Conn mac Cuinn O'Neill (1480 - 1559)

Born 1480 in Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1559 at about age 79 in Ireland

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Background

Conn Bacach (The Lame) O'Neill (Irish: Conn Bacach mac Cuinn Ó Néill) was King of Tír Eógain, the largest and most powerful Gaelic lordship in Ireland. He was the son of Conn Mór O'Neill, King of Tír Eógain (Tyrone), and Lady Eleanor Fitzgerald.

Conn 1st Earl of Tyrone became The O'Neill Mór, chief of the Tyrone branch of the Ó Néills (Cenél nEógain) c. 1519. At that time, to assume the title The O'Neill Mór, meant one assumed control over the entire Ó Néill nation.

In 1539, with Manus O'Donnell, Conn O'Neill led a raiding party of O'Neills and O'Donnells into the English Pale around Dublin, looting and burning the towns of Ardee and Navan. An English force under the command of Grey overtook and defeated them in battle at Belahoe.

Surrender to Henry VIII of England

Con Bacach O'Neill was the first of the Ó Néills whom the English, in their attempts to conquer Ireland in the 16th century, recognized as nobility and a leader of the native Irish. The very existence of the O’Neill clan was in some ways an insult to Tudor England and everything that it represented past and present. ^[1] In 1541 O'Neill traveled to England to submit to Henry VIII as part of the surrender and re-grant policy that helped create the Kingdom of Ireland. He was given the English title Earl of Tyrone by Henry VIII as a reward for his submission. This was the norm for the majority of the countries in Europe at the time based on the governmental style of Kingship and of basic feudalism- King Henry would now give back the O’Neill lands to the Chief as long as he and his clansmen pledged allegiance to him and to England. This single event would cause a quagmire of Irish resistance and lead to a more diluted form of a divide and conquer policy created by England well into the Elizabethan period. ^{[1] [2]}

This submission caused a deep conflict in Ireland, where Ó Néill's actions were deeply resented by his clansmen and dependents. ^[2]The submission was perceived as a violation of the basic fundamentals of the O’Neill clan and its ancestry. Submission or surrender to anyone, or to another clan, that was something others did, but not the O’Neills. ^[1] As part of the submission, Henry VIII established Ó Néill's reputed (illegitimate) son Matthew (Ir. Feardorcha) as his heir with the title of Baron of Dungannon.

Shane O'Neill, Conn's eldest living legitimate son, was angered by the English king's removal of his birthright. This led to a brutal and long family feud, which eventually led to the murder of Feardorcha by agents of Shane in 1558. ^[2]

Marriage to Alice Fitzgerald, daughter of Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare; their children:

Phelim Caoch O'Neill

Shane O'Neill

Brian mac Phelim O'Neill

Mary O'Neill

Illegitimate son by Alison, wife of a blacksmith at Dundalk:

Matthew (Feardorcha) O'Neill, First Baron of Dungannon

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} O'Neill Clans, History and Origins
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Conn O'Neill, Wikipedia

• Never Felt Better : Ireland’s Wars: Shane O’Neill And Red Sagums

See Also

• Dunlop, Robert; Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 42 O'Neill, Con Bacach
• His profile in the Dictionary of Irish Biography:
  • https://www.dib.ie/biography/oneill-o-neill-conn-bacach-a6949
• A detailed biography (6 pages) is included in James Wills' Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen, from the earliest times to the present period (Dublin: Macgregor, Polson 1840-47), pp.459-465:
  • https://archive.org/details/livesofillustrio01willuoft/page/458/mode/2up
• Irish Names - For an explanation of the O'Neill name's origins and the "red hand" of the O'Neills
• The Peerage
• O'Gorman, Thomas. "A Notice of the Career of Shane O'Neill (Surnamed An Diomais, or "The Proud") Prince of Tirowen, 1520-1567", The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (McGlashan & Gill, Dublin, 1889) Vol. 18, Page 449-462 & Vol. 19 (1890) Page 53-58.