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Sir Brian McPhelim Bacagh O'Neill (died 1574) was Chief of the Name of Clan O'Neill Lower Clandeboye, an Irish clan in north-eastern Ireland during the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
O'Neill was the son of Phelim Bacagh O'Neill. In 1556 he became lord of Lower Clandeboye. O'Neill sided with the English government in Ireland to help bolster his position against the threat of Shane O'Neill of Tyrone to the west and a large influx of Scots Highlanders from Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg led by Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell into the Glens of Antrim to his north. [1] In 1568, Brian McPhelim O'Neill would be knighted for his service to the Crown as part of William Piers' campaign against Shane O'Neill of Tyrone. [2]
O'Neill and his father-in-law, Brian Carragh O'Neill, would wage a private war against Shane O'Neill's successor, Turlough Luineach O'Neill. The government were not impressed and grew suspicious of O'Neill. [1]
In 1571, Sir Thomas Smith, Queen Elizabeth's principal Secretary of State, was able to get a grant for the entire territory of Clandeboye. While the Clan O'Neill of Lower Clandeboye had been established in that area for two centuries, it had once been part of the Earldom of Ulster, which upon the death of its last earl in the 15th-century passed into ownership of the Crown. [2]
Smith had his son Thomas put in charge of starting a colony and planned to firstly settle the Ards peninsula and then eventually moving westwards through Clandeboye via a mixture of conquest and plantation. The planned plantation was mishandled especially due to Smith advertising the venture, and Smith went to Carrickfergus to negotiate with Brian O'Neill [ which? ] who was unhappy about the plans. The negotiations failed to happen and Brian McPhelim O'Neill set about razing any buildings (excluding abbeys and priories) he could find throughout the northern Ards peninsula that could provide shelter. [2]
In 1573, a similar scheme for the plantation of County Antrim (the south of which was north Clandeboye) by The 1st Earl of Essex overtook Smith's grant, and eventually saw Smith cede his claims to north Clandeboye to Lord Essex. Despite this, Sir Brian continued to create unrest and disturbances throughout his territory that heavily affected the schemes. Eventually the scheme had to be altered focusing on coastal settlements, however this too failed due to Sir Brian. Eventually Essex had to console himself with a grant for the Islandmagee peninsula on the east coast of Antrim, to which he was able to successfully plant all the way south to Belfast. [2] These schemes were all part of the Enterprise of Ulster.
In 1574, Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill was hanged for opposing the local plantations. [3]
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After his death, Lord Essex promoted Sir Brian's son-in-law, Neill McBrian Fertagh O'Neill, son of Brian Fertagh O'Neill who was a cousin of Sir Brian McPhelim, to the lordship of Clandeboye regardless of the other claimants. The inter-familial disputes that arose from this resulted in the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, dividing Clandeboye between the competing members of the Clandeboye O'Neill clan in 1584: Shane McBrian O'Neill, Sir Brian's son, received three-quarters of north Clandeboye; Hugh Oge O'Neill, son of Sir Brian's brother Hugh, received a quarter of north Clandeboye, centred on Edenduffcarrick; Con McNeill O'Neill, Neill McBrian Fertagh's uncle and Sir Brian's cousin, was granted all of south Clandeboye, afterwards known as Upper Clandeboy. North Clandeboye would become known as Lower Clandeboye.
Despite Sir Brian McPhelim's attempts to thwart English settlement of his lands, the son of Neill McBrian Fertagh, Con, who succeeded his father as lord of Upper Clandeboye, made a deal with Hugh Montgomery and James Hamilton that resulted in the three-fold division of the lands comprising his estate in 1605. He sold off the rest and died in 1619. Their subsequent plantations expanded rapidly. The scheme for settling County Antrim, including the territory of Lower Clandeboye, passed from Essex to Sir Arthur Chichester, who was more successful than his predecessor. [2] A direct line great-great-great-great grandson of Brian was John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill.
Son from relationship with Amy O'Neill, daughter of Brian Carrach O'Neill was chief of Clandonnell.
Issue from an unknown Scotswoman.
Somhairle Buíodh MacDonnell, also spelt as MacDonald, was a Gaelic chief, the son of Alexander Carragh MacDonnell, 5th of Dunnyveg, of Dunyvaig Castle, lord of Islay and Cantire, and Catherine, daughter of the Lord of Ardnamurchan, both in Scotland. MacDonnell is best known for establishing the MacDonnell clan in Antrim, Ireland, and resisting the campaign of Shane O'Neill and the English crown to expel the clan from Ireland. Sorley Boy's connection to other Irish Roman Catholic lords was complicated, but also culturally and familiarly strong: for example, he married Mary O'Neill, the daughter of Conn O'Neill. He is also known in English as Somerled and Somerled of the yellow hair.
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 a coalition of Irish clans during the Nine Years' War, the strongest threat to the House of Tudor in Ireland since the uprising of Silken Thomas against King Henry VIII.
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 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 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 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.
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.
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.
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.
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.
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.
The O'Neill dynasty are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically one of the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell dynasty. Some O'Neills state that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Hugh Oge O'Neill, known fully as Hugh Oge McHugh O'Neill, was the son of Hugh O'Neill of the Clandeboye O'Neill's of eastern Ulster, Gaelic Ireland.
William Piers was an English constable, who spent most of his life in Ireland. He was the first mayor and practical founder of Carrickfergus. He was noted in particular for his attempts to drive out the Scots from Ulster and the great lengths that he went to in attempting to enhance the power of local chiefs at the expense of the Scots. Granted Tristernagh Abbey as a reward for his military services, he made it into his family home from the late 1560s until his death in 1603.
Henry MacShane O'Neill or Anraí mac Seáin Ó Néill was an Irish flaith, a son of Shane O'Neill. He was the leader of the MacShane in the late 16th century and early 17th century, and sought control of the O'Neill Clan, fighting with his brother against Hugh O'Neill.
The Clandeboye massacre in 1574 was a massacre of the O'Neills of Lower Clandeboye by the English forces of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. It took place during an attempted English colonisation of Ulster as part of the Tudor conquest of Ireland. The Lord of Lower Clandeboye, Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill, had violently opposed these attempts at colonisation. O'Neill would invite Lord Essex to parley at his castle in Belfast; however, at the end of the feast, the English forces turned on the O'Neills and killed up to 200 of them including women and children. Essex ordered that O'Neill, his wife and brother to be seized and executed for treason and for opposing the plantations.
Niall Mór O'Neill was a lord of Clandeboye in medieval Ireland. He succeeded his father, Conn O'Neill, to the lordship after his death in 1482. He reigned until his own death in 1512, after which he was succeeded by his son Hugh O'Neill. O'Neill's nickname Mór meant "great".
Niall Oge O'Neill was a lord of Clandeboye in medieval Ireland. A son of Niall Mór O'Neill, he succeeded his brother, Phelim Bacagh O'Neill, to the lordship of Clandeboye after his death in 1533. He reigned until his own death in 1537, after which he was succeeded by his brother Murtagh Dulenach O'Neill. O'Neill's nickname "Óg" meant "young".
Murtagh Dulenagh O'Neill was a lord of Clandeboye in medieval Ireland. A son of Niall Mór O'Neill, he succeeded his brother, Niall Oge O'Neill, to the lordship of Clandeboye after his death in 1537.
Phelim Bacagh O'Neill was a lord of Clandeboye in 15th-century medieval Ireland. A son of Niall Mór O'Neill, he succeeded his brother Brian Ballagh II to the lordship after his death in 1529. He reigned until his own death in 1533, after which he was succeeded by his brother Niall Oge O'Neill. O'Neill had at least three sons one of whom was Brian McPhelim O'Neill who would become lord of Lower Clandeboye. Another was Hugh, whose son Hugh Óg McHugh O'Neill would become lord of a quarter of Lower Clandeboye. O'Neill was the ancestor of the Lords O'Neill of Shane's Castle. O'Neill's nickname bacach meant "the lame".
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