Randall MacSorley MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim, PC (Ire) (died 1636), rebelled together with Tyrone and Tyrconnell in the Nine Years' War but having succeeded his brother, Sir James mac Sorley MacDonnell, as Lord of the Route and the Glynns in 1601, he submitted to Mountjoy, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, in 1602.
In his youth, Randal was fostered in the Gaelic manner and lived with a Presbyterian Stewart family on the Scottish island of Arran. He was therefore called "Arranach" in Irish/Scottish Gaelic (meaning "of Arran").[2] His father died in February 1590 at Dunaneeny Castle near Ballycastle and Randal's elder brother James succeeded as Lord of the Route.[3]
His brother James died suddenly on 13April 1601 at Dunluce Castle, leaving the eldest son Alistair Carragh (or Alexander), but MacDonnell was designated as successor by tanistry.[4] Foreseeing the failure of the rebellion, MacDonnell started negotiating his submission with the Lord Deputy, Mountjoy, who knighted him on 13May 1602.[5] In August 1602 he submitted to the lord deputy at Tullyhogue, offering to serve against Tyrone in Fermanagh with five hundred foot and forty horse at his own expense. His example had a good effect in the north.[6]
James I acceded on 24 Mar 1603 and MacDonnell soon received signs of royal favour. On 28May 1603, he was granted the Route and the Glynns, extending from Larne to Coleraine, nearly 340,000 acres. To this in the following year was added the island of Rathlin.
Marriage
Before his marriage, MacDonnell fathered three sons, all of whom were probably illegitimate. One, known as Morrisne or Maurice MacDonnell, would be hanged at Coleraine in 1643 for his share in the rebellion of 1641; another, Francis MacDonnell, became a Franciscan friar, and the third was James.[7]
Sarah, married first Niall Oge O'Neill of Killelagh, in County Antrim, secondly to Sir Charles O'Conor Sligo, and thirdly to Donal MacCarthy Mor[14]
Catherine, married to Edward Plunket of Castlecor, County Meath, younger son of Patrick Plunket, 9th Baron Dunsany[15]
Rose, married to Colonel George Gordon, brother of John Gordon, 14th Earl of Sutherland, who came to Ulster in 1642 as an officer in Major-general Monro's army, and to whose assistance the Marquess of Antrim owed his escape from prison at Carrickfergus in 1643[16]
In 1606, Dunluce Castle, the priory of Coleraine, three parts of the fishing of the river Bann, the castle of Olderfleet (Larne), and all lands belonging to the Diocese of Down and Connor were for different reasons excepted out of his grant; but on 21 June 1615 Dunluce Castle was restored to him. His fourth part of the fishing of the River Bann, which he regarded as "the best stay of his living," involved him in a long and profitless controversy with James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye.
Irish troubles
In 1607, probably on account of his old connection with Tyrone, and because he had about 1604 married Tyrone's daughter Ellis, he was charged by Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth with being concerned in the Flight of the Earls, the departure of the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell to the continent. He appeared voluntarily before the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Arthur Chichester, denied the truth of the charge, and experienced no further trouble on that account.[6]
Dunluce Castle, his principal residence.
The Flight of the Earls in 1607 left him as the most senior Gaelic noble remaining in Ulster. In 1608 when Sir Cahir O'Doherty launched O'Doherty's Rebellion by burning Derry, MacDonnell did not join forces with him. O'Doherty, a former loyalist, had been angered at his treatment by local officials. O'Doherty was defeated and killed at the Battle of Kilmacrennan. In the wake of the rebellion, the government decided to increase the scope of the Plantation of Ulster. This did not affect MacDonnell as the counties Antrim and Down were excluded, as large-scale Scottish settling was already taking place there.
In 1614 another rebellion was attempted. It should have replaced Randal MacDonnell with his nephew Alexander MacDonnell, who had been overpassed in the succession in 1601. Alexander MacDonnell was pardoned. He would be made a baronet in 1627.[18]
Viscount and Earl
MacDonnell's prudent conduct strengthened his influence at court, and having by his judicious conduct in the matter of the Londoners' plantation at Coleraine, and the zeal with which he strove to civilise his own lands, effaced all memory of his early conduct, he was, on 29June 1618, created Viscount Dunluce.[19] Shortly afterwards he was admitted a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, appointed Lord Lieutenant of Antrim,[20] and placed in command of a regiment. On 12December 1620 he was advanced to Earl of Antrim.[6]
Later life, death, and timeline
Like his father and the MacDonnells generally, Antrim, as he was now, was a Roman Catholic. In 1621, he was charged, on the information of a certain Alexander Boyd, with harbouring priests in his house. He at once confessed his fault, promised never to fall into the like error again, and was graciously pardoned, but compelled to pay the reward due to Boyd for his information against him.
On seeking confirmation of his estates under the commission of grace in 1629, Antrim was opposed by Cahil O'Hara of Kildrome, who claimed certain lands included in the original grant, and either by course of law or from dictates of prudence O'Hara's claims were allowed.
In January 1635, Antrim concluded a bargain with James Campbell, Lord Cantire, afterwards Earl of Irvine, for the purchase of the lordship of Cantire, originally in the possession of the MacDonnells, but they had been expelled in 1607. The arrangement was opposed by the Lord of Lorne, and Antrim's death intervening, the matter sank for a time into abeyance.[26]
Antrim died at Dunluce on 10December 1636, and was buried in the vault he had built at Bonamargy Friary in 1621. Shortly before his death, he completed the castle at Glenarm.[6]
Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
↑ Clavin 2009b, paragraph 1. "...he was fostered out to a Scottish presbyterian lowland family, the Stewarts on the isle of Arran, hence his sobriquet ‘Arranach’."
1 2 Clavin 2009a, paragraph 1]. "Following Sorley Boy's death (January 1590), James became captain of the Route"
↑ O'Laverty 1887, p.27. "On the death of Sir James M'Donnell, his brother, Randal, was recognised by the clan as its chief, in accordance with the law of tanistry, which set aside the claims of Sir James's children..."
↑ Shaw 1906, p.100. "1602, May 13. Randal McDonell McSorley (McSawerly), Hoy (by same [Lord Deputy Mountjoy])."
↑ Hill 1873, p.246ps=. "His elder son, Randal, got the baronies of Dunluce and Kilconway, with the castle of Dunluce...".
1 2 Lodge 1789, p.211. "Alexander, the third earl of Antrim, was born in the year 1615..."
↑ Hill 1873, p.247ps=. "His younger son, Alexander, was bequeethed the barony of Glenarm...".
↑ Burke & Burke 1915, p.115, right column, line 57. "1. Anne, to. 1st, Christopher, Lord Delvin, son and heir apparent to Richard, 1st Earl of Westmeath, and 2ndly, William, 19th Lord Slane."
1 2 Cokayne 1910, p.174, line 25. "...on 12Dec. 1620 he [Randal McSorley] was cr. [created] Earl of Antrim [I. [Ireland]]..."
↑ House of Lords 1779, p.2, left column. "Die Lunae, 14Julii, Anno Regn. D'ni 1634... The Earl of Antrim, with his Writ."
↑ Kearney 1959, p.53. "Parliament met on 14July [1634] and the first session lasted until 2August."
↑ Wedgwood 1961, p.150. "Parliament met on July 14th, 1634. Wentworth rode down in state..."
↑ Wedgwood 1961, p.126, line 31. "...he embarked at Chester and reached Dublin bay early in the morning of July 23rd [1633]."
↑ House of Lords 1779, p.13, left column. "...on consideration of the age and weaknesses of the Right Honorable Randall, Earl of Antrim, that his lordship shall be licensed to depart for this present session..."
↑ Hayes-McCoy 1976, p.124. "The earl, O'Donnell, and Maguire attacked Bagenal on the march at the Yellow Ford, between Armagh and the Blackwater, on 14August [1598], and defeated him..."
James Hamilton, 1st Earl of AbercornPC (S) (1575–1618) was a Scottish diplomat for James VI and an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster, Ireland.
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.
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.
Earl of Antrim is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of Ireland and both times for members of the MacDonnell family, originally of Scottish origins.
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Randall MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1609–1683) was a Roman Catholic landed magnate in Scotland and Ireland, son of the 1st Earl of Antrim. He was also chief of Clan MacDonnell of Antrim. He is best known for his involvement, mostly on the Royalist side, in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
The Battle of Glentaisie, was an Irish battle fought in the north of Ulster on 2 May 1565. The result was a victory for Shane O'Neill over the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg. The conflict was a part of the political and military struggle, involving the English and occasionally the Scots, for control of northern Ireland. Although the MacDonalds were a Scottish family, based principally on the island of Islay in the Hebrides, they had long been associated with the Gaelic polity rather than the Kingdom of Scotland.
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George Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Strabane was the younger son of Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane. He succeeded to the title in 1655 when his brother drowned while bathing in the River Mourne. After the Restoration, he obtained the return of the family lands around Strabane, which had been confiscated by the Parliamentarians in 1650.
Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet of Donalong and Nenagh, born in Scotland into a Catholic family, inherited land in Ireland and served his brother-in-law, the 1st Duke of Ormond, a Protestant, in diplomatic missions during the Confederate Wars and as receiver-general of the royalists. He also defended Nenagh Castle against Henry Ireton during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Hamilton was father of Antoine Hamilton, author of the Mémoires du Comte de Grammont, of Richard Hamilton, Jacobite general, and of Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont, "la belle Hamilton".
Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, also known as Clan Donald South, Clan Iain Mor, Clan MacDonald of Islay and Kintyre, MacDonalds of the Glens (Antrim) and sometimes referred to as MacDonnells, is a Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The founder of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg is Eòin Mòr Tànaiste Mac Dhòmhnaill, a son of Iain Mic Dhòmhnaill and Margaret Stewart of Scotland, daughter of King Robert II. Members of the clan actually pronounced and spelled their name M'Connall due to the Gaelic pronunciation of the name Mac Domhnuill thus giving rise to the surname McConnell and its variants. While historically recognised as a clan by the Court of the Lord Lyon, it is now an armigerous clan as it no longer has a chief. The last chief was Sir James MacDonald, 9th of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg or Clan Donald South, who died in London in 1626.
The MacDonnells of Antrim, also known as the MacDonnells of the Glens, are a branch in Ireland of the Scottish-based Clan Donald. Initially part of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, the MacDonnells of Antrim became their own branch in 1558 when Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell obtained the lordship of the territory in Ireland from James MacDonald, 6th chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg. The MacDonnells of Antrim were a sept of the Clan Donald of the royal Clann Somhairle, that the English crown had attempted to cultivate since the early 14th century in its efforts to influence the course of politics in Scotland. The MacDonnells established a growing presence in Ireland throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and played a crucial role in the politics of 17th century Ireland. The MacDonnell's achieved much success in Ireland largely to cultural and familial connections to the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. Today the surname is predominantly spelled McDonnell in Ireland and abroad, although many McConnells are also of the same family, as that is the Gaelic pronunciation of the Mac Domhnaill. Most of the leadership of the Clan wrote their name as a variant of McConnell up until the 17th century, including Sorley Boy MacDonnell himself. Many of the present-day McDonnells have a common descent from Sorley Boy MacDonnell.
Events from the year 1565 in Ireland.
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