See also
Viscount Dungannon
Countess & Marchioness of Dungannon
The title Baron of Dungannon in the Peerage of Ireland was associated with the first creation of the title of Earl of Tyrone.
When Conn Bacach O'Neill. 1st Earl of Tyrone surrendered his Irish principality of Tír Eoghain to Henry VIII in 1542, as part of Henry's effort to make his new Kingdom of Ireland into all of Ireland, Henry created him, on 1 October 1542, a week later, Earl of Tyrone; by the patent this was to descend to his eldest, illegitimate, son, Ferdoragh O'Neill and his heirs; he assumed the more English name of Matthew. In the same patent he was created Baron of Dungannon, "to hold the dignity during the life of his father, with limitation to the heir apparent of the earldom," [1] with extension to his heirs. This wording meant that the Barony was to behave like a courtesy title: the eldest son of each Earl of Tyrone was to be Baron of Dungannon until he succeeded to the Earldom, and also, as a substantive title, it did confer a seat in the Irish House of Lords.
Matthew was the first baron among the O'Neills; when he fathered an illegitimate son himself, it became known, for distinctiveness, as Art mac Baron. Unfortunately, all was not so smooth; there was considerable sentiment against the change of law and authority involved in the change to an Earldom, and when Shane O'Neill, known as "Shane the Proud", Conn's legitimate son, grew up, he led a rebellion from 1551 onward, against Conn and Matthew and Anglo-Irish law.
When Matthew was killed, at Shane's order, in 1558, his young legitimate son Brian O'Neill became Baron of Dungannon; when his grandfather, Conn Bacach, died the next year, in exile from Tyrone, Brien should have become Earl of Tyrone instead. But his claim to the Earldom was never acknowledged; instead the Barony of Dungannon was treated as though it were not subject to any special condition, and Brien continued to be called Lord Dungannon; during these years, Queen Elizabeth's Government in Ireland was attempting to reach a settlement with Shane the Proud.
When Brien was assassinated in 1562 by Turlough Luineach O'Neill, tanist to Shane the Proud, "between Carlingford and the Newry," [2] his younger brother Hugh continued to be treated as Baron Dungannon; when he grew up, he fought alongside the Queen's government against his uncle Shane and his cousin Turlough.
In 1585, Hugh O'Neill was seated in the Irish Parliament as Earl of Tyrone; in 1587, he received a regrant and confirmation of the Earldom, which also confirmed his son Hugh as Baron of Dungannon. This specificity was in part due to Earl Hugh's own marital complications; his first marriage, to his distant cousin, a daughter of Brien MacFelim O'Neill of Clandeboye, had been found invalid, and their children illegitimate; Hugh was the eldest son of his second wife, Joan O'Donnell, half-sister of the first Earl of Tyrconnell.
After an adventurous career, Earl Hugh, his family, and the O'Donnells left Ireland to seek Spanish aid in 1607, in the flight of the Earls; his son Hugh accompanied him, only to die in Rome in 1609. In 1608, King James I had attainted Hugh and his family, which deprived them of their lands and titles; the Irish Parliament confirmed this in 1614.
Earl Hugh and his relatives continued to use the title of Earl of Tyrone while in exile; few of them had legitimate sons to be heirs apparent. When Earl Hugh's last surviving son made his will in 1641, he called himself Earl of Tyrone and Prince of Ulster; he did not call himself or his (illegitimate) son Hugo Eugenio Baron Dungannon. [3]
The following men were called Baron of Dungannon:
The title has also been extinct since the end of the male line of the grantee.
Viscount Dungannon
Countess & Marchioness of Dungannon
Hugh O'Neill, was an Irish Gaelic lord, Earl of Tyrone and was later created The Ó Néill Mór, Chief of the Name. O'Neill's career was played out against the background of the Tudor conquest of Ireland, and he is best known for leading the resistance during the Nine Years' War, the strongest threat to Tudor authority in Ireland since the revolt of Silken Thomas.
Sir Turlough Luineach O'Neill was an Irish Gaelic lord of Tír Eoghain in early modern Ireland. He was inaugurated upon Shane O’Neill’s death, becoming The O'Neill. From 1567 to 1595, Sir Turlough Luineach O'Neill was leader of the O'Neill clan, the most powerful family in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. He was knighted in 1578.
Shane O'Neill, was an Irish chieftain of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be The O'Neill – sovereign of the dominant O'Neill family of Tír Eoghain—and thus overlord of the entire province. This brought him into conflict with competing branches of the O'Neill family and with the English government in Ireland, who recognised a rival claim. Shane's support was considered worth gaining by the English even during the lifetime of his father Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone. But rejecting overtures from Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, the lord deputy from 1556, Shane refused to help the English against the Scottish settlers on the coast of Antrim, allying himself for a short time instead with the MacDonnells, the most powerful of these settlers, Shane viewed the Scottish settlers as invaders, but decided to stay his hand against them with hopes of using them to strengthen his position with the English, however, tensions quickly boiled over and he declared war on the Scottish MacDonnell's defeating them at the Battle of Glentaisie despite the MacDonnell's calling for reinforcements from Scotland. The Scottish MacDonnell's would later assassinate Shane O'Neill and collect the bounty on his head
Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, was king of Tyrone. In 1541 O'Neill travelled to England to submit to Henry VIII as part of the surrender and regrant policy that coincided with the creation of the Kingdom of Ireland. He was made Earl of Tyrone, but his plans to pass the title and lands on to a chosen successor Matthew were thwarted by a violent succession dispute that led to another son, Shane O'Neill, emerging triumphant.
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex KG, was Lord Deputy of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Manus O'Donnell was an Irish lord and son of Sir Hugh Dubh O'Donnell. He was an important member of the O'Donnell dynasty based in County Donegal in Ulster.
Earl of Ranfurly, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, a title in the Peerage of Ireland, was created in 1831 for Thomas Knox, 2nd Viscount Northland. He had earlier represented County Tyrone in the House of Commons, and had already been created Baron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in the County of Renfrew, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1826. Knox was the eldest son of Thomas Knox, who represented Dungannon in the Irish House of Commons. He was created Baron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781, and Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791. Both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Northland also sat in the British House of Lords as one of the 28 original Irish Representative Peers.
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.
Phelim Caoch O'Neill was a prince of the Cenél nEógain.
Tirlough Brassileagh O'Neill was the son of Phelim Caoch O'Neill, a prince of the Cenél nEógain.
The title of Count of Tyrone has been used by two European branches of the O'Neill family to claim affiliation with the O'Neill Earls of Tyrone in the Peerage of Ireland. Romance languages, such as French, Spanish, and Portuguese, do not distinguish between earls and counts, but use the same word for both; when these titles have been translated into English, they are generally rendered Count.
Hugh McShane O'Neill was an early modern Irish nobleman and rebel. Genealogies list Hugh as either the youngest son of Con MacShane O'Neill, or 3rd son of Shane O'Neill himself. In either case he was a grandson of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and of the primary line of the O'Neill of Tyrone clan. Shane was the Prince of Ulster and Chief of all the O'Neill septs until his death in 1567. Hugh gained his patrimony, like his father, from the O'Neill sept clan he'd been fostered by; the McShanes of Killetragh and the Glenconkeyne forest. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills".
Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone was the youngest son of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
The O'Neill dynasty is a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As Kings of Cenél nEógain, they are historically the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell and O'Doherty. The O'Neills hold that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Con(n) MacShane O'Neill (1565–1630) was an Irish flaith or Prince of Ulster, the Lord of Clabbye, nobleman, rebel, and political leader in the late 16th century and early 17th century.
Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon was an Irish aristocrat. He was accepted by Conn O'Neill as his natural son. Matthew was challenged by his half-brother Shane O'Neill over who had the right to succeed as Earl of Tyrone.
Sir Cormac MacBaron O'Neill (d.1613) was an Irish soldier and landowner of the Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. He was part of the O'Neill dynasty, one of the most prominent Gaelic family in Ireland.
Art MacBaron O'Neill was an Irish landowner and soldier of the Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. He is sometimes referred to as Arthur O'Neill.
Brian Ó Néill, Baron Dungannon was an Irish aristocrat of the Elizabethan era. He was part of the O'Neill dynasty, a powerful Gaelic family in Ulster.
