Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone ( â 1616) was an Irish lord and central figure of the Nine Years' War. He was married four times and had various children, of which at least twelve are mentioned here. He also had many concubines.
As was standard practice for Gaelic lords, Tyrone used marriageâÂÂboth his own and his children'sâÂÂas a tool to form alliances and gain leverage within aristocratic communities. Each of his four marriages were political in nature. The dramatic circumstances of his third marriage (to Mabel Bagenal) intensified his political rivalry with Mabel's brother Henry. From the outset of the Nine Years' War, two major confederate commanders (Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Hugh Maguire) were each married to a daughter of Tyrone. Historian Mary O'Dowd described these relationships as "forming part of the labyrinthine network of family connections which the earl created in Ulster".
Around 1569 or 1570, Hugh O'Neill married a daughter of Brian McPhelim O'Neill of Clandeboye, probably named Katherine. Brian was in the queen's favour and initially appeared to be a useful ally against Hugh's rival, O'Neill clan chief Turlough Luineach O'Neill. In 1574, after being incriminated in a violent conflict with English colonists, Brian and his immediate family were imprisoned, tried for treason and executed. Hugh withdrew any association with his father-in-law by annulling the marriage on grounds of consanguinity. Thus, the children of this marriage were considered illegitimate by English society. Hugh's first wife later married Niall MacBrian Faghartach O'Neill.
Their children include:
Children of Tyrone, presumably by his first wife, include:
Hugh married Siobhán O'Donnell (died January 1591) in June 1574, beginning his enduring alliance with the O'Donnell clan of Tyrconnell. The O'Donnell and O'Neill clans had traditionally been mortal enemies for centuries. The 1st Earl of Essex announced the marriage on 14 June, though it may only have been a betrothal at that stage.
In February 1579, Tyrone briefly repudiated his marriage to SiobhánâÂÂwho had not yet born him a male heirâÂÂand prepared to marry one of Turlough's daughters in the hope of becoming Turlough's tanist. It is often incorrectly stated that Hugh's brief separation from Siobhán was a formal divorce. Hugh was convinced by a government commission to end the engagement and wait out for the aging Turlough's natural death. This episode apparently convinced Hugh that his "fate was tied to that of O'Donnell". However it is possible that his reconciliation with Siobhán was a calculated move to keep in the government's favour.
They had two sons and multiple daughters:
Shortly after Siobhán's death, the Earl of Tyrone began to woo Mabel Bagenal ( â December 1595), the twenty-year-old sister of Marshal Henry Bagenal. Marrying into the Bagenal family would allow Tyrone to neutralise Henry's growing political power. Henry was alarmed and kept Mabel out of Tyrone's reach by sending her to live with their sister Mary (wife of Patrick Barnewall) in Turvey. According to Tyrone's letter to the Privy Council: "I dealt with [Henry] at least six several times for his consent; I offered to put in sureties for the assurance of a jointure to his sister; this I did before good witnesses". Tyrone found excuses to visit Mabel at Turvey, and in July he convinced her to elope.
After a dinner at Turvey, Tyrone and his English friends distracted Barnewall while his ally William Warren escorted Mabel on horseback to Warren's house in Drumcondra. The couple were married at Drumcondra Castle on 3 August 1591. The celebrant, Protestant Bishop of Meath Thomas Jones, was initially reluctant to perform the marriage but was convinced of Mabel's free consent after a private conversation with her.
Tyrone encouraged Mabel to decorate their residence with English furniture and tapestries. She also converted to Catholicism. However their marriage was short-lived. Tyrone and Henry's rivalry was exacerbated by the marriage. At Dundalk in 1593, Tyrone openly insulted Mabel's brother whilst in her presence. The couple reached a major crisis in May 1593 when they clashed over the assassination of Phelim MacTurlough O'Neill. Casway believes that despite the romantic circumstances of their courtship, the marriage "probably ran its course" and Tyrone would have continued with his concubines. According to Tyrone himself, "because I did affect two other gentlewomen, she grew in dislike with me, forsook me, and went unto her brother to complain upon me to the council of Ireland, and did exhibit articles against me". Mabel died in December 1595, aged 24 years old. The couple had no offspring together.
Tyrone married Catherine Magennis (died March 1619) around June 1597, thus jilting the daughter of Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg. This was a political marriage intended to bring the previously neutral Magennis family into the confederacy. Catherine's brother, Arthur Roe, had previously married Tyrone's daughter Sarah.
Catherine's family were respected by the Crown and she was "accustomed to a comfortable way of life". With the pressure of the failing confederacy, Tyrone began drinking heavily and took his frustrations out on Catherine. He considered divorcing her in December 1605, but allegedly she confronted him and warned that if he didn't stop his abuse, she "would discover him so far as to infer again to rebellion or to lose his head". English administrator Arthur Chichester subsequently sent officer Toby Caulfield to recruit Catherine as a double agent, but she dismissed this out of hand. Catherine reluctantly accompanied Tyrone on the Flight of Earls, and was highly distressed by her diminished lifestyle and her separation from her children (who were left in Leuven). Tyrone died in Rome on 20 July 1616. His will did not sufficiently provide for her, and she died penniless in Naples.
She had three surviving sons:
Tyrone was known to have various concubines. He had many illegitimate children or children of unknown maternal origin: