Siobhán O'Donnell explained

Siobhán O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone (née O'Donnell; ga|Siobhán Ní Domhnaill; died January 1591), sometimes anglicised Joanna, Joan, or Judith, was a sixteenth-century Irish Gaelic noblewoman of the O'Donnell clan. She was 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.^[1] Her mother's name is unknown. Her mother was Sir Hugh's first wife. Her mother was not Sir Hugh's second wife Iníon Dubh. Historian Francis Martin O'Donnell has named Sir Hugh's first wife as "Nuala, a daughter of O’Neill".^[2]

Historian Helena Concannon believes Siobhán was born 1569, and that her mother was Iníon Dubh, whom her father married in 1569. However, Siobhán's marriage in 1574 makes that date of birth extremely unlikely.

Siobhán's most prominent full-sibling was Donal 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.^{[3] [4]} Siobhan's younger half-siblings included chiefs Hugh Roe O'Donnell^[5] and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.^[6]

Marriage

From the late-1560s to early-1570s, Hugh O'Neill, Baron Dungannon, allied with many neighbouring clans to strength his political position.^[1] Siobhán married O'Neill in June 1574. Walter Devereaux, the 1st Earl of Essex, announced their marriage on 14 June. O'Neill had annulled his first marriage earlier the same year, on the grounds of consanguinity. This was in order to cut ties with his first father-in-law, who had been arrested for treason.

In 1579,^[7] 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.^[1]

The O'Neill-O'Donnell clan alliance would develop further by 1587, when Siobhán's younger half-brother Hugh Roe was betrothed to Rose, O'Neill's daughter^[5] (born from either an earlier marriage or a concubine).

Death

In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill informed Lord Burghley of Siobhán's recent death. He remarried to Anglo-Irish noblewoman Mabel Bagenal on 3 August 1591.^[8]

Children

Siobhán and Hugh had two sons and multiple daughters:

• Margaret who married Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret sometime before 8 October 1596^[9] —possibly in October 1595.^[10]
• Sarah (1595–1602), who married Sir Arthur Magennis, 1st Viscount Iveagh sometime before 4 March 1595 - possibly in 1590.^[11] Through Sarah, Siobhán is an ancestor to the Anglo-Irish Wellesley family.^{[12] [13]}
• Mary (fl. 1608), who married Brian McHugh Og MacMahon. According to historian George Hill, she is the same woman who married Sir Ross McMahon.^[14]
• Alice (1583 –) who married Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim. She was younger than her sisters Sarah and Mary, and older than her brother Hugh.
• Hugh, 4th Baron Dungannon (– September 1609); he died in Rome and was buried in San Pietro in Montorio.^[15]
• Henry (1586^[15] – 1610); he became a colonel of an Irish regiment in the Archduke's army.^[16]

References

Sources

• Encyclopedia: O'Neill, Hugh [Aodh O'Neill], second earl of Tyrone (1583–1616) ]. . . New York . Canny . Nicholas . 2004 . Nicholas Canny . Matthew . Colin . 41 . 837–845 . 0-19-861391-1 . Colin Matthew . Harrison . Brian . Brian Harrison (historian) . registration.
• Casway . Jerrold . 2016 . Catherine Magennis and the Wives of Hugh O'Neill . Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society . 26 . 1 . 69–79 . 48568219.
• Book: Cokayne, George Edward . George Edward Cokayne . The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant . 1910 . St Catherine Press . Gibbs . Vicary . Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) . 2nd . I . London . 228661424. – Ab-Adam to Basing
• Concannon . Helena . Helena Concannon . 1920 . 'The Woman of the Piercing Wail' (The Lady Nuala O'Donnell) . . Dublin . John F. Fowler . 16.
• Encyclopedia: Dunlop . O'Neill, Hugh, third Baron of Dungannon and second Earl of Tyrone 1540?–1616 . . . New York . Robert . 1895 . Robert Dunlop (historian) . Lee . Sidney . Sidney Lee . XLII . 188–196 . 8544105.
• Book: McGettigan, Darren . Red Hugh O'Donnell and the Nine Years War . Four Courts Press . 2005 . Dublin . 978-1-84682-485-2.
• Book: Morgan, Hiram . 1993 . Tyrone's Rebellion: The outbreak of the Nine Years' War in Tudor Ireland . . London . 0-86193-224-2 . registration . Hiram Morgan.
• Book: Hill, George . An historical account of the Macdonnells of Antrim: including notices of some other septs Irish and Scotch . Archer & Sons . Belfast . 1873 .
• Book: Ohlmeyer, Jane H . Jane Ohlmeyer . Civil War and Restoration in the Three Stuart Kingdoms: The Career of Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim . 2001 . Four Courts Press . 978-0521419789 . Dublin . 1993. (Snippet view)
• . 1867 . PROCEEDINGS AND PAPERS . Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . 5 . 459.
• Walsh . Paul . Paul Walsh (priest) . 1922 . Hugh Roe O'Donnell's Sisters . . Dublin . XIX . 358–364.
• Book: Walsh, Paul . Paul Walsh (priest) . THE WILL AND FAMILY OF HUGH O NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE [WITH AN APPENDIX OF GENEALOGIES] ]. Sign of the Three Candles . 1930 . Walsh . Paul . Dublin.
• Walsh . Micheline . Micheline Kerney Walsh . 1974 . The Will of John O'Neill, Third Earl of Tyrone . Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society . 7 . 2 . 320–325 . 10.2307/29740847 . 29740847.

Notes and References

1. Morgan . Hiram . September 2014 . O'Neill, Hugh . . 10.3318/dib.006962.v1 . 3 May 2024.
2. Web site: O'Donnell . Francis Martin . Francis Martin O'Donnell . 15 November 2018 . The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy (Maunsel Irish Research Series) . 20 June 2024 . Academica Press.
3. O'Byrne . Emmett . Emmett O'Byrne . October 2009 . MacDonnell (Nic Dhomhnaill), Fiona (Fionnghuala) ('Iníon Dubh') . . 10.3318/dib.006337.v1.
4. Annals of the Four Masters
5. Morgan . Hiram . Hiram Morgan . October 2009 . O'Donnell, 'Red' Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh) . . 10.3318/dib.006343.v1 .
6. Webb . Alfred . 1878 . Rury O'Donnell . A Compendium of Irish Biography.
7. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, p. 839
8. O'Byrne . Emmett . Clarke . Aidan . Barry . Judy . October 2009 . Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel . . 10.3318/dib.006953.v1 . 3 May 2024.
9. Book: Matthew, H. C. G. (Henry Colin Gray) . Oxford dictionary of national biography : in association with the British Academy : from the earliest times to the year 2000 . Harrison . Brian . British Academy . 2004 . Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-19-861411-1 . 196 . . "Shortly before 8 October 1596 he married Margaret O'Neill, daughter of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, with whom he had three sons and six daughters.".
10. Edwards . David . October 2009 . Butler, Richard . live . . 10.3318/dib.001283.v1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240407163436/https://www.dib.ie/biography/butler-richard-a1283 . 7 April 2024 . 18 September 2024.
11. Guinness . Henry S. . 1932 . Magennis of Iveagh . The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . 2 . 1 . 97 . 0035-9106.
12. Web site: Humphrys . Mark . 21 May 2011 . The Queen's Irish ancestors . 2024-09-18 . The Irish Times . en.
13. Web site: Humphrys . Mark . The Queen's Irish ancestry . 2024-09-18 . humphrysfamilytree.com.
14. Book: Hill, George . An historical account of the plantation in Ulster at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 1608-1620 . McCaw, Stevenson and Orr . Belfast . 1877 . 41.
15. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. p. 3006
16. Book: Walsh, Micheline . Micheline Kerney Walsh . The O'Neills in Spain . April 1957 . 7–9 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240701183030/https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G004964.pdf . 1 July 2024 . live.