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Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell

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Hugh Albert O’Donnell
2nd Earl of Tyrconnell
Hugh Albert O’Donnell, at 10 years of age as a page at the court of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Coat of arms
Tenure1608-1642
PredecessorRory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
BornOctober 1606
Ireland
DiedAugust/September 1642 (aged 35)
At sea
NationalityIrish
Noble familyO'Donnell dynasty
FitzGerald family
Spouse(s)Anna-Margaret de Hénin
FatherRory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
MotherBridget FitzGerald

Hugh Albert O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (Irish: Aodh Ailbhe mac Rudhraighe Uí Dhomhnaill; October 1606 – August/September 1642[1]) was titular King of Tír Conaill, and son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell whose title was however attainted in 1614.[a] In adult life, he used the style Earl of Tyrconnell, Baron of Donegal and Lifford, Lord of Sligo and Lower Connaught, and Knight Commander of the Order of Alcántara.[2]

Biography

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O'Donnell was the son of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell and his wife Bridget, the daughter of Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare.[3][b]

O'Donnell was three weeks shy of his first birthday when he sailed from Lough Swilly during the Flight of the Earls. He accompanied his father to Rome, where his father and uncle Cathbarr O'Donnell died of fevers. His aunt Rosa, the wife of Cathbarr, met and married Owen Roe O'Neill, and it is probable that O'Donnell was in her care, because both he and his cousin, also named Hugh O'Donnell, received a modest pension from Archduke Albert, governor of the Low Countries, from 1615,[c] and were raised in Leuven where they were educated by Franciscan colleagues of Archbishop Conry.[4][5] He was a page to the Infanta Isabella, daughter of King Philip III of Spain.[4][6] He was made a knight of Alcántara in 1625.[7]

In time O'Donnell joined the service of King Philip, and was commissioned colonel of a tercio in 1632.[5] He was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire.[citation needed] In 1642, he drowned in the Mediterranean whilst fighting against the French.[8]

O'Donnell left no immediate heirs, although the Earldom, were it not attainted in 1614, would have passed by remainder to his uncle Cathbarr O'Donnell, whose line was extinct by then, and thence, to his 1st cousin Donal Oge O'Donnell, according to the terms of the letters patent.[9]

As Hugh had never recognised James VI and I as his monarch, he had no hope of being recognised as the 2nd Earl, under the principle of the "Fount of honour". He had an undoubted claim to the title, but took no steps in 1614 to defend it when it was debated in the Irish House of Lords. He would at least have had to submit to King James to take his place in the House of Lords, and until then he did so the title was "in abeyance".

Family

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Around 1635, O'Donnell married Anna-Margaret, daughter of Maximilien II de Hénin, 5th Count of Bossu, Knight of the Golden Fleece (died 8 December 1625) and Alexandrine Franeoise de Gavre; and a near kinswoman of the last eccentric Charles, Duke of Guise.[4][10][d]


Notes

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  1. ^ He was also equally styled Hugh-Albert or Albert-Hugh O'Donnell (Burke 1866, p. 410).
  2. ^ Bridget was left behind in the haste of Tyrconnel's flight, and lived to marry Nicholas Barnewell, Lord Kingsland (Macneill 1911, p. 8).
  3. ^ The "Conde de Tyrconnell" and Don Hugo O'Donnell were in the receipt of a modest pension from Archduke Albert. As both boys were called Hugh, Conde de Tyrconnell was given the additional name of Albert, after Archduke Albert, his protector, and who was in all likelihood his godfather in confirmation, which is the reason why Tyrconnell was known as Hugh-Albert or Albert-Hugh (Burke 1866, p. 410).
  4. ^ Maximilian de Hennin, Baron of Liederkerke, Viscount of Brussels, Count of Bossut, etc., Knight of the Golden Fleece (Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 1866, p. 461).

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ O'Donnell, Francis Martin (2018). The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy. Francis Martin O'Donnell named Sir Hugh's first wife as "Nuala, a daughter of O’Neill.
  2. ^ Ó Domhnaill, Niall; Na Glúnta Rosannacha (1952), page 87. The historicity of this person is disputed.
  3. ^ O'Donnell, Eunan; Reflection on the Flight of the Earls; Donegal Annual, Bliainiris Dhún na nGall, Journal of the County Donegal Historical Society, No. 58 (2006); pp. 31-44. Gráinne is known only as a sister of the Earl (i.e., Rory), with no additional information.
  1. ^ Ulwencreutz 2013, p. 136.
  2. ^ O’Donnell, Francis Martin (2018), The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, Washington, D.C.: Academica Press LLC (page 146), ISBN 978-1-680534740
  3. ^ Macneill 1911, p. 8.
  4. ^ a b c Burke 1866, p. 410.
  5. ^ a b Campbell 2015, p. 103.
  6. ^ RIA 1830, p. 134.
  7. ^ Canann, Tomás G. Ó (2007). "Ó Domhnaill's inauguration, according to Pilib Ó Súilleabháin Bhéarra". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 137: 101–116. ISSN 0035-9106.
  8. ^ McGurk, John (August 2007). "The Flight of the Earls: escape or strategic regrouping?". History Ireland. 15 (4). Archived from the original on 18 April 2024.
  9. ^ The text of the Letters Patent is referenced in G.O. Ms. 169 (National Library of Ireland) and in several slight variations as follows: (a) in pages 2388-2389 of the Appendix in Volume VI of the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (De Burca’s 1990 re-print of the 1856 edition by John O’Donovan); (b) in page 39 of the Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, by Rev. C.P. Meehan (1870); (c) in a partial translation of the Latin original of the Letters Patent held by Count O’Donnell von Tyrconnell in Austria, and recounted in O’Domhnaill Abu (the O’Donnell Clan Newsletter no. 12 of Winter 1989). Versions (a) and (b) referenced above make explicit reference to the remainder to Donal Oge O’Donnell
  10. ^ Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 1866, p. 461.

Sources

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  • Burke, Sir Bernard (1866), A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, Harrison, p. 410
  • Campbell, Ian (2015), Renaissance Humanism and Ethnicity Before Race: The Irish and the English in the seventeenth century, Manchester University Press, p. 103, ISBN 978-1-5261-0264-5
  • Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society (11 April 1866), "Proceedings and Papers", The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, 5: 464
  • Macneill, Ronald John (1911), "O'Donnell" , in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 20 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 6–8
  • O’Donnell, Francis Martin (2018), The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy, Washington, D.C.: Academica Press LLC, ISBN 978-1-680534740
  • RIA (1830), "Section II Government, Constitution, Legislation etc.", The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Academy, p. 314
  • Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013), Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lulu.com, p. 136, ISBN 978-1-304-58135-8 "Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1606-1642) Prince and Lord of Tryconnell.

Further reading

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Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Tir Conaill
1608–1642 		Vacant
Preceded by Earl of Tyrconnell
1608–1642 		Vacant
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