O'Neill, Donal

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 700+ words | Copyright

O'Neill, Donal ( Domhnall Ó Néill) (d. 1325). A son of Brian O'Neill (d. 1260), Donal thrice seized the kingship of Cenél nEógain (1283–6, 1291, 1296) from the brother and subsequently the son of his father's rival Aodh Buidhe O'Neill (d. 1283), after which Earl Richard de Burgh as overlord ceased to oppose his rule. The English, however, treated with his sub‐chieftains independently, and the earl began to annex and colonize lands west of the Bann. Contacted by the Bruce brothers, Donal welcomed Edward's invasion of Ulster in 1315, and transferred to him the O'Neill claim to the high kingship of Ireland, justifying his actions by a ‘Remonstrance’ to Pope John XXII. After Bruce's defeat at Faughart (1318), de Burgh and the Clann Aodha Buidhe O'Neill temporarily deposed Donal, but he had recovered at least western Tír Eógain by his death.

Katharine Simms

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