Siobhán O'Donnell

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Siobhán O'Donnell
Diedc. January 1591
Noble familyO'Donnell dynasty
Spouse(s)Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (m. 1574)
FatherHugh McManus O'Donnell

Siobhán O'Donnell (Siobhán Ní Domhnaill; died c. January 1591), sometimes anglicised Joanna, Joan, or Judith,[1] was a sixteenth-century Irish Gaelic noblewoman of the O'Donnell clan. She is known for being the second wife of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, bearing him most of his children.

Family background

She was the daughter of Irish chief Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell.[2] Her mother was Sir Hugh's first wife, whose name is unrecorded.

Historian Helena Concannon believes Siobhán was born c. 1569,[3] and that her mother was Sir Hugh's second wife Iníon Dubh,[4] whom he married around 1569.[5][1] However, Siobhán's marriage in 1574 makes that date of birth extremely unlikely.

Siobhán's most prominent full-sibling was Donal Dubh O'Donnell. He attempted to depose his father, and in September 1590's Battle of Doire Leathan, Donal was killed by Scottish Redshanks led by his step-mother Iníon Dubh.[5][6] Siobhan's younger half-siblings include chiefs Red Hugh O'Donnell[7] and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.[8]

Marriage

From the late-1560s to early-1570s, Hugh O'Neill, Baron Dungannon, allied with many neighbouring clans to strength his political position.[2] Siobhán married O'Neill on 14 June 1574[9][10] - Walter Devereaux, the 1st Earl of Essex, announced their marriage.[1] O'Neill's first marriage had been annulled earlier the same year, on the grounds of consanguinity.[11]

In 1579, O'Neill became frustrated with his failure to seize the title of The O'Neill from clan chief Turlough Luineach O'Neill. He repudiated his marriage to Siobhán, and planned to wed one of Turlough's daughters, in a ploy to become Turlough's tanist. His plan failed and Hugh reconciled with Siobhán.[2]

Death

In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill references Siobhán's recent death.[1] He remarried to Anglo-Irish noblewoman Mabel Bagenal on 3 August 1591.[1][12]

Children

Siobhán and Hugh had two sons and multiple daughters:

Family tree


Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Her death date has alternately been given as 1639, 26 April 1640, or sometime after 31 March 1642.[1]
  2. ^ Dunlop believes that her mother was Catherine Magennis.[14] More recently, Casway and Cokayne believe her mother was Siobhan O'Donnell,[10][15] which, based on Alice's birthdate, is more likely.
  3. ^ Most sources give her a birthdate of c. 1583,[16][15][10] though Walsh has demonstrated that a birthdate of c. 1588 is possible.[1]
  4. ^ Sources disagree on Henry's date of death: 1610,[10] c. 1620,[19] or c. 1626.[14] It is clear that he died sometime before the publication of Philip O'Sullevan's Historia Catholica in 1621.[1]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Walsh 1930.
  2. ^ a b c Morgan, Hiram (September 2014). "O'Neill, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006962.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  3. ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218-219. "Siobhan was probably the eldest of the family, and must have been born not later than 1569." "We know little of Siobhan, who can hardly have been more than one-and- twenty, when she died in 1590."
  4. ^ Concannon 1920.
  5. ^ a b O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "MacDonnell (Nic Dhomhnaill), Fiona (Fionnghuala) ('Iníon Dubh')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006337.v1.
  6. ^ Annals of the Four Masters
  7. ^ Morgan, Hiram (October 2009). "O'Donnell, 'Red' Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006343.v1.
  8. ^ Webb, Alfred (1878). "Rury O'Donnell". A Compendium of Irish Biography.
  9. ^ Canny 2004, p. 511-512.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Casway 2016.
  11. ^ Canny 2004.
  12. ^ O'Byrne, Emmett; Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy (October 2009). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006953.v1. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  13. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Dunlop 1895, p. 196.
  15. ^ a b c Cokayne 1910, p. 174. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
  16. ^ Hill 1873. "Sir Randal Macdonnell was married about the year 1604 to Ellis or Alice O'Neill, the third daughter of Hugh earl of Tyrone. This lady, who was born in 1583, was in her twenty-first year at the time of her marriage, and was younger than either of her sisters, lady Macmahon or Lady Maginnis. She was older than her brother Hugh, the baron of Dungannon."
  17. ^ Ohlmeyer 2001, p. 359. "O'Neill, Ellis (Alice), countess of Antrim (d. c. 1665) ..."
  18. ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218. "The inscription on the tomb in San Pietro in Montorio shows that her eldest child, Hugh, was born in 1585."
  19. ^ a b Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459.
  20. ^ Hill, George (1877). An historical account of the plantation in Ulster at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 1608-1620. Belfast: McCaw, Stevenson and Orr. p. 41.

Sources

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