Hugo Eugenio O'Neill, 4th Earl of Tyrone

Hugo Eugenio O'Neill
Hugo Eugenio O'Neill
4th Earl of Tyrone
Tenure	29 January 1641 – 2 October 1660
Predecessor	Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone
Born	15 November 1633; Madrid, Crown of Castile
Died	2 October 1660 (aged 26); Madrid, Crown of Castile

Hugo Eugenio O'Neill, 4th Earl of Tyrone (15 November 1633 – 2 October 1660), was a Spanish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of Irish-born soldier Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone and grandson of Irish lord Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.

Early life and family

Hugo Eugenio O'Neill was born in Madrid on 15 November 1633,^[1] the illegitimate son of Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, and Isabel O'Donnell.^[2] He was named after his paternal grandfather Hugh O'Neill,^[3] chief of the O'Neill clan and commander of the confederacy of Irish lords during the Nine Years' War.^[4]^[5] Following the confederacy's surrender in 1603, Hugh and his son Shane emigrated from Ireland to Catholic Europe in the Flight of the Earls.^[6] Shane entered the Spanish military and took command of its first Irish regiment (tercio),^[7] known as the "Old Irish Regiment" (Spanish: El Tercio Viejo Irelandés) or the "Regiment of Tyrone".^[8] Isabel was descended from the noble O'Donnell clan.^[2] She was a daughter of Cathal O'Donnell^[9] and a cousin of Irish-Spanish soldier Hugh Albert O'Donnell.^[10]

Hugo O'Neill's parents became acquainted whilst both were living in Madrid in the early 1630s.^[10] A few days before Hugo's birth, Shane had to return to his regiment in the Spanish Netherlands.^[11] He entrusted Gaspar Bernaben, his business agent and friend,^[12] with the child's upbringing. Bernaben added the name "Eugenio" for Hugo's baptism, as the child was born on the feast of St. Eugene. This was also to "conceal" Hugo's Irish heritage. Bernaben became Hugo's godfather and raised him.^[13]

Shane returned to Madrid after fighting in the Siege of Fuenterrabía in 1638,^[14]^[3] acknowledging Hugo as his son and spending two weeks with the young boy. In 1640 Shane declared Hugo as his successor.^[3]

Isabel later became a nun in the Convent of La Concepcion Real de Calatrava, but she eventually left the convent due to ill health.^[15]

Shane also had a daughter, Catalina O'Neill; her mother's identity is unknown.^[12]

Succession as Earl

Shane died on 29 January 1641 in the Battle of Montjuïc.^[16] Per a request in his will,^[17] Philip IV of Spain legitimised Hugo O'Neill.^[18] Hugo succeeded his late father as 4th Earl^[a] of Tyrone^[20] and as colonel of the Irish regiment.^[21] Catalina and Hugo were left in Bernaben's care.^[12] It was Shane's wish that Bernaben should continue to serve and care for Hugo until he reached a suitable age. He also wished for Hugo to learn the Irish language.^[12]

Career

O'Neill was admitted to the order of Calatrava on 29 April 1644.^[22]

Death

He died in Madrid on 2 October 1660, aged twenty-six.^[23]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Hugo Eugenio O'Neill, 4th Earl of Tyrone^[b]

8. Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon

4. Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone

9. Siobhán Maguire, Baroness Dungannon

2. Shane O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone

10. Hugh Magennis, Baron of Iveagh

5. Catherine Magennis, Countess of Tyrone

11. Annabel Reilly

1. Hugo Eugenio O'Neill, 4th Earl of Tyrone

12.

4. Cathal O'Donnell

13.

3. Isabel O'Donnell

5.

References

Notes

^ The Spanish title was Conde de Tyrone. Conde is usually translated into English as "Count"; Micheline Walsh uses "Earl".^[19]
^ Hugh O'Neill's parents were Matthew "Feardorcha" O'Neill and Siobhán Maguire.

Citations

^ Walsh 1957, p. 22; O'Donnell 2023, pp. 37–38.
^ ^a ^b Ó Fiaich 2001, p. 32; O'Donnell 2023, pp. 37–38; Walsh 1957, p. 22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Walsh 1957, p. 23.
^ O'Neill 2017, pp. 21–24, 192.
^ Morgan, Hiram (September 2014). "O'Neill, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006962.v1. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
^ McGurk 2007, p. 16; Casway 2016, pp. 74–75; Ó Fiaich 2001, p. 27.
^ Morgan 2013, pp. 9–10. "Indeed many of the refugees made excellent soldiers with Henry O'Neill being chosen in 1605 as commander of the first Irish regiment in Spanish service."; Walsh 1930, p. 31. "[Shane] succeeded his half-brother Henry in the command of the Irish regiment in Flanders."
^ Walsh 1996, pp. 40–41.
^ O'Donnell 2023, pp. 37–38.
^ ^a ^b Ó Fiaich 2001, p. 32.
^ Walsh 1957, pp. 15, 22–23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Walsh 1974, pp. 323–325.
^ Walsh 1957, pp. 22–23.
^ Rodríguez, Moisés Enrique (July 2007). "The Spanish Habsburgs and their Irish Soldiers (1587–1700)" (PDF). Irish Migration Studies in Latin America. Society for Irish Latin American Studies: 125–130. ISSN 1661-6065. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
^ Ó Fiaich 2001, p. 32; O'Donnell 2023, pp. 37–38.
^ Walsh 1957, p. 21.
^ Walsh 1974, p. 323.
^ Walsh 1930, p. 52.
^ Walsh 1974, p. 320.
^ Walsh 1975, p. 59; O'Donnell 2014, p. 65.
^ Walsh 1957, p. 22.
^ Recio Morales 1996, p. 219. fn. 81.
^ Walsh 1957, p. 27. "[Hugo Eugenio] died shortly before the end of October 1660."; Walsh 1972, pp. 288, 294. Black Hugh O'Donnell, a cousin of Hugo Eugenio, wrote in his 1660 will: "Señor Don Ugo Eujenio Oneyl my predecessor who died on the second of October of this year..."; Walsh 1975, p. 60. "[Hugo Eugenio] died in Madrid at the age of twenty-six."

Sources

Casway, Jerrold (2016). "Catherine Magennis and the Wives of Hugh O'Neill". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 26 (1): 69–79. ISSN 0488-0196. JSTOR 48568219.
McGurk, John (2007). "The Flight of the Earls: Escape or Strategic Regrouping?". History Ireland. 15 (4): 16–21. ISSN 0791-8224. JSTOR 27725653.
O'Donnell, Hugo (March 2014). Presencia irlandesa en la Milicia Española [The Irish Presence in the Spanish Military] (PDF) (in Spanish). ISBN 978-84-9781-913-8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2022.
O'Donnell, Francis Martin (2023). "The Flight of the Girls". Journal of the Genealogical Society of Ireland: 33–39. ISSN 1393-936X.
Ó Fiaich, Tomás (2001). Cullen, Finbar (ed.). "Republicanism and Separatism in the Seventeenth Century" (PDF). The Republic: A Journal of Contemporary and Historical Debate. First appeared in 'Léachtaí Cholm Cille' II Stair, 1971: 25–37. OCLC 1302611672. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2024.
O'Neill, James (2017). The Nine Years War, 1593-1603: O'Neill, Mountjoy and the Military Revolution. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-754-9.
Recio Morales, Óscar (1996). "The Irish College of Alcalá de Henares (1630-1785) from an European perspective. A guideline to the Irish Colleges on the Continent: A Counter-Reformation cultural consequence". Indagación: Revista de Historia y Arte (2). Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. Servicio de Publicaciones: 197–228. hdl:10017/9541. ISSN 1134-301X.
Walsh, Paul (1930). Walsh, Paul (ed.). The Will and Family of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone [with an Appendix of Genealogies]. Dublin: Sign of the Three Candles.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Walsh, Micheline (April 1957). The O'Neills in Spain.
Walsh, Micheline (1972). "Black Hugh O Neill, 1610-1660: Unpublished Documents". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 6 (2): 287–296. doi:10.2307/29740810. ISSN 0488-0196.
Walsh, Micheline (1974). "The Will of John O'Neill, Third Earl of Tyrone". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 7 (2): 320–325. doi:10.2307/29740847. ISSN 2396-927X. JSTOR 29740847.
Walsh, Micheline (1975). "O Neills in Exile". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 8 (1): 55–68. doi:10.2307/29740859. ISSN 0488-0196. JSTOR 29740859.
Walsh, Micheline Kerney (1996). An exile of Ireland, Hugh O'Neill, Prince of Ulster. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-85182-234-8.