Earl of Tyrone

“ The two great chiefs of Ulster, O'Donnell of Tyrconnel in the West, and O'Neil, created Earl of Tyrone, in the East, had been more or less successfully conciliated by the policy of St. Leger. But Tyrone had a numerous progeny, and the laws of legitimacy were at a discount. The English elected to recognise as his heir a favourite son, Matthew, who certainly was not legitimate. But another legitimate son, Shan or Shane, a man of great if erratic abilities, declined to submit to this arrangement when he grew up. Matthew was killed in a brawl, leaving a young son to claim the succession. ”

“ The limitations of the Tyrone Patent are disputed. Shane O’Neill.
Sidney, whom most men spoke well of, was confirmed in the office of Lord Justice, and had soon plenty of work in the North. The old Earl of Tyrone was sinking fast, and the horrors of a disputed succession were imminent. Henry VIII. had conferred the Earldom on Con O’Neill for life, with remainder to Matthew Ferdorogh O’Neill and his heirs male for ever. The Barony of Dungannon was at the same time conferred upon the remainder man, with a proviso that it should descend upon the heir to the Earldom. ”

“ The "Earl of Rone," actually, was the son of the Earl of Tyrone, the "Red Hand of Erin," who, in the reign of James I, fled from Ireland and landed at Combe Martin, wandered about the countryside with a band of companions, and was finally pursued and captured in Lady Wood, outside the village. In the Ascensiontide sports the Earl wears a grotesque costume: a mask, and a smock padded with straw, and round his neck a chain of biscuits. ”

“ In Ulster Tirlogh Luineach was getting old, while Hugh O’Neill, representing the bastard Dungannon branch, grew daily stronger. Hugh was now Earl of Tyrone, with a title to all he held in his country or district, reserving 240 acres to the Crown for the fort at Blackwater, and with a grant of markets and fairs. The new Earl covenanted to let Tirlogh enjoy the chiefry during his life, to abide by the decision of a royal commission as to boundaries, rents, and services, and not to make estates to any of the smaller chiefs called urraughts, without consent of the State. ”

“ A few weeks later Sussex, who thought it a favourable opportunity to punish Shane O'Neill for his underhand dealings with the Scots, again marched northward on 22 Oct., and, having burned Armagh and ravaged Tyrone with fire and sword, forcibly restored the aged Earl of Tyrone and his son Matthew, baron of Dungannon. He returned to Dublin on 30 Nov., and four days later sailed for England, entrusting the government during his absence to Archbishop Curwen and Sir Henry Sidney. ”

“ POWER, RICHARD, first Earl of Tyrone (1630–1690) , was the eldest son of John, lord de la Power of Curraghmore, co. Waterford (patent in Lodge) , who died in 1661, by his wife Ruth Pyphoe. About the time of his eldest son's birth, John, lord Power, became a lunatic, and this affliction seems to have been the means of preserving the great family estates. Richard's mother died when he was about twelve years old, and his grandmother, Mrs. Pyphoe, obtained protection for her daughter's children on the ground of their father's lunacy, and consequent innocence of the rebellion of 1641. ”

“ His power, which had long been waning, began rapidly to decline after the restoration of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, and in May 1593 he resigned in favour of the Earl of Tyrone, who was inaugurated O'Neill. Subsequently, on 28 June, he was awarded a life interest in the Strabane district, while the earl's supremacy was acknowledged over all Tyrone. But the old fighting spirit was not yet extinct in him, and in May 1594 he offered, with three thousand men, armed and paid by the state, to assure Ulster to her majesty. ”

“ Some professed to believe that his animosity was only against Fitzwilliam and Bagenal, but others, if we may judge by the sequel, were less optimistic or better informed. Tyrone’s brother had contributed to the disaster at Enniskillen, and neither he nor the O’Neills who served under him would have acted against the chief’s wish. There was plenty of Spanish gold circulating in Tyrone, and powder was being made there with imported sulphur. In Roman Catholic circles there were great hopes of what the Earl would do, but some feared that he sought an earthly rather than a heavenly kingdom. ”

“ In the settlement of 1542, when his father was created Earl of Tyrone, he was probably, on account of his youth, passed over in favour of his supposed elder brother, Mathew, or Ferdorach O'Neill, or Kelly, created Baron of Dungannon. But being a man of overweening ambition, he refused to submit to his exclusion, and, on reaching manhood, he raised, with his father's connivance, a faction against the Baron of Dungannon. ”

“ Like most of the public men of that age, he was both soldier and statesman. In temper he resembled his reputed father, Henry VIII.; for he was impatient of contradiction and control; fond of expense and magnificence, with a high opinion of his own abilities for diplomacy and legislation. The Parliament of 1585-6, as it was attended by almost every notable man in the kingdom, was one of his boasts, though no one seems to have benefited by it much, except Hugh O'Neil, whose title of Earl of Tyrone was then formally recognized. ”

“ Even so far back as when he was organising his great expedition to Ireland, which was to crush the rebellion of Tyrone, he is suspected of some intention of using the forces that were put under his command against the Queen’s Government. We are certainly driven to this alternative: either the Earl on that expedition manifested such incapacity as is unparalleled even in those days of brave knights and incompetent generals ”

“ The pope granted them an audience on the following day, and assigned to Tyrone a monthly pension of a hundred crowns, a house (called the Borgo Vecchio) rent free, together with an allowance of bread and wine for ten persons; the king of Spain added four hundred ducats a month. Rory O'Donnell, earl of Tyrconnel, died in June 1608, and in December 1613 Tyrone, who by that time was probably fully convinced of his folly in leaving Ireland, made overtures through the Earl of Somerset for his restoration. ”

“ IRELAND: A. D. 1607-1611. The flight of the Earls and the Plantation of Ulster. "With the submission of the Earl of Tyrone terminated the struggle between the Tudor princes and the native Celtic tribes. No chieftain henceforward claimed to rule his district in independence of the Crown of England. The Celtic land tenure, the Brehon laws, the language, customs, and traditions of the defeated race were doomed to gradual yet certain extinction. ... Before Elizabeth was laid in the grave, the object for which during so many years she had striven was thus at length accomplished; ... ”

“ Sir John Norris, after a war, and purposely protracted negotiations with Tyrone, died at length, it was said, of vexation and discontent. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Bagnall, who, going to the relief of Blackwater, was surrounded; fifteen hundred men and the general himself were slain on the spot, and the rest put to flight. This victory raised the renown of Tyrone, who was hailed as the deliverer of his country, and the restorer of Irish liberty. The unfortunate Earl of Essex was afterwards appointed to take command of the English army ”

“ The situation of the kingdom was, however, so desperate that, after a detention of about twenty weeks, he was liberated, and by his own account did good service in revictualling the castle of Maryborough and in prosecuting Phelim MacFeagh O'Byrne and the rebels who invested the Pale. The allusions in his 'Apology' to his service against Tyrone and his relations with Robert, earl of Essex, are obscure, but it would appear that about the time of Sir Conyers Clifford's defeat (August 1599) he consented, at Tyrone's request and with the cognisance of Sir Christopher Blount, to visit Tyrone. ”

“ By leaving Ireland he played into his enemies’ hands. Rory O’Donnell, created earl of Tyrconnel, accompanied him. Cuconnaught Maguire had already gone. The “flight of the earls,” as it is called, completed the ruin of the Celtic cause. Reasons or pretexts for declaring forfeitures against O’Cahan were easily found. O’Dogherty, chief of Inishowen, and foreman of the grand jury which found a bill for treason against the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, was insulted by Sir George Paulet, the governor of Derry. ”

“ Tyrone (171) , a central county of Ulster, Ireland; is hilly, picturesque, and fertile in the lower districts; a considerable portion is taken up by barren mountain slopes and bogland, and agriculture is backward; coal and marble are wrought; Omagh is the capital, and Strabane and Dungannon are prosperous towns.
Tyrone, Hugh O'Neil, Earl of, a notable Irish rebel; assumed the title of “The O'Neil,” and offered open rebellion to Queen Elizabeth's authority, but, despite assistance from Spain, was subdued by Essex and Mountjoy ”

“ Tyrone, lieutenant-general, inspector-general of the Portuguese army during the Peninsular war, was descended from Sir Claud Hamilton of Toome, brother of James, first earl of Abercorn [q. v.] , who married and founded a family in Tyrone. He was son of James Hamilton of Woodbrook and Strabane, by his wife Elinor, sister of the first Earl (ninth lord) Castle-stewart, and was born on 4 Aug. 1755. In 1771 he was appointed to a Bengal cadetship, became ensign of Bengal native infantry 2 March 1773, lieutenant 22 March 1778, and captain 15 Oct. ”

“ From these enemies, exasperated by bigotry and revenge, they could have nothing but a full and exceeding measure of retaliation to expect; nor had they even the last hope that an English king, for the sake of his Crown and country, must protect those who formed the strongest link between the two islands. A man violent and ambitious, without superior capacity, the Earl of Tyrconnel, lord lieutenant in 1687, and commander of the army, looked only to his master's interests, in subordination to those of his countrymen, and of his own. ”

“ Right or wrong, with good reason or without good reason, they went, and after various wanderings reached Rome, where they were received with no little honour. Neither, however, long survived their exile. Tyrconnel died the following year, and Tyrone some eight years later, a sad, blind, broken-hearted man.
Nothing could have been more convenient for the Government than this departure. Under the circumstances, it meant, of course, a forfeiture of all their [pg 223] estates. ”

“ Tyrone did not raise the standard of revolt. But in 1592-3, Tyrone, his brother in law Hugh Roe O'Donnell, [Footnote: Hugh O'Donnell had been trapped and held prisoner in Dublin as a hostage for Tyrconnell's good behaviour; but succeeded in making his escape.] Tyrconnell's son, his neighbours Maguire and O'Rourke, and the McWilliams or Burkes of Connaught—dwellers in the parts furthest from the Pale—were in active defiance of the Government. Tyrone was engaged in officially placating or repressing or remonstrating with them, ostensibly doing his best to serve the Queen ”

“ The council apprehended, or affected to apprehend, that Tyrone would still refuse to surrender on the hard conditions imposed by the queen; but so desperate was now his situation, that without even waiting to receive them, he had thrown himself at the feet of the deputy and submitted his lands and life to the queen's mercy. Ministers more resolute, or more disinterested, might therefore have spared her the degradation, as she regarded it, of treating with a rebel. The news of his final submission, which occurred four days only before her death, she never learned. ”

“ An authentic record of the “Tyrone,” or “Beresford Apparition,” will now be given. It created a very great sensation at the time of its occurrence; and the narrative which follows has been pronounced traditionally “true and accurate” by a member of the family:—
“Lord Tyrone and Miss —— were born in Ireland, and were left orphans in their infancy to the care of the same person, by whom they were both educated in the principles of deism. Their guardian dying when they were each of them about fourteen years of age, they fell into very different hands. ”

“ By presenting himself frankly to the Viceroy, as became a nobleman and a good subject, he would show that he had nothing to fear, and he might be sure of justice if he harboured no traitors in the meantime. Tyrone thanked his adviser heartily, promised to come to Dublin like the Queen’s loyal subject as he was, and declared that he feared nothing but the spite of Fitzwilliam and Bagenal, who sought his life. As to harbouring rebels, there were two or three thousand proclaimed traitors in Ireland, and it would be strange if some were not sheltered near him. ”

“ The soldiers are disorderly and oppressive,
Elizabeth persisted in believing Tyrone’s professions, only because she saw no way of forcibly subduing ‘him whom she had raised from the dust.’ She was ‘greedy,’ said her secretary, ‘of that honourable course’; but Russell, who advocated the reduction of Tyrone, forgot to say how it was to be done. It was more clear to her that there was much oppression and extortion, and that her poor subjects in Ireland had a right to complain. ”

“ Tyrone?
For my character
You need never mind it;
I never was marry’d, nor promis'd to none.
Then she swore by her conscience
She would run all chances,
And travel with me to the County Tyrone.
Then early next morning,
While the sun was adorning,
We travd'd from Killwight by the three mile stone;
The guard they pursu’d us,
But never could view us,
I wish’d frotn my heart I had my love in Tyrone.
As we were a-walking,
And lovingly talking,
We met an old man, was walking alone ”