Robert Stewart, of Irry

Robert Stewart of Irry (1598–1662) was an Irish rebel. A colonel in the army, he was a prominent figure in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and afterwards defended against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland as Governor of the Castles of Antrim and Toome. His home outside Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone - Irry, sometimes also spelt Eary - was later renamed Stuart Hall by his grandson, the 7th Baron Castle Stewart. He died at Roughan Castle.

In the many histories written on his family, Colonel the Hon. Robert Stewart of Irry is always described as the third and youngest son of Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord Ochiltree and afterwards the 1st Baron Castle Stewart by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John Kennedy of Blairquhan Castle, Ayrshire. According to R.G.S. King, the Colonel's father was first cousin of 1st Baron Castle Stewart. King puts forward plausible evidence that Colonel Stewart was in fact the son of William Stewart of Fiugh and Mary O'Neill (d.1615), daughter of Sir Cormac O'Neill, son of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone. He states that William of Fiugh was the son of Robert (uncle of the 1st Baron Castle Stewart/3rd Lord Ochiltree) who was the fifth son of Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree. His evidence is based on a pedigree drawn up by James Stewart for his father George Roe Stewart of Termon and Canon John Grainger's pedigree of the Edwards family of Castlegore, Co Tyrone.

His first marriage to Catherine O'Neill, granddaughter of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, directly allied him to the Catholic leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Stewart was duly appointed an officer in the rebel forces by his wife's cousin, the leader of the rebellion, Sir Felim O'Neill of Kinard. It appears that he switched alliances during the Rebellion. he relieved the Fort of Dungannon, and that of Mountjoy Castle, when at point of surrender to the rebels. Attacking the besiegers with a very inferior force, he dispersed them and drove them back into the mountains of Altadesert and Slieugallen. His early activities against the victorious English miraculously managed to escape their notice until twelve years later, by which time he had become a loyal servant of Parliament. He was exonerated from having played any part in support of the Rebellion, and therefore retained both his land and his life.

...
Wikipedia