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, Earl of Tyrone was an Irish Gaelic lord and key figure of the Nine Years' War. Known as the "Great Earl", he led the confederacy of Irish clans against the English Crown in resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I.
Sir Turlough Lynagh 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. 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 the 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 MacDonnells calling for reinforcements from Scotland. The Scottish MacDonnells would later assassinate Shane O'Neill and collect the bounty on his head.
Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone was an Irish lord who ruled over Tyrone from 1519 to 1558. 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.
Manus O'Donnell was a Gaelic Irish lord and King of Tyrconnell. After his father Hugh Dubh's death in 1537, Manus succeeded as Tyrconnell's ruler. In 1555 he was imprisoned and deposed by his son Calvagh, who effectively took over the kingdom's leadership. Manus died during his imprisonment in Lifford.
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created for the final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Viscount Tyrone, son-in-law of the last de Poer earls. His son was created Marquess of Waterford in 1789, and the title has since been a subsidiary title of the Waterford title.
Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard was an Irish politician and soldier who started the Irish rebellion in Ulster on 23 October 1641. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederation in 1642 and fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms under his cousin, Owen Roe O'Neill, in the Confederate Ulster Army. After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland O’Neill went into hiding but was captured, tried and executed in 1653.
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 associated with the McShanes of Glenconkeyne and Killetra. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills". His parentage is disputed however he is claimed by some as being either a grandson or great-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.
Colonel Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone was an Irish-born nobleman, member of the Spanish nobility and soldier in the Spanish army who primarily lived and served in Continental Europe.
Clandeboye or Clannaboy was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin. The entity was relatively late in appearance and is associated partly with the Gaelic resurgence of the High Middle Ages. The O'Neill Clandeboy who reigned in the territory descended from Hugh Boy O'Neill, a king of Tyrone. His descendants took advantage of the demise of the Earldom of Ulster during the latter 14th century and seized vast portions of territory. Clandeboye's main seats of power were Shane's Castle and Castle Reagh.
Tír Eoghain, also known as Tyrone, was a kingdom and later earldom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising parts of present-day County Tyrone, County Armagh, County Londonderry and County Donegal (Raphoe). The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél nEógain people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area. One part of the realm to the north-east broke away and expanded, becoming Clandeboye, ruled by a scion branch of the O'Neill dynasty. In one form or another, Tyrone existed for over a millennium. Its main capital was Dungannon, though kings were inaugurated at Tullyhogue Fort.
MacShane or McShane is an Irish surname. It derives from the Gaelic Mac Seáin or Mac Seagháin and evolved from the given name Shane, a derivative of John. Historically, the MacShanes from Ulster are a branch of the O'Neills, while in County Kerry, the surname was adopted by the Fitzmaurices.
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 the succession to the Earldom of Tyrone and was murdered by some of his supporters.
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 families in Ireland.
Brian O'Neill, 2nd Baron Dungannon was an Irish aristocrat of the Elizabethan era. He was part of the O'Neill dynasty, a Gaelic family in Ulster.
