"Red" Hugh O'Donnell (Aodh Rua Ó Domhnaill in Irish) (1572- 10 September 1602) was Prince of
Tyrconnell, who led a rebellion against English government in Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years War, a revolt against English occupation, from 1595 to 1603.
Early Life, Imprisonment and Escape
For the political context of O'Donnell's life see the Tudor re-conquest of
Ireland
Hugh Roe was born to the King of Tir Connaill, Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill, and his second
wife, the Ineen Dubh, in 1572. At the age of 15 years he was kidnapped by Sir John Perrot in
an attempt to prevent an alliance between the O'Donnell and O'Neill clans, and imprisoned in Dublin Castle in 1587. He
escaped briefly in 1591 but was recaptured within days. He finally managed to escape in January 1592 with the assistance of his
ally Hugh O'Neill, who arranged for his escape from Dublin into the Wicklow Mountains in the height of winter. He successfully reached the stronghold of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne (another of O'Neill's allies) at Glenmalure, where he found refuge, but his companion and fellow escapee Art O'Neill died of exposure in the
mountains. O'Donnell himself lost both his big toes due to frostbite. Hugh O'Donnell and his
two companions, the brothers Art and Shane O'Neill, are the only prisoners to ever successfully escape captivity in Dublin
Castle.
The Nine Years War
Upon his return to Ulster, he gained the leadership of the O'Donnell Clan (known as Clan
Dalaigh of the tribe Cenel Connaill derived from the Heremonian Dynasty of High-Kings of Ireland), O'Donnell becoming
"The O'Donnell", Lord of Tyrconnel (modern Donegal)
after his father abdicated in his favour later that year. Having driven the crown sheriff out of Tyrconnel, he successfully led
two expeditions against Turlough Luineach O'Neill in 1593, in order to force
Turlough O'Neill to abdicate his chieftainship in favour of Hugh O'Neill. At this point,
O'Neill did not join O'Donnell in open rebellion, but secretly backed him in order to enhance his bargaining power with the
English. O'Donnell by now was also communicating with Phillip II of Spain for
military aid.
Declaring open rebellion against the English the following year, O'Donnell's forces captured Connaught from Sligo to Leitrim by 1595. In this year, Hugh O'Neill,
Earl of Tyrone, abandoned negotiation with the English and in 1596 the combined forces of O'Donnell and O'Neill defeated an
English army under Sir Henry Bagenal at the Battle
of Clontibret.
Their greatest victory came two years later however at Battle of the Yellow
Ford on the Blackwater River near the southern border of Tyrone in August 1598. At this battle, the Irish annihilated an English force marching to relieve
Armagh and they seemed on the verge of expelling the English from Ireland altogether. O'Neill
then went south to secure the alliegance of Irish lords in Munster, while O'Donnell raided Connacht, driving out the small English settlement there.
However, in the next two years, O'Donnell and O'Neill were hard pressed with the deployment of thousands more English troops
in the country. O'Donnell repulsed an English expedition towards western Ulster at the battle of Curlew Pass in 1599, but his and O'Neill's position was increasingly defensive. Even
worse for O'Donnell than English offensives was the defection of his kinsman, Niall Garve
O'Donnell to the English side, in return for their backing his own claim the O'Donnell
chieftainship. Niall Garve's support allowed the English to land a sea-borne force at Derry
in the heart of O'Donnell's territory.
They recognised that their only chance of winning the war outright was with the aid of a Spanish invasion. The Spanish finally
landed at Kinsale - at virtually the opposite end of Ireland from the Ulster rebels in September
1601. O'Donnell Led his army in a hard march during the winter of 1601, often covering over 40 miles a day, to join O'Neill and
the Spanish General Juan del Aquila at Kinsale arriving in early
December 1601.
En route, true to his family arms and Constantinian motto In Hoc Signo Vinces and
in anticipation of the battle to come at Kinsale, he visited and venerated a relic of the
True Cross (Holy rood) on the Feast of St. Andrew, on
November 30, 1601 at Holy Cross Abbey, which was a rallying point the defence of
religious freedom and for Irish sovereignty. From there he sent an expedition to Ardfert in
County Kerry, to win a quick victory and successfully recover the territory of his ally,
Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, who had lost it and his 9-year old son, to Sir Charles Wilmot.
He left some of his O'Donnell kinsmen behind in Ardfert to guard the Barony of Clanmaurice.
During the Battle of Kinsale on 5/6 January 1602 the combined forces of Del Aquila,
O'Neill and O'Donnell were defeated by Sir Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy.
Flight to Spain and Death
After the Irish defeat at Kinsale, O'Donnell sailed to Spain with the aim of securing further
assistance from Philip III of Spain. He died there, in 1602 at the age of
twenty-nine, at Simancas Castle. With his death Spanish plans to send further assistance to the
Irish were abandoned. While it was once commonly held that he had been poisoned - a James Blake from
Galway is often named as the assassin who befriended and then poisoned him on behalf of the English - it is now widely believed
that he died of a tapeworm.
He was buried in the chapter of the Franciscan monastery in Valladolid. However, the building was demolished in the nineteenth century, and the exact location of the
tomb is unknown.
He was succeeded as chief of the Clan O'Donnell and Lord of Tyrconnel by his brother Rory O'Donnell.
He was highly praised in the Irish language writings of the early seventeenth century
for his nobility and religious commitment to Roman Catholicism - notably in the
Annals of the Four Masters and Beatha Aodh Rua O Domhnaill ("The Life
of Red Hugh O'Donnell") by Lughaidh O Cleirigh. Although his posthumous reputation
has been somewhat overshadowed by that of his ally Hugh O'Neill, his leaderhip and military capabilites were considerable. His
personality seems to have been particularly magnetic and contemporary sources are united in their praise of his oratorical
ability.
In 1991, a plaque was erected at Simancas Castle in commemoration of Red Hugh O'Donnell, which was unveiled by Don Leopoldo Ó
Donnell, Duque de Tetuan.
Further reading
- The Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell (Beatha Aodh Rua O Domhnaill) by Lughaidh O'Cleirigh. Edited by
Paul Walsh and Colm Ó Lochlainn. Irish Texts Society, vol. 42. Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, 1948 (original Gaelic
manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin).
- Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year
1616, compiled during the period 1632-1636 by Brother Michael O’Clery, translated and edited by John O'Donovan in 1856, and
re-published in 1998 by De Burca, Dublin.
- A View of the Legal Institutions, Honorary Hereditary Offices, and Feudal Baronies established in Ireland, by William
Lynch, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, published by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster Row, London, 1830
(O’Donnell: page 190, remainder to Earl’s patent).
- Vicissitudes of Families, by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, published by Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts,
Paternoster Row, London, 1861. (Chapter on O’Donnells, pages 125-148).
- The Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone (Hugh O’Neill) and Tyrconnel (Rory O’Donel), their flight from Ireland and
death in exile, by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, M.R.I.A., 2nd edition, James Duffy, London, 1870.
- Elizabeth's Irish Wars, by Cyril Falls, London, 1950.
- Erin’s Blood Royal – The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland, by Peter Berresford Ellis, Constable, London, 1999, (pages
251-258 on the O’Donel, Prince of Tirconnell).
In popular culture
See also
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
