Séan Ó Néill
| Seán Donnghaileach Mac Cuinn Bhacaigh Ó Néill | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Ulster, Dominus Tyronis Dux Hibernicorum |
|
| Reign | 1559–1567 |
| Coronation | 1559, Tullyhogue (Tulach Óg) |
| Predecessor | Conn Bacach Ó Néill |
| Successor | Sir Turlough Luineach O'Neill, The O'Neill Mor |
| Born | c. 1530 County Tyrone |
| Died | 2 June 1567 Modern-day Cushendun, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Burial | Ballyterrim, Cushendun, Northern Ireland. Possibly reburied at Glenarm Abbey |
| Spouse | Catherine McDonnell (annulled, 1560) Margaret O'Donnell (died c. 1563) Countess Catherine MacLean, daughter of Hector Mor Maclean, 12th Chief (died 1585). |
| Issue | Conn, Hugh Gaveloch, Art, Seán Óg, Hugh McShane O'Neill, Brian Laighneach, Henry, Rose, Turlough, Níall, Edmond |
| House | O'Neill |
| Father | Conn Bacach Ó Néill (d. 1559), King of, then 1st Earl of Tyrone |
| Mother | Alice Fitzgerald dau. of 8th Earl of Kildare |
Séan Ó Néill (Shane O'Neill in English) c. 1530 – 2 June 1567, known as Seán Donnghaileach Mac Cuinn Bhacaigh Ó Néill (and in English sources as Séan an Díomáis (Shane the Proud), was an Irish king of the Ó Néill of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Séan Ó Néill's career was marked by his ambition to be the Ó Néill – sovereign of the dominant Ó Néill Mór family of Tír Eoghain—and thus head overking or Rí ruirech of the entire province. This brought him into conflict with competing branches of the Ó Néill family and with the English government in Ireland, who recognised a rival claim. Séan's support was considered worth gaining by the English even during the lifetime of his father Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone (died 1559). But rejecting overtures from Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, the lord deputy from 1556, Shane refused to help the English against the Scottish settlers on the coast of Antrim, allying himself instead with the MacDonnells, the most powerful of these immigrants.
The English, since the late 1530s, had been expanding their control over Ireland, this century-long effort is known as the Tudor conquest of Ireland. To incorporate the native Irish lordships, they granted English titles to Irish lords – thus making Conn Bacach Ó Néill, Séan's father, the first Earl of Tyrone. However, whereas in Gaelic custom the successor to a lordship was elected from his kinsmen in the system of Tanistry, the English insisted on succession by the first-born son or primogeniture. This created a conflict between Séan, who considered it his natural right to be head of his clan and an "affiliated son" or adoptee of his father Conn Bacach, Matthew O'Neill or Fear Dorcha who was 'conveniently mistaken' as the offspring of Conn when he travelled to London in 1542 to be invested with the Earldom of Tyrone. Feardorcha had accompanied Conn's entourage as the Earl's eldest son Phelim Caoch O'Neill had been killed by his enemy Gillespic MacDonnell during a raid in Ulster shortly before Conn's inauguration visit. Gillespic MacDonnell's family were noted as committed adherents of Feardorcha and his descendents.
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