Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rory O'Donnell Ruaidrí Ó Domhnaill
Earl of Tyrconnell
King of Tyrconnell
Reign	10 September 1602 – 4 September 1603
Predecessor	Hugh Roe O'Donnell
Successor	Title abolished
1st Earl of Tyrconnell
Reign	4 September 1603 – 14 September 1607
Predecessor	Title created
Successor	The 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell
Born	1575 Tyrconnell, Ireland
Died	30 July 1608(1608-07-30) (aged 32–33) Rome, Papal States
Burial	San Pietro in Montorio, Rome
Spouse	Bridget Fitzgerald
Issue	The 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell Lady Mary Stuart O'Donnell
Dynasty	O'Donnell
Father	Sir Hugh O'Donnell
Mother	Inion Dubh
Religion	Roman Catholic

Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Irish: Ruaidrí Ó Domhnaill, 1d Iarla na Tír Chonaill; 1575 – 30 July 1608), was an Irish Gaelic lord, the last King of Tyrconnell. He was the younger brother of Hugh Roe O'Donnell and the 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.

Early life

O'Donnell was one of nine known children of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, who reigned from 1566 until he abdicated in favour of his eldest son by his second wife, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in 1592. By this point, the sons of his first wife had been disabled or killed, mostly by his Scottish-born second wife, the Inion Dubh.

After the defeat at Kinsale in December 1601, Rory became acting chief when his older brother left to seek help from Spain. He led the clan back to Connaught and maintained guerilla warfare until December 1602, when he submitted to Lord Deputy Mountjoy at Athlone.

Head of the clan O'Donnell

In 1602, O'Donnell succeeded his recently deceased brother Hugh as King of Tyrconnell and head of the clan O'Donnell. Having submitted in London to the new King, James I, he was created Earl of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 4 September 1603, with the subsidiary title Baron of Donegal reserved for his heir apparent. He was further granted the territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 10 February 1604.

Grave of Tyrconnell, Rome.

Flight of the Earls

There was much fury in Ireland and England that he and Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, had been treated so gingerly after allegedly committing treason (this became known as the Sham Plot), but time was on the side of the English authorities. On 14 September 1607, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly with their families and followers for eventual exile in Spanish Flanders and Rome. Lord Tyrconnell died in Rome in 1608 and is entombed in San Pietro in Montorio.

Family

Lord Tyrconnell married Bridget, daughter of the 12th Earl of Kildare, by whom he had two children: Hugh and Mary. After his death, Bridget married the 1st Viscount Barnewall (1592–1663), with whom she had five sons and four daughters that survived him.

Lord Tyrconnell's only son, Hugh, was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly, and was raised in Louvain, Spanish Flanders. In time he joined the service of the King of Spain, and was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, but left no offspring; the title of Earl would have descended to his first cousin Domhnall Oge's line were it not meanwhile attainted in 1614.

Lord Tyrconnell's youngest child, Mary Stuart O'Donnell, left a more lasting impression on posterity. She was born in England in 1608. After her father's death, King James I of England, the first Stuart King of England, who was James VI of Scotland, gave her the name Stuart, in recognition of their common Stuart ancestry – they were ninth cousins – hence she was known as Mary Stuart O'Donnell. She was descended, through her mother, Bridget née Fitzgerald, from the Stuarts. She was raised by her mother in the Kildare lands in Ireland until she was twelve years old. In 1619, Mary was sent to live with her grandmother, Lady Kildare, in London, where Lady Kildare aimed to educate the girl and make her her heiress. Her mother Bridget meanwhile remarried and had a further nine children.

Family tree