy to open negotiations with the rebellious chieftains, and Tyrone made his submission in the following April to Mountjoy, who concealed the news of the queen's death until the negotiations had concluded.
See main article: Treaty of Mellifont. Tyrone went with Mountjoy to Dublin, where he heard of the accession of King James I. He presented himself at the court of the king in June, accompanied by Rory O'Donnell, who had become chief of the O'Donnells after the departure of his brother Hugh Roe. The English courtiers were greatly incensed at the gracious reception accorded by James to these notable rebels.
Although Tyrone was confirmed in his title and core estates, upon his return to Ireland he immediately fell into dispute with Chichester's Dublin administration. Under the 1603 peace agreement most of his land had been given to his former Brehon law tenants. In the case of the Bann Fishery, the government eventually established that his entitlement to the benefit of that property was nullified on account of the original Anglo-Norman conquest in 1172, a precedent of significant implications for the former Gaelic polity. In the meantime, it was the dispute over Tyrone's rights concerning certain of his former feudatories—Donal O'Cahan being the most important—that led to his flight from Ireland.[37] They were now freeholders of the Kingdom of Ireland, with new legal rights, but Tyrone expected them to support him as in the past, which they declined to do. In O'Cahan's case, the Ó Catháin clan had traditionally inaugurated the Tyrone kings in the past. Chichester considered O'Cahan's case to be pivotal, as if he caved in to Tyrone then other Ulster chiefs might also be persuaded to give up their freehold rights, and another war might follow.
This dispute dragged on until 1607, when Tyrone was invited by King James to go to London to argue his case. Warned, however, that his arrest was imminent (and possibly persuaded by Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell—whose relations with Spain had endangered his own safety) the "snap decision" was made to flee to Spain.
See main article: Flight of the Earls.
"The Flight of the Earls" occurred on 14 September 1607, when Tyrone and O'Donnell embarked at midnight at Rathmullan on Lough Swilly on a voyage bound for Spain. Accompanying them were their wives, families and retainers, numbering ninety-nine persons. Driven by contrary winds to the east, they took shelter in the Seine estuary and were told by the Spanish to pass the winter in the Spanish Netherlands and not to proceed to Spain itself. In April 1608, they proceeded to Rome, where they were welcomed and hospitably entertained by Pope Paul V. The journey to Rome was recorded in great detail by Tadhg Ó Cianáin.[38] In November 1607 the flight was proclaimed as treasonous by James I.[39] A bill of attainder was passed against Tyrone by the Parliament of Ireland in 1613.
The hopes of the earls for military support foundered as Philip III of Spain wanted to maintain the recent 1604 peace treaty with James I of England, the Spanish economy had gone bankrupt in 1596 and its European fleet had been destroyed some months earlier by the Dutch Republic at the Battle of Gibraltar. This suggests that the Flight was impulsive and unplanned.
In late 1615, Tyrone fell ill with a fever and never recovered. He died in the city of Rome on 20 July 1616 and was interred in the church of San Pietro in Montorio. Throughout his nine-year exile he was active in plotting a return to Ireland, toying variously both with schemes to oust English authority outright and with proposed offers of pardon from London. When the former Crown loyalist Sir Cahir O'Doherty launched O'Doherty's rebellion by the Burning of Derry in 1608, it raised hopes of a return, but the rebellion was quickly defeated. Oghy (Eochaidh) O'Hanlon was Tyrone's nephew and played a leading role in O'Doherty's rebellion. As a principal rebel leader, O'Hanlon had been stripped of his inheritance by Sir Arthur Chichester, and he may have been taken into protective custody before his exile to Sweden. O'Hanlon was pressed into Swedish military service and threatened with execution if he resisted. Upon news of his death, the court poets of Ireland engaged in the contention of the bards.[40]
In 1598 Tyrone appointed James FitzThomas FitzGerald, the so-called Sugán Earl, as Earl of Desmond. Two years later in his camp at Inniscarra near Cork city, he recognized the celebrated Florence MacCarthy as The MacCarthy Mor or Prince of Desmond. The fiasco of the 1599 campaign by Essex in Ireland added to the power vacuum in most parts of Ireland.
Tyrone had little influence on the Lords of the Pale in Leinster, and his army had to feed itself by plunder, making him unpopular. He made enemies of some lords by interfering in their traditional autonomy if they did not give him their entire support. These included Lord Inchiquin; Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde; the Magennis of west County Down and Tiobóid na Long Bourke.
At the international level, Tyrone and O'Donnell had offered themselves as vassals of King Philip II of Spain in late 1595, and suggested that Archduke Albert might be crowned Prince of Ireland, which was declined. In late 1599, in a strong position after Essex's failed campaign, Tyrone sent a list of 22 proposed terms for a peace agreement to Queen Elizabeth, including a request on the status of future English viceroys. This amounted to accepting English sovereignty over Ireland as a reality while hoping for tolerance and a strong Irish-led administration. The proposal was ignored.[41]
Henry IV of France declared Tyrone to be one of the best generals of his time.
Tyrone was a skilled negotiator[3] and a consummate liar. He consistently deceived government officials, whether via bribes or simple bluffing. Tyrone is an enigma to historians due to the successful and "elaborate campaign of disinformation he waged." His wide range of contacts, which included Old English, Gaelic Irish and New English figures, made him one of the most accomplished Irish politicians of his day.[3]
D'Alton believes that the Earl lacked Hugh Roe O’Donnell's magnetism, though Morgan believes he was "possessed of a charisma which captivated the men and women who came in contact with him".[3] At the very least, Tyrone compensated with his caution and restraint, "laying his plans with care and refusing to be led by impulse or passion".[42] [43] He was not opposed to murdering his opponents for political gain, as evident by his ordering the death of Gavelagh. He was also willing to put himself in danger during his many travels to Dublin.
William Camden, Elizabeth I's official historian, described Tyrone:
Tyrone's religious beliefs are the subject of much discussion amongst historians. Wartime propaganda depicted Tyrone as a "Catholic crusader", though many of his contemporaries had their doubts regarding the sincerity of his religious convictions. It is generally believed that his preoccupations were political rather than religious. In response to Tyrone framing the Nine Years' War as one of religious freedom, the 2nd of Earl of Essex quipped "thou carest for religion as much as my horse".
Tyrone was born to Catholic parents, but raised amongst Protestants since the age of 8. Though the Hovenden family have been described as "the earliest and therefore the least Protestant of the New English settlers", Tyrone's education in the Pale certainly would have anglicised him. According to Morgan, these circumstances would not necessarily have led to an identity crisis - this concept of religious identity is largely a modern invention. In fact, his background allowed him the advantage of having allies from both British and Irish backgrounds.
Tyrone feigned support for the Crown through the 1580s and early 1590s. On visits to Dublin, he would attend Protestant services with the Lord Deputy. Tyrone's 1591 marriage ceremony was performed by a Protestant bishop, per the request of Tyrone's Protestant bride Mabel Bagenal. She later converted to Catholicism.[44] Tyrone celebrated Easter 1584 per the Pope's new Gregorian calendar.
Once in open rebellion with the Crown, Tyrone publicly declared that his ultimate objective was to support the freedoms of Catholics by establishing the religion throughout Ireland. This proclamation was predominantly to widen support for his confederacy nationally and abroad, rather than as an authentic statement of belief. In fact, during 1596 peace negotiations the religious nature of his demands came as a surprise to the Dublin government; though he was willing to drop his demand for liberty of conscience. His wartime appeals to Spain typically highlighted the persecution Ireland suffered as a fellow Catholic nation.
However it appears that Tyrone may have undergone a genuine religious conversion by the late 1590s. It was reported in August 1598 that O’Neill’s men made confession before battle. Historian Thomas O'Connor believes that Tyrone's sentimental address at the 1599 parley of Dungannon is indicative of a "conversion experience" and goes beyond simple propaganda rhetoric. In his address, Tyrone candidly admitted his initially secular motives on entering the war and described Roman Catholicism as the one true religion. In the same year Tyrone went on pilgrimage to Holycross in Munster.
In a 1600 memorandum to Pope Clement VIII, Catholic Archbishop Peter Lombard refuted charges against Tyrone's past: "During his tutelage under the English, [he] never thought or professed anything other than what was orthodox in religion". According to Lombard, O’Neill attended daily mass, even in the field, and regularly confessed and received communion. Lombard admitted that Tyrone "was not yet always equally solicitous, earnest and zealous in the cause of religion", and claimed that it was the Earl's wartime experiences and the providential nature of his success on the field that molded him into a militant Catholic figure. Ultimately, Tyrone left no personal record of his faith.
Hugh O'Neill was married four times.
In his late teens he married a daughter of Brian McPhelim O'Neill of Clandeboye – possibly Katherine or Feodora. Brian was in the queen's favour and initially appeared to be an useful ally against Turlough Luineach. By late 1574, after being incriminated in a violent conflict with English colonists, Brian and his immediate family were imprisoned, tried for treason and executed. Tyrone withdrew any association with his father-in-law by annulling the marriage on grounds of consanguinity.
Their children include:
Katherine, daughter of Brian McPhelim O'Neill, later married Niall MacBrian Faghartach.
He married Joanna O'Donnell (Siobhán Ní Domhnaill; died January 1591) in June 1574, beginning his enduring alliance with the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell. The 1st Earl of Essex announced the marriage on 14 June 1574. In 1579, Tyrone repudiated his marriage to Siobhán and prepared to wed a daughter of Turlough O'Neill, with the aim of becoming the O'Neill tanist. The government easily dissuaded Tyrone as Turlough's age and ill health meant his death was probably soon anyway. Tyrone reconciled with his wife.
They had two sons and multiple daughters:
Tyrone was betrothed to Mabel Bagenal (– December 1595) in July 1591. They married on 3 August 1591 and had no offspring together.
In May 1593 the couple clashed over the assassination of Phelim MacTurlough O'Neill - "the countess clapping her hands together was sorry, as should seem, of that which happened, to whom the earl in English spoke with vehemency". Casway believes that despite the romantic circumstances of their courtship, the marriage "probably ran its course" and Tyrone would have continued with his concubines. According to Tyrone himself, "because I did affect two other gentlewomen, she grew in dislike with me, forsook me, and went unto her brother to complain upon me to the council of Ireland, and did exhibit articles against me". Mabel died in December 1595, aged around 24 years old.
Tyrone married Catherine Magennis (died 15 March 1619) sometime before 16 August 1597. She accompanied Tyrone on his flight and later died in Naples. She had three sons:
Historian Robert Dunlop has suggested that Tyrone married a fifth time, for mention is made of a young Countess of Tyrone during his residence in Rome.
Tyrone also had many illegitimate children, or children of unknown maternal origin:
According to historian James Kane, the only authenticated likeness of Hugh O'Neill is part of a fresco in the Vatican. Painted circa 1610, the fresco depicts his attendance at the 1608 canonization of Frances of Rome by Pope Paul V. He stands next to the 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, sometimes mistaken for the Spanish ambassador.[51] [52]
An image of Tyrone appears in Charles Patrick Meehan's 1868 book The Fate and Fortunes of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donel, Earl of Tyrconnel. Dunlop believed that this portrait was authentic, and was "made in [Tyrone's] decrepitude at Rome".
Lord Dunsany owned a reputed nineteenth-century portrait of Tyrone, from an original in the Vatican.[53] [54] It is apparently developed from a "true likeness" of the Earl.[54] In the 19th century, William Holl produced an engraving of Tyrone based on this portrait.[3]
The Ulster Museum owns two portraits of Tyrone—both were painted in the 19th century.[55] [56]
Attribution