Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
Encyclopedia
Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (1575 – 1 August 1608) was the last King of Tír Chonaill (or Tyrconnell). An apparent original of the Letters Patent of the Earldom are in the possession of Graf O'Donell von Tyrconnell in Austria
, although that family did not inherit the title, nor the related territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell, the remainders of which were destined elsewhere.
Rudhraighe was one of nine known children of Sir Hugh O'Donnell (Irish: Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill), who reigned from 1566 until he abdicated in favour of his eldest son by his second wife, "Red" Hugh O'Donnell
(Irish: Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill), in 1592. By this point the sons of his first wife had been disabled or killed, mostly by his Scottish-born second wife the Ineen Dubh
' onMouseout='HidePop("16201")' href="/topics/County_Donegal">County Donegal
as 'Ineen Doo').
Rudhraighe married Lady Bridget FitzGerald, daughter of Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare
, by whom he had three children: Elizabeth, Hugh (Aodh) and Mary. Hugh succeeded Rory as 2nd Earl.
In 1602, Rudhraighe succeeded his recently deceased brother Hugh as King of Tyrconnell and head of the clan O'Donnell. Having submitted in London to the new King, James I
, he was created Earl of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 4 September 1603, with the subsidiary title Baron of Donegal reserved for his heir apparent. He was further granted the territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 10 February 1604.
There was much fury in Ireland and England that he and Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone had been treated so gingerly after allegedly committing treason (this became known as the Sham Plot), but time was on the side of the English authorities. On 14 September 1607, with the discovery that he and Tyrone were to be arrested and imprisoned, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly
with their families and followers for eventual exile in Spanish Flanders
and Rome (see Flight of the Earls
). Tyrconnell died in Rome in 1608.
The eldest was Siobhán, who married the Earl of Tyrone in 1574 and died in January 1591, about the same time that his brother Hugh was escaping from Dublin Castle
.
Other half-brothers were Donnchadh, Domhnall Dónall, and Ruaidhri, who was killed in 1575. Domhnall was killed in 1590, but left a son, Dómhnall Óg.
Rudhraighe's second eldest sibling, a daughter whose name is unknown, is believed to have married a son of Turlough Luineach O'Neill
sometime before or during 1579.
The following are all believed to be full-blood siblings of Tyrconnell by Sir Hugh's infamous wife, Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" MacDonnell: Nuala, Aodh Ruadh, Maghnus, Mairgheag, Máire and Cathbharr.
Nuala married Niall Garve O'Donnell
(Irish: Niall Garbh O Dómhnaill) in 1592; when he sided with the English during the Nine Years War, she abandoned him and subsequently joined Rudhraighe on the Flight of the Earls
with her daughter, Grania.
Maghnus and Cathbharr are known to have been dead by September 1608, while a poem written in the same month addresses Mairghead and Máire. Nothing is known of Mairéad beyond this. However, Máire had married Sir Donnell Ó Cathain
before 1598 but they divorced and she married Tadgh Ó Ruairc, who died in 1605, leaving her with two sons. She herself died in 1662.
(see also Fingal
).
Rudhraighe's only son, Aodh (Hugh), also known as Hugh Albert (he served as a page to the Archduke Albert), was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly, and was raised in Louvain, Spanish Flanders. In time he joined the service of the King of Spain, and was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire. He succeeded his father as Earl of Tyrconnell, but left no offspring; the title of Earl would have descended to his first cousin Domhnall Oge's line were it not meanwhile attainted
in 1614.
Rudhraighe's youngest child, Mary, left a more lasting impression on posterity. Born in England in 1608 after her father's death, where King James I of England, the first Stuart King of England, who was James VI of Scotland gave her the name Stuart, in recognition of their common Stuart ancestry - they were ninth cousins - hence she was known as Mary Stuart O'Donnell. She was descended, through her mother, Ineen Dubh, from the Stuarts. She was raised by her grandmother, Lady Kildare, suggesting that her mother too had died. She seems to have been raised in England, where Lady Kildare made an unsatisfactory (to Mary) match for her. Mary donned male attire, and with her maid and a manservant, escaped to the Continent.
She made her way to Brussels
and from there to Genoa
where she married a Mr. O'Gallagher (like her, a descendant of the Cenél Conaill
. What exactly became of her seems to be a mystery; it is said that "When she was expecting her second child she wrote in great distress to Cardinal Barberini" and was "last heard of this remarkable woman was that she was a widow living in Prague", seemingly around 1649.
at the latter's residence in the Quirinal Palace
. He most likely also visited St. Peter's Basilica, then under construction in its current form. As such, he would also have had the royal privilege of ascending and later descending the Scala Regia
in the Vatican
. Some decades later, when Bernini restored the Scala Regia, he placed a sculpture of his own making there, an equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, and re-designed the stairway such that light shines down through a window above, with the (inter alia) O'Donnell motto In Hoc Signo Vinces
, reminiscent of Constantine's vision, overhead. The motto appears prominently placed on a sculpted ribbon unfurled with a passion cross to its left, beneath the window over the Scala Regia
, in order that all monarchs and royalty thenceforth visiting the Pope, would be reminded on leaving, to follow the Cross, and thence turn right into the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica
, ostensibly so inspired.
on the Janiculum Hill. The Church was commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and marks a traditional location of St. Peter's crucifixion. Historically under Spanish protection, it now forms part of a Franciscan monastery and adjoins a Spanish Royal Academy under the custody of the Spanish Embassy in Rome. Rudhraighe's tombstone is a flagstone under a carpet lying before the high altar in that church, and reads as follows:
Which may be translated:
"Readers who are unacquainted with Irish documents between this name and Mrs Concannons Ruairi (sometimes Ruairi). The latter forms have no place in Irish orthography. They might represent 'Ruaidhri', a name which some people (including myself) have attributed to Aodh Ruadh's brother. But Rudhraighe (an immaterial variant is Rughraighe), anglicized by O Donovan 'Rury', is the correct form. Ruaidhri is a much less ancient name, and is Englished 'Rory' and 'Roderick'." (2003, p. 326).
= 1stly, an unnamed Irish wife = 2ndly, Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" Ní Seamus MacDonnell (married Aodh in 1569)
| |
__|______________________________________ |_________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Donnchadh Domhnall Ruadhri Siobhán daughter Nuala Aodh Ruadh Rudhraighe Maghnus Mairghead Máire Cathbarr
(Scaite) d.1590 d.1575 d. 1591 fl.1579 fl.1592 1571-1602 d.1608 alive 1608 died 1662 | |
| =Brigid FitzGerald | Hugh (dsp)
| | Conn (dsp.)
Domhnall Oge ___________________________|__________________________
| | | |
| | | |
Luke Plunkett = Elizabeth Hugh, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell Mary Stuart O'Donnell, 1608-49?
Earl of Fingall 1st Countess October 1606-August/September 1642 =O'Gallagher
1589-1637 of Fingal (dsp) |
1604-c.1630 |
(dsp) had at least one child
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, although that family did not inherit the title, nor the related territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell, the remainders of which were destined elsewhere.
Rudhraighe was one of nine known children of Sir Hugh O'Donnell (Irish: Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill), who reigned from 1566 until he abdicated in favour of his eldest son by his second wife, "Red" Hugh O'Donnell
Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill, anglicised as either Hugh Roe O'Donnell or Red Hugh O'Donnell , was An Ó Domhnaill and Rí of Tir Chonaill . He led the Irish forces against the English conquest of Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years' War from 1595 to 1603...
(Irish: Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill), in 1592. By this point the sons of his first wife had been disabled or killed, mostly by his Scottish-born second wife the Ineen Dubh
Ineen Dubh
Iníon Dubh, Queen of Tyrconnell , also spelt Inghean Dubh and sometimes Anglicised as Ineen Dubh or Ineen Duv, is the name by which Fionnuala Nic Dhomhnaill , daughter of James MacDonnell and Agnes Campbell, was best known. The name literally means Dark Daughter in the Irish language...
' onMouseout='HidePop("16201")' href="/topics/County_Donegal">County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
as 'Ineen Doo').
Rudhraighe married Lady Bridget FitzGerald, daughter of Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare
Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare
-Background:Kildare was the son of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and Mabel Browne.-Military career:Nicknamed Henry "na Tuagh", or Henry "of the Battleaxes", he fought against the Spanish invaders in Ireland in 1588...
, by whom he had three children: Elizabeth, Hugh (Aodh) and Mary. Hugh succeeded Rory as 2nd Earl.
In 1602, Rudhraighe succeeded his recently deceased brother Hugh as King of Tyrconnell and head of the clan O'Donnell. Having submitted in London to the new King, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, he was created Earl of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 4 September 1603, with the subsidiary title Baron of Donegal reserved for his heir apparent. He was further granted the territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 10 February 1604.
There was much fury in Ireland and England that he and Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone had been treated so gingerly after allegedly committing treason (this became known as the Sham Plot), but time was on the side of the English authorities. On 14 September 1607, with the discovery that he and Tyrone were to be arrested and imprisoned, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three known glacial fjords in Ireland....
with their families and followers for eventual exile in Spanish Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Rome (see Flight of the Earls
Flight of the Earls
The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...
). Tyrconnell died in Rome in 1608.
Parents and siblings
Rudhraighe's father had at least nine known children by at least two different women.The eldest was Siobhán, who married the Earl of Tyrone in 1574 and died in January 1591, about the same time that his brother Hugh was escaping from Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
.
Other half-brothers were Donnchadh, Domhnall Dónall, and Ruaidhri, who was killed in 1575. Domhnall was killed in 1590, but left a son, Dómhnall Óg.
Rudhraighe's second eldest sibling, a daughter whose name is unknown, is believed to have married a son of Turlough Luineach O'Neill
Turlough Luineach O'Neill
Toirdhealbhach Luineach Mac Néill Chonnalaigh Ó Néill , the earl of the Clan-Connell, was inaugurated as the King of Tyrone, upon Shane O’Neill’s death...
sometime before or during 1579.
The following are all believed to be full-blood siblings of Tyrconnell by Sir Hugh's infamous wife, Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" MacDonnell: Nuala, Aodh Ruadh, Maghnus, Mairgheag, Máire and Cathbharr.
Nuala married Niall Garve O'Donnell
Niall Garve O'Donnell
Niall Garbh Ó Domhnaill anglicised as Niall Garve O'Donnell . He is best known for siding with the English against his kinsman Hugh Roe O'Donnell during the Nine Years' War in the 1590s....
(Irish: Niall Garbh O Dómhnaill) in 1592; when he sided with the English during the Nine Years War, she abandoned him and subsequently joined Rudhraighe on the Flight of the Earls
Flight of the Earls
The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...
with her daughter, Grania.
Maghnus and Cathbharr are known to have been dead by September 1608, while a poem written in the same month addresses Mairghead and Máire. Nothing is known of Mairéad beyond this. However, Máire had married Sir Donnell Ó Cathain
Ó Cathain
Clan Ó Catháin ....
before 1598 but they divorced and she married Tadgh Ó Ruairc, who died in 1605, leaving her with two sons. She herself died in 1662.
Children
Elizabeth became the 1st Countess of Fingall, through marriage to Lucas Plunkett, the 1st Earl of FingallEarl of Fingall
Baron Killeen and Earl of Fingall were titles in the Peerage of Ireland. Baron Fingall was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...
(see also Fingal
Fingal
Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census...
).
Rudhraighe's only son, Aodh (Hugh), also known as Hugh Albert (he served as a page to the Archduke Albert), was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly, and was raised in Louvain, Spanish Flanders. In time he joined the service of the King of Spain, and was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire. He succeeded his father as Earl of Tyrconnell, but left no offspring; the title of Earl would have descended to his first cousin Domhnall Oge's line were it not meanwhile attainted
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
in 1614.
Rudhraighe's youngest child, Mary, left a more lasting impression on posterity. Born in England in 1608 after her father's death, where King James I of England, the first Stuart King of England, who was James VI of Scotland gave her the name Stuart, in recognition of their common Stuart ancestry - they were ninth cousins - hence she was known as Mary Stuart O'Donnell. She was descended, through her mother, Ineen Dubh, from the Stuarts. She was raised by her grandmother, Lady Kildare, suggesting that her mother too had died. She seems to have been raised in England, where Lady Kildare made an unsatisfactory (to Mary) match for her. Mary donned male attire, and with her maid and a manservant, escaped to the Continent.
She made her way to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and from there to Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
where she married a Mr. O'Gallagher (like her, a descendant of the Cenél Conaill
Cenél Conaill
The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....
. What exactly became of her seems to be a mystery; it is said that "When she was expecting her second child she wrote in great distress to Cardinal Barberini" and was "last heard of this remarkable woman was that she was a widow living in Prague", seemingly around 1649.
Visit to Rome
Rudhraighe visited Rome, and was given a hero's welcome by the Pope and Roman nobility. He paid homage to Pope Paul VPope Paul V
-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...
at the latter's residence in the Quirinal Palace
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace is a historical building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome...
. He most likely also visited St. Peter's Basilica, then under construction in its current form. As such, he would also have had the royal privilege of ascending and later descending the Scala Regia
Scala Regia
Scala Regia is a term referring to a number of majestic entrance staircases, including:* The Scala Regia of the Vatican, a flight of steps designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to connect the Vatican Palace to St...
in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
. Some decades later, when Bernini restored the Scala Regia, he placed a sculpture of his own making there, an equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, and re-designed the stairway such that light shines down through a window above, with the (inter alia) O'Donnell motto In Hoc Signo Vinces
In hoc signo vinces
In hoc signo vinces is a Latin rendering of the Greek phrase "" en touto nika, and means "in this sign you will conquer"....
, reminiscent of Constantine's vision, overhead. The motto appears prominently placed on a sculpted ribbon unfurled with a passion cross to its left, beneath the window over the Scala Regia
Scala Regia
Scala Regia is a term referring to a number of majestic entrance staircases, including:* The Scala Regia of the Vatican, a flight of steps designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to connect the Vatican Palace to St...
, in order that all monarchs and royalty thenceforth visiting the Pope, would be reminded on leaving, to follow the Cross, and thence turn right into the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
, ostensibly so inspired.
Death and Burial
Shortly thereafter, Rudhraighe died in Rome, after a short sojourn in Ostia due to his fever (probably malaria). As was customary for his forebears' funerals, he was laid out dressed in Franciscan robes. He was then given a prince's burial in the Church of San Pietro in MontorioSan Pietro in Montorio
San Pietro in Montorio is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard The Tempietto built by Donato Bramante.-History:...
on the Janiculum Hill. The Church was commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and marks a traditional location of St. Peter's crucifixion. Historically under Spanish protection, it now forms part of a Franciscan monastery and adjoins a Spanish Royal Academy under the custody of the Spanish Embassy in Rome. Rudhraighe's tombstone is a flagstone under a carpet lying before the high altar in that church, and reads as follows:
Which may be translated:
A Note on the name Rudhraighe
The name Rudhraighe name has been anglicised as Rory, but should be written and pronounced Rury. Paul Walsh (priest) wrote:"Readers who are unacquainted with Irish documents between this name and Mrs Concannons Ruairi (sometimes Ruairi). The latter forms have no place in Irish orthography. They might represent 'Ruaidhri', a name which some people (including myself) have attributed to Aodh Ruadh's brother. But Rudhraighe (an immaterial variant is Rughraighe), anglicized by O Donovan 'Rury', is the correct form. Ruaidhri is a much less ancient name, and is Englished 'Rory' and 'Roderick'." (2003, p. 326).
Clann Aodh Ó Domhnaill
Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill/Sir Hugh O'Donnell, died 1600.= 1stly, an unnamed Irish wife = 2ndly, Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" Ní Seamus MacDonnell (married Aodh in 1569)
| |
__|______________________________________ |_________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Donnchadh Domhnall Ruadhri Siobhán daughter Nuala Aodh Ruadh Rudhraighe Maghnus Mairghead Máire Cathbarr
(Scaite) d.1590 d.1575 d. 1591 fl.1579 fl.1592 1571-1602 d.1608 alive 1608 died 1662 | |
| =Brigid FitzGerald | Hugh (dsp)
| | Conn (dsp.)
Domhnall Oge ___________________________|__________________________
| | | |
| | | |
Luke Plunkett = Elizabeth Hugh, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell Mary Stuart O'Donnell, 1608-49?
Earl of Fingall 1st Countess October 1606-August/September 1642 =O'Gallagher
1589-1637 of Fingal (dsp) |
1604-c.1630 |
(dsp) had at least one child
Sources
- The Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone (Hugh O’Neill) and Tyrconnel (Rory O’Donel), their flight from Ireland and death in exile, by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, M.R.I.A., 2nd edition, James Duffy, London, 1870.
- Wealth of Dignity, Poverty of Destiny - The Destitution of a Catholic Princess for her Devotion (The tragic story of Mary, Princess of Tyrconnell, Rory's daughter), by Francis Martin O'DonnellFrancis Martin O'DonnellFrancis Martin O'Donnell, KC*SG, KM, KCMCO, is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Slovak Republic. He is a retired former UN official who served most recently as the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Ukraine, from 30...
, Knight of Malta, in pages 3–6 of O'Domhnaill Abu, the O'Donnell Clann Newsletter no. 32, published by V. O'Donnell, Inver, County Donegal, Summer 2004 [ISSN 0790-7389]. - History of Killeen Castle, by Mary Rose Carty, published by Carty/Lynch, Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland, April 1991 (ISBN 0-9517382-0-8) - page 18 refers to Elizabeth O'Donnell as 1st Countess of FingalFingalFingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census...
l. - Calendar of State Papers - 1603-4 - James I (item 123, pages 79–80), National Library of Ireland, Dublin.
- Red Hugh O Donnell's sisters, Siobhan and Nuala, Paul Walsh (priest), in Irish Leaders and Learning, ed. O'Muraile, Dublin, 2003, pp. 326–29.
- http://www.araltas.com/features/odonnell/
- Swiss commemoration / short film on commemoration of Rory's Flight of the Earls; March, 2008