Shane O'Neill (son of Conn)
| Shane O'Neill | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Ulster, Dominus Tyronis Dux Hibernicorum |
|
| Reign | 1559–1567 |
| Coronation | 1559, Tullyhogue |
| Predecessor | Conn Bacach O'Neill |
| 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 O'Neill (d. 1559), King of, then 1st Earl of Tyrone |
| Mother | Alice Fitzgerald dau. of 8th Earl of Kildare |
Shane O'Neill (Irish: Seán Mac Cuinn Ó Néill; c. 1530 – 2 June 1567), was an Irish king of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be The O'Neill – sovereign of the dominant O'Neill family of Tír Eoghain—and thus overking of the entire province. This brought him into conflict with competing branches of the O'Neill family and with the English government in Ireland, who recognised a rival claim. Shanes'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 name "Shane" is an anglicisation of the Gaelic name "Seán" (John). Shane's name is given in the Annals of the Four Masters (at M1567.2) as "Sean mac Cuinn, mic Cuinn mic Enri, mic Eocchain" ("John son of Conn, son of Conn, son of Henry, son of Eoin") Elsewhere in the Annals (e.g. at M1552.7) he is referred to as "Sean Donngaileach Ó Neill". This refers to the fact that as a youth he was fostered by his cousins, the O'Donnellys. This was rendered as anglicisations such as "Donnolloh" in contemporary manuscripts, and as "John, or Shane Doulenagh O'Neil" in Abbé MacGeoghegan's 1758 History of Ireland. After he assumed the leadership of the O'Neills, he was referred to simply as "Ó Néill" ("The O'Neill").
The nickname "Shane the Proud" (Irish: Seán an Díomais), which appears in nineteenth and early twentieth century popular histories, was coined some time after his death by English writers, and originally had the pejorative meaning of "arrogant", because they wished to portray him as vain, self-indulgent and ruthless, and thus undermine the legitimacy of his claim to the earldom of Tyrone.Holinshed's Chronicles of 1587, for instance, had a side-note, "The proud taunts of Shane O'neile", the text remarking that "when the commissioners were sent to intreat with him vpon sundrie points, they found him most arrogant & out of all good order, braieng out spéeches not méet nor séemelie." Later Irish writers, such as John Mitchel and P. J. O’Shea (Conán Maol) used the nickname with more positive connotations.
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