Mabel Bagenal
Mabel Bagenal | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Tyrone | |
| Born | c. 1571 Newry, County Down, Ireland |
| Died | December 1595 Dungannon or Newry, Ireland |
| Spouse(s) | Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone |
| Parents | Sir Nicholas Bagenal Eleanor Griffith |
Mabel O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone (née Bagenal; c. 1571 – December 1595)[1] was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman who was the third wife of prominent Irish lord Hugh O'Neill. She has been referred to as the "Helen of the Elizabethan Wars",[2][3][4] on account of the dramatic circumstances of her marriage.[5] Her brother Henry and her husband commanded opposing forces during the Nine Years' War.[6]
Life
[edit]Mabel Bagenal was born around 1571 in Newry. She was the youngest child of Sir Nicholas Bagenal, a prominent Staffordshire soldier, and his wife Eleanor Griffith of Penrhyn, Wales. When her father died in 1590 he charged his son, Henry, with the "careful disposing" of Bagenal through a judicious marriage. Turlough Luineach O'Neill had previously expressed interest in marrying her. The recently widowed Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, declared his love for Bagenal and asked to marry her. The Bagenals refused. She was sent to live at Turvey House, County Dublin with her sister Lady Mary Barnewall. Her brother referred the decision to the queen and privy council of England, claiming that his sister was not prepared to live in what he termed an uncivil Gaelic household. A number of prominent officials, including Archbishop Loftus and Sir Geoffrey Fenton, believed that the match could be in the public interest. Bagenal and O'Neill preempted the decision, pledging to marry when he visited her in Turvey in July after which they eloped.
They were married in an Anglican ceremony by Bishop Thomas Jones on 3 July 1591 after the bishop was assured that Bagenal gave free consent.[1][7]
Her brother was still opposed to the marriage and declared "that my blood which in my father and myself hath often been spilled in repressing this rebellious race, should now be mingled with so traitorous a stock and kindred". He also questioned if O'Neill's divorce from his first wife was authentic, and withheld his sister's £1,000 dowry. O'Neill encouraged his new wife to furnish his castle at Dungannon, intending that she would bring a sense of culture and refinement to the house. She bought tapestries and paintings in London, bringing an Elizabethan aesthetic to the castle. Nothing is recorded of her adjustment to her new life. Against her brother's wishes, she converted to Catholicism, which along with O'Neill's alleged infidelity, stoked his enmity further.[1]
Casway believes that despite the romantic circumstances of their courtship, the marriage "probably ran its course" and Tyrone would have continued with his concubines.[8] In May 1593 the couple is said to have clashed over the assassination of Phelim mac Turlough O'Neill with "the countess clapping her hands together was sorry, as should seem, of that which happened, to whom the earl in English spoke with vehemency."[1] 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".[9]
Death
[edit]Mabel died in December 1595, either in Dungannon or Newry,[1] having possibly left O'Neill and lodged a public complaint against him.[7]
It was suggested that a skeleton that was uncovered during an archaeological dig in 2011 could have been that of Lady O'Neill.[10]
In media
[edit]Mabel Bagenal's marriage to Hugh O'Neill is a central topic in Brian Friel's play Making History (1989). Friel describes the marriage as a genuine if ill-fated love affair.[11] In its original production, Mabel was portrayed by English actress Clare Holman.[12]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy; O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.3318/dib.006953.v1.
- ^ Newmann, Kate. "Mabel Bagenal ( - c.1600): Wife of Hugh O'Neill". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Morgan 1993, p. 10.
- ^ Bagenal 1925, p. viii.
- ^ Casway 2016.
- ^ Gibson 2013.
- ^ a b "Bagenal, Mabel (c. 1571–1595)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Casway 2016, pp. 72–73.
- ^ Dunlop 1895, pp. 189–190.
- ^ "Reconstructed face of medieval skeleton may reveal Ireland's 'Helen of Troy'". Tyrone Times. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Campbell, Patrick J. (1989). "Brian Friel's 'Making History'". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 13 (2): 291–293. ISSN 0488-0196. JSTOR 29742391.
- ^ Morgan, Hiram (August 2007). "Theatre Eye: Playing the earl: Brian Friel's Making History". History Ireland. 15 (4).
Sources
[edit]- Bagenal, Philip H. (1925). Vicissitudes of an Anglo-Irish Family 1530-1800: A Story of Irish Romance and Tragedy (PDF). London: Clement Ingleby, At the Sign of the Boar's Head.
- Casway, Jerrold (2016). "Catherine Magennis and the Wives of Hugh O'Neill". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 26 (1): 69–79. JSTOR 48568219.
- Dunlop, Robert (1895). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 42. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 188–196.
- Gibson, Joyce, ed. (August 2013). IRELAND IN TUDOR TIMES (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- Morgan, Hiram (1993). Tyrone's Rebellion: The Outbreak of the Nine Years War in Tudor Ireland. Boydell Press. ISBN 0851156835.
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