Brian MacPhelim O'Neill was chief of the O'Neills of
Clanaboy

Clandeboye

Clandeboye is in modern times an area of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is named after the Clandeboye family, a branch of the O'Neill dynasty. They settled in the 1330s after the death of the Earl of Ulster in what is now south Antrim and north Down, giving their name to the territory...

, O'Neill fought against the English when he learned of plans for imposed settlements. Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex

Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex

Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG , an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island...

, forced him to submit. O'Neill rebelled again and was executed in 1574.

His family estate, known as Eden-duff-carrick since its construction in 1345, was renamed Shane's Castle

Shane's Castle

Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the O'Neill dynasty, it was originally called Eden-duff-carrick...

by O'Neill's grandfather, Shane MacBrien O'Neill, in 1722.