Art MacBaron O'Neill (bef. 1558 - 1618)

Ancestors Descendants This profile is being included in the O'Neill Dynasty & Name study - a sub-project of the Irish Roots Project

Biography

Proper bio in progress 4/23/16, the below is copied from Wikipedia, with some edits for clarity:

• Art MacBaron O'Neill (sometimes referred to as Arthur O'Neill) was an Irish landowner and soldier of the Elizabethan and Stuart eras. He was part of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster, the illegitimate son of Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon. He was the brother of Brian O'Neill, Cormac MacBaron O'Neill and the famous Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.^[1]

• Art MacBaron (his middle name a reference to the title of his father) ruled over Oneilland south of Lough Neagh. He could speak fluent English unlike many of his relations.

• He fought alongside his half-brother Hugh during the Earl of Tyrone's Rebellion (1594-1603), also known as the Nine Years War. Despite a series of defeats against the Irish Army that culminated in the burning of their capital at Dungannon and retreat into the woods, they were able to agree the Treaty of Mellifont which restored them to royal favour under the new King James I. Art and his brothers were pardoned for their past activities and had their lands restored to them. He died in 1618.

• Art had 9 sons, one of whom was Owen Roe O'Neill (Eoghan Ruadh) who served as a mercenary in the Spanish Army for many years before returning to Ireland during the Irish Confederate Wars starting in 1641. Six of his other sons died during Tyrone's Rebellion, and his son Brian O'Neill was hanged as an outlaw in 1607. The two remaining sons also served in the Spanish Army.

One of Art's sons was Art "Oge" (junior) O'Neill, who in turn had a son known as Hugh Dubh O'Neill (1611-1660).^[2] Both Hugh Dubh and his uncle Owen Roe O'Neill are profiled in the documentary "Cromwell: God's Executioner".^[3]

A daughter, Eilis O'Neill married Con O'Neill, Lord of Upper Clanboye ^[4] & ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ The Wikipedia profile for Art MacBaron calls these 3 men his "half-brothers", without specifying who Art's mother was. On Wikitree, all 4 brothers have the same parents [December 2020].
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Hugh Dubh O'Neill
3. ↑ The documentary "Cromwell: God's Executioner" (2008) is narrated by Trinity College historian Micheál Ó Siochrú:
   • https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zjdde
   • https://tilefilms.ie/productions/cromwell-in-ireland-gods-executioner/
   • https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1437747
4. ↑ Cregan, Donal F. An Irish Cavalier: Daniel O'Neill in Studia Hibernica
5. ↑ Cronin, John in Dictionary of Irish Biography (2009) Daniel O'Neill

• Wikipedia: Art MacBaron O'Neill
• Casway, Jerrold. Owen Roe O'Neill and the Struggle for Catholic Ireland. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.
• Morgan, Hiram. Tyrone's Rebellion. Boydell Press, 1999.
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p54630.htm#i546298