O’Neill, Hugh (1550?-1616), was a leader of Irish resistance against English rule in the late 1500’s. O’Neill and his brother-in-law Hugh O’Donnell led a failed attempt to reclaim land that England had taken over from Irish chieftains.
The younger son of Matthew O’Neill, Hugh was born about 1550. Matthew’s half-brother Sean had him and his elder son, Brian, assassinated in 1558 and 1562, in a family feud. As a result, Hugh inherited the English title Baron of Dungannon. Sometime between 1556 and 1559, the English administrator Sir Henry Sidney took Hugh in for his protection. In 1568, the English made O’Neill a leader of Ulster, one of Ireland’s original five provinces. From 1587 to 1595, Hugh held the title Earl of Tyrone.
O’Neill pledged his loyalty to the English government but secretly supported Irish rebels who sought independence from England. In August 1598, O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell defeated English forces at Yellow Ford, near Armagh, in what is now Northern Ireland.
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent additional forces to break the power of Irish chiefs who could potentially help O’Neill. Increasingly isolated, O’Neill and O’Donnell sent for aid from Spain, which was a rival of England at that time. A force of about 4,000 Spaniards landed at Kinsale, in what is now County Cork, in September 1601. English troops defeated the Irish and Spanish forces in the Battle of Kinsale on Dec. 24, 1601. The defeat ended the power of the Irish chiefs.
In 1603, O’Neill surrendered at Mellifont, near Drogheda, in what is now County Louth in the Republic of Ireland. He gave up his Irish name, O’Neill, and again took the title Earl of Tyrone. The English allowed him to keep much of his family’s land.
O’Neill traveled to London with Rory O’Donnell, who was the younger brother of Hugh O’Donnell and Earl of Tyrconnell. There, King James I confirmed the treaty that had been drawn up at Mellifont. But the English officials who ruled Ulster tried to turn the king against O’Neill and O’Donnell. They claimed that the men were planning another rebellion and summoned the pair for questioning. Fearing for their safety, the Irishmen fled to France and then the Spanish Netherlands. O’Neill later moved to Rome, where he died on July 20, 1616.
See also Ireland, History of (The Irish recovery); O’Donnell, Hugh Roe; Tyrone, County.
