Rory O'Donnell, 1st earl of Tyrconnell
| Rory O'Donnell (Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill) |
|
|---|---|
| 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 | Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell |
| Born | c. 1575 Tyrconnell, Ireland |
| Died | 30 July 1608 (aged 32–33) Rome, Italy |
| Burial | San Pietro in Montorio, Rome |
| Spouse | Bridget Fitzgerald |
| Issue |
Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell Mary Stuart O'Donnell |
| Dynasty | O'Donnell |
| Father | Sir Hugh O'Donnell |
| Mother | Inion Dubh |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Rory O'Donnell (Irish: Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill) (1575 – 30 July 1608) was the last King of Tír Chonaill and 1st earl of Tyrconnell. although that family did not inherit the title, nor the related territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell, the remainders of which were destined elsewhere.
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.
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.
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, with the discovery that he and Tyrone were to be arrested and imprisoned, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly with their families and followers for eventual exile in Spanish Flanders and Rome (see Flight of the Earls). Tyrconnell died in Rome in 1608.
O'Donnell visited Rome, and was given a hero's welcome by the Pope and Roman nobility. He paid homage to Pope Paul V at the latter's residence in the Quirinal Palace. He most likely also visited St. Peter's Basilica, then under construction in its current form. As such, he would also have had the royal privilege of ascending and later descending the Scala Regia in the Vatican. Some decades later, when Bernini restored the Scala Regia, he placed a sculpture of his own making there, an equestrian statue of Emperor Constantine, and re-designed the stairway such that light shines down through a window above, with the (inter alia) O'Donnell motto In Hoc Signo Vinces, reminiscent of Constantine's vision, overhead. The motto appears prominently placed on a sculpted ribbon unfurled with a passion cross to its left, beneath the window over the Scala Regia, in order that all monarchs and royalty thenceforth visiting the Pope, would be reminded on leaving, to follow the Cross, and thence turn right into the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, ostensibly so inspired.
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