Shane ONeill

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O'Neill, Shane (c.1530–1567), an innovative Ulster leader for a dozen years until his early death. In 1558 he killed his rival Matthew, whom the state had recognized as Conn O'Neill's successor when Tyrone was surrendered and regranted. The following year he claimed the O'Neillship as the electee of the clan freeholders, but still wanted the earldom as Conn's eldest legitimate son. Sussex mounted three costly offensives (1560, 1561, and 1563), which Shane either side‐stepped or harried. These developments fed Shane's expansionist tendencies, not only against the urraghts (see oireacht), but also against Calvach O'Donnell, whom he imprisoned and cuckolded. In 1562 Shane submitted to Elizabeth in London and in 1563, at the peace of Drumcree, the state acceded to his demands for the O'Neillship and an investigation into Matthew's parentage. Then, in a self‐interested show of loyalty, Shane attacked the MacDonnells, winning a resounding victory at Glenshesk.

Sidney's arrival put paid to the 1563 agreement. With Shane making appeals to Scotland and France, the government sapped his strength by establishing a garrison at Derry. He was eventually defeated at Farsetmore and in desperation made overtures to the MacDonnells, who murdered him on 2 June 1567. English and Irish accounts see this as a revenge killing, but there is strong evidence to suggest that the MacDonnells assassinated O'Neill after getting a better offer from Sidney.

Shane's spectre continued to haunt the country. His posthumous attainder by the 1569 parliament, far from facilitating the Enterprise of Ulster, merely hindered relations with future lords of Tyrone by banning the O'Neill title. He was survived by as many as twelve landless MacShanes, whom the state feared more than the rest of the O'Neills because of their bellicosity and redshanks connections.

Bibliography

Brady, Ciaran , Shane O'Neill (1996)

Hiram Morgan

O'Neill, Shane (c.1530–67). The legitimate son of Con O'Neill, he was passed over in 1542 when his father was created earl of Tyrone, presumably because of his youth, and remainder given to an illegitimate son, Matthew. As soon as he grew up he claimed the inheritance, insisting that Matthew's claim was entirely spurious, and by 1557 had driven his father and Matthew O'Neill to take refuge in the Pale. In 1558 he killed Matthew, but at her succession Elizabeth offered to recognize him if he submitted to the lord deputy, Sussex. The negotiations broke down amid mutual mistrust, but O'Neill held his own against Sussex and in 1562 visited Elizabeth in London, where he and his followers (who spoke mostly Irish) created a sensation. On his return to Ireland, he resumed his warfare with gusto, particularly against the Macdonnells. Fresh attempts by Sussex and then Sir Henry Sidney to subdue him failed, but O'Neill, appealing to his old enemies the Macdonnells for support, was assassinated in June 1567.

J. A. Cannon

Shane O'Neill 1530?-1567, Irish chieftain. The eldest son of Con O'Neill, 1st earl of Tyrone, he carried on a bitter feud with his father after Con accepted Henry VIII's nomination of Con's illegitimate son, Matthew, as baron of Dungannon and heir to the O'Neill title. Shane's agents murdered Matthew in 1558, but when Con died in 1559, the English recognized Matthew's eldest son, Brian, as his successor. In 1562, after the murder of Brian, Shane reached a compromise with Queen Elizabeth I in London and was acknowledged as chieftain of Tyrone. Upon his return to Ireland, however, he plunged anew into tribal warfare against his rivals in Ulster. He claimed to be serving Elizabeth in his successful campaign (1564-65) against the MacDonnells, Scottish immigrants on the coast of Antrim. Later, however, he directed his raids and depredations against the English. Defeated by the O'Donnells at Letterkenny, he fled and sought refuge with his former enemies, the MacDonnells, who murdered him.

O'Neill, Shane (c.1530–67). the legitimate son of Con O'Neill, he was passed over in 1542 when his father was created earl of Tyrone, and remainder given to an illegitimate son, Matthew. As soon as he grew up he claimed the inheritance, and by 1557 had driven his father and Matthew O'Neill to take refuge in the Pale. In 1558 he killed Matthew, but at her succession Elizabeth offered to recognize him if he submitted to the lord deputy, Sussex. the negotiations broke down, but O'Neill held his own against Sussex and in 1562 visited Elizabeth in London, where he and his followers (who spoke mostly Irish) created a sensation. On his return to Ireland, he resumed his warfare with gusto, particularly against the Macdonnells, but was assassinated in June 1567.