Hugh O'Neill, The O'Niell, Earl of Tyrone, (Irish: Aodh Mór Ó Néill; c. 1550 – 10 July [N.S. 20 July] 1616) was an Irish lord and key figure of the Nine Years' War. Known as the "Great Earl", he led the confederacy of Irish lords against the English Crown's conquest of Ireland during the Elizabethan era.
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 English and Irish contacts which he utilised for his pursuit of political power, eventually becoming one of the richest and most powerful lords in Ireland.
Throughout 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. Tyrone introduced a "military revolution" to Ireland with his adoption of both firearms and continental military tactics, 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 reinforcements from Spain until the arrival of the 4th Spanish Armada in 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—and possibly believing his arrest for treason was imminent—in 1607 he fled 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 aggressive and warlike ally Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Tyrone was cautious and deliberate. A consummate liar, he is considered an enigma to historians due to the elaborate bluffs he employed to mislead his opponents. 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 the last inaugurated Chief of the Name of the O'Neill clan. He was married four times and had many concubines and children.
Family background and early life, 1550–1561
Hugh O'Neill was born c. 1550 in the Gaelic kingdom of Tír Eoghain in Ulster. The O'Neill dynasty were Tír Eoghain's ruling Gaelic Irish noble family, and claimed descent from Niall Ruadh of the Cenél nEógain, who was a descendant of legendary high king Niall of the Nine Hostages. Hugh was the second son of Feardorcha "Matthew" O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon (c. 1510–1558) and his wife Siobhán Maguire (died 1600). Hugh's paternal grandparents were clan chief Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone (c. 1484–1559) and Alison Kelly of Dundalk, a blacksmith's wife. Siobhán was a daughter of Cúconnacht Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh (c. 1480–1537). Hugh had three brothers: Brian, Cormac MacBaron and Art MacBaron. During his youth, Hugh was fostered by the O'Hagan and O'Quinn families.
During Hugh's childhood, a rivalry formed between his uncle Shane and his father Matthew. Matthew was born from an affair between Conn Bacagh and Alison, but was accepted by Conn Bacagh as his son and tanist (designated heir). This affronted Shane, a younger legitimate son of Conn Bacagh, 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. 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.
Shane had Matthew killed in 1558, placing Hugh and his elder brother Brian in a dangerous situation. The Dublin Castle administration hoped to use the support of the MacBarons to curb the MacShanes' growing power in Ulster. At some point between May and August 1558, English statesman Henry Sidney organised the retrieval of the two boys, and for a brief time they stayed at his Dublin residence.
Hugh and his brother Brian became wards of the Crown. They 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 Bacagh. 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 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 Bacagh. Hugh was raised by Giles's wife Joan Walshe, and she continued to care for Hugh after Giles's death. Hugh remained close with his adoptive family throughout the rest of his life. His foster brother Henry became his chief advisor and accompanied him on his flight in 1607. Brothers Henry and Richard led Hugh's troops in the late 1580s.
Growing up in the Pale amongst English people, Hugh gained a knowledge of English customs and politics. He was able to secure allies such as the Earls of Ormonde and Leicester. He would have received a basic education, either by attending grammar school or from private lessons.
Brian was assassinated in 1562 by Shane's tanist Turlough Luineach O'Neill, and Hugh succeeded him as 3rd Baron Dungannon and heir to the earldom. 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. Hugh's wardship formally ended when he sued out his livery the following November. Lord Deputy Sidney brought Hugh, together with a delegation of heirs of Irish clans, to visit the royal court in London to seek permission for the restructuring of Ulster. This was young Hugh's first visit to England. He finally returned to Ulster in early 1568 having been granted territory in Oneilland. Sidney intended 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 (his younger brothers Cormac MacBaron and Art MacBaron had remained in Ulster). As he had spent the previous ten years raised as an Englishman, these families would have considered Hugh an outsider. He married the daughter 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. The same year, Hugh established his most important and longlasting alliance by remarrying to 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 English colonisers, such as Thomas Smith and Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, after assisting in attacks on Turlough. Essex commended Hugh as "the only man of Ulster... to be trusted and used". By the early 1570s, Hugh was using his combined support from the Pale and Ulster to put Turlough under heavy pressure.