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Tyrconnell Tír Chonaill (Irish) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th century–1607 | |||||||||
.svg) Coat of arms | |||||||||
.png) Tyrconnell in the middle of the 15th century | |||||||||
| Status | Túatha ofAilech (until 1185) | ||||||||
| Capital | Kilmacrennan(royal inaugurations) andDonegal Castle(later seat of O'Donnell dynasty) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Irish | ||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy | ||||||||
| King / Chief | |||||||||
• d. 464 | Conall Gulban(first) | ||||||||
• 1602–1607 | Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell(last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 5th century | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1607 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Ireland | ||||||||
Tyrconnell (Irish:Tír Chonaill, meaning 'Land ofConall'),[1] also spelledTirconnell andTirconaill, was a kingdom ofGaelic Ireland. It is associated geographically with present-dayCounty Donegal, which was officially namedCounty Tirconaill between 1922 and 1927. At times it also included parts ofCounty Fermanagh,County Sligo,County Leitrim,County Tyrone andCounty Londonderry at its greatest extent. The kingdom represented the core homeland of theCenél Conaill people of theNorthern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of otherGaels in the area.
From the 5th century founding of Cenél Conaill, thetuatha was a sub-unit of the larger kingdom ofAilech, along with theirCenél nEógain cousins, fellow descendants ofNiall of the Nine Hostages.[2] Their initial ascent had coincided with the decline of theUlaid, whose kingdom ofUlster receded to the north-east coast. In the 12th century the kingdom of Ailech split into two sovereign territories and Cenél Conaill became Tír Chonaill under theÓ Domhnaill (O'Donnell) clan. It was the location of fighting during theNine Years' War (Ireland) at the end of the 16th century. It continued to exist until the 17th century when it was incorporated into the English-ruledKingdom of Ireland following theFlight of the Earls.
Tyrconnell lay in the area now more commonly referred to as County Donegal, although the kingdom and laterprincipality of Tyrconnell was larger than that, including parts of present-day counties Sligo, Leitrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh and a southern part of Londonderry. According toGeoffrey Keating, by the 16th century encompassed the baronies ofCarbury (Cairbre, in County Sligo),Rosclogher (Dartrighe, in County Leitrim), andMagheraboy (Machaire Bui, mainly Toorah or Tuath Ratha) andFirlurg (Lorg, in County Fermanagh).
Although the elective Chieftaincy of O'Donnell is extinct since the abolition of Tanistry andBrehon Law, theChief of the Name is known as The O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, as recognised by theChief Herald of Ireland, as the legitimate successor in a putative sequence of Chiefs of the Name (by male primogeniture), and would default to theDuke of Tetuan in Spain in succession to the current Chief, aFranciscan priest, who has no eligible progeny. However, following advice by theAttorney General in 2003, the Genealogical Office discontinued the practice of recognising Chiefs of the Name.[3] The HereditarySeneschal of Tyrconnell (currently vested in a living O'Donnell, who was already ennobled as aKnight of Malta, and who inherited the Seneschalship from his father), survives under the auspices of the Hereditary Great Seneschal orLord High Steward of Ireland, currentlyCharles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, senior direct descendant ofGeorge Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (of the 4th creation), and senior kin ofRichard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnel.
The religion which predominated at an official level in Tyrconnell wasCatholic Christianity. The territory of Tyrconnell was associated with theDiocese of Raphoe under theBishop of Raphoe, which had been formed in 1111. It was mentioned at theSynod of Ráth Breasail and covered Tír Conaill.Inis Eogain is in theDiocese of Derry. Indeed, the Christian religion was of particular significance to the O'Donnell rulers of Tyrconnell, as their kinsman St.Colm Cille (also known as St. Columba), born atConwal and Leck, was regarded as one of the three patron saints of Ireland. Their founder and namesake of the kingdom,Conall Gulban, had been the first nobleman converted bySt. Patrick. Indeed, they later took up the symbol of the cross as part of one of their heraldic identifiers and adopted the mottoin hoc signo vinces.
In 1561,Hugh McManus O'Donnell seized power fromCalvagh O'Donnell via an alliance withShane O'Neill. Upon Calvagh's death in 1566, Hugh McManus officially acceded as Lord of Tyrconnell underbrehon law.[4]
Hugh McManus's eldest son,Hugh Roe O'Donnell, was born in 1572.[5] Hugh Roe wasfostered byConn O'Donnell.[6]
Tyrconnell's long-running succession dispute began in October 1580.[7] Conn had a strong claim to the lordship as his fatherCalvagh was a prior ruler of Tyrconnell.[8] Hugh Roe was removed from Conn's care when he turned hostile towards the ruling O'Donnells in 1581;[9] Conn died two years later and Hugh Roe's succession seemed assured.[10] Nevertheless, Conn's sons, particularlyNiall Garve, looked to the English government as a means of restoring their branch of the family to power.[11] By 1587, Hugh Roe was widely considered to be his father's most likely successor and wastanist of the O'Donnell clan.[12]
By 1587, Hugh Roe was betrothed to theEarl of Tyrone's daughterRose.[6]Lord DeputyJohn Perrot feared that the emergence of a powerful O'Neill-O'Donnell alliance, which would be cemented by Hugh Roe's marriage to Rose, would threaten English control over Ulster.[13] Perrot ordered young O'Donnell's kidnapping in 1587 in hopes of destroying this alliance.[14] O'Donnell was imprisoned inDublin Castle, along with two MacShanes, Art andHenry. Tyrone lobbied for O'Donnell's release,[14] describing the ordeal as "the most prejudice that might happen unto me".[15]
Hugh McManus's premature senility[16] and Hugh Roe's imprisonment exacerbated the succession dispute.[7] Three of Conn's sons were violently killed in the conflict.[17] Hugh McManus's wife,Iníon Dubh effectively took over Tyrconnell and ruled in her husband's name.[18] She pushed successfully for Hugh Roe to become her husband's successor by spreading the Aodh Eangach prophecy and by directing her Redshanks to kill any challengers.[19]Hugh MacEdegany, a reputed illegitimate son of Calvagh O'Donnell,[20] was the first major challenger.[21] He was assassinated on Iníon Dubh's orders during a visit to her residence,Mongavlin Castle, in May 1588,[22] leaving Niall Garve as head of the "MacCalvagh" branch.[23]
Further disruptions developed as the government appointed various administrators in Tyrconnell who ransacked and pillaged the kingdom. Perrot appointedWilliam Mostian as Sheriff of Tyrconnell—he quickly carried out eightcattle raids, ransacking Donegal Abbey and murdering its guardian. Later the same year, FitzWilliam gave CaptainJohn Connill charge of Tyrconnell[24] after being bribed with two Spanish gold chains.[25] Connill assisted the opponents of the ruling O'Donnells. He was later joined by CaptainHumphrey Willis and two hundred soldiers.[24] At one point Connill befriended then captured Hugh McManus, but he was freed by Niall Garve.[26] Another brutal administrator was Captain Bowen, a notorious torturer who fried the soles of his victims' feet. This chaos created mass resentment towards the English government.[27]
Hugh Roe's elder half-brother Donal became the Crown's favored candidate for the chiefdom, and shortly after the Armada's shipwreck, FitzWilliam knighted and appointed Donal as Sheriff.[28] FitzWilliam also imprisoned important Tyrconnell nobles Sean O'Doherty (Lord of Inishowen) and Eoin O'Gallagher, believing them to possess Spanish treasure from the Armada.[29] O'Gallagher's imprisonment also had political motivations as he was a major adherent of Hugh Roe during the succession dispute.[30] Donal made an effort to depose his father, backed by Connill's troops. Iníon Dubh, backed by her Redshanks and the clans of theCenél Conaill who remained loyal to her husband, crushed Donal at theBattle of Doire Leathan on 3 September [N.S. 14 September] 1590.[31]
Willis (who replaced Donal as Sheriff) and Connill exploited the ensuing chaos. They took control of western Tyrconnell and began raiding into the east,[28] accompanied by a Captain Fuller.[32] Their forces also ransacked southern Tyrconnell and forced many of the population to flee to the mountains.[27]
Iníon Dubh bought off Niall Garve with a political marriage to her daughterNuala, in an attempt to temper his hostility.[33][34][35] By 1592, Niall Garve was in a strong position to claim Tyrconnell's lordship.[36] Despite the continual presence of freebooting government troops, Tyrconnell's nobility remained obsessed with their succession conflict.[37]
Hugh Roe eventually escaped prison and returned to Tyrconnell in early 1592; Tyrone had bribed officials in Dublin to secure his release.[38] On 23 April [N.S. 3 May] 1592 atKilmacrennan Friary,[39] Hugh Roe was inaugurated as O'Donnell clan chief before an audience of his family and their supporters.[40] Hugh McManus's apparently voluntary abdication was "stage-managed" by Iníon Dubh, who remained the "head of advice and counsel" in Tyrconnell.[40] Hugh Roe's younger brother Rory was appointed as tanist.[41]
The major surviving opponents to Hugh Roe's succession—including Niall Garve, Hugh McHugh Dubh and Sean O'Doherty—did not attend the inauguration out of protest. At the time, Niall Garve was in Dublin unsuccessfully seeking support from authorities.[40] Tomás G. Ó Canann noted that, as Hugh Roe O'Donnell failed to secure the attendance of such a significant chunk of the Cenél Conaill, his inauguration was arguably illegitimate.[42] With the exception of Niall Garve in 1603, Hugh Roe was the last O'Donnell clansman to be traditionally inaugurated as clan chief.[43] Hugh Roe was the last Lord of Tyrconnell to rule undisputedly.[44]
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