Tír Eoghain (meaning in Irish), also known as Tyrone, was a kingdom and later earldom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising parts of present-day County Tyrone, County Armagh, County Londonderry and County Donegal (Raphoe). The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél nEógain people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area. One part of the realm to the north-east broke away and expanded, becoming Clandeboye, ruled by a scion branch of the O'Neill dynasty. In one form or another, Tyrone existed for over a millennium. Its main capital was Dungannon, though kings were inaugurated at Tullyhogue Fort.
Upon its foundation in the 5th century, Tyrone was a sub-kingdom of the larger Aileach, which represented the powerbase of the Uí Néill (descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages) in the north of Ireland. The territory of Eoghan mac Néill was initially based in Inishowen and expanded out from there under his descendants. Periodically, during the time of Aileach, the leaders of Tyrone established themselves as High Kings of Ireland, providing in total of thirteen High Kings from the 6th to the 10th centuries. The first was Muirchertach mac Muiredaig and the last from this period was Domnall ua Néill. Three later Tyrone claimants to the High Kingship were Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn in 12th century and finally Brian Chatha an Dúna O'Neill in the 13th century.
In the 13th century, Aileach split up into its two most powerful kindred components: Tyrone (under the O'Neill dynasty) and Tyrconnell (under the O'Donnell dynasty). Between themselves and the Lordship of Ireland, they competed in the north for hegemony over the Ulster region, but their influence frequently went far beyond the regional. In the 14th century, pushing eastwards, Tyrone benefited from the Gaelic reasurgence and was able to establish Clandeboye. Sometimes a sub-kingdom of Tyrone, it soon asserted its own authority and became a prominent player in its own right. With the creation of the Crown of England's Kingdom of Ireland in the 16th century, Tyrone would be brought into the Tudors' sphere of influence, but was a major source of Gaelic Irish resistance, before, while and after being subordinated. From the rebellion of Shane the Proud to the Nine Years' War under Hugh O'Neill and later, Tyrone leaders were involved in the subsequent Irish Rebellion of 1641 and Irish Confederate Wars (particularly Owen Roe O'Neill).
History Ailech
From the 5th century founding of Cenél nEógain, the tuatha was a sub-unit of the larger kingdom of Ailech (which they typically held the kingship to), along with their Cenél Conaill cousins, fellow descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The initial ascent of Ailech had coincided with the decline of the Ulaid, whose kingdom of Ulster receded to the north-east coast.
In the 12th century the kingdom of Ailech split into two sovereign territories and Cenél nEógain became Tír Eoghain, the land of Eoghan, Anglicised as Tyrone. It was ruled under the Meic Lochlainn clan and then under their kinsmen the Ó Néill clan. The other part of Ailech, Cenél Conaill became known as Tír Conaill, the land of Conall, Anglicised as Tyrconnell.
Kingdom of Tyrone
Following the Norman invasion of Ulster in 1177, Tír Eoghain had become the predominant power in the north of Ireland, a position it regained upon the collapse of the Norman Earldom of Ulster in the 14th century.
16th century: ambitions and internal rivalries
With the ascent of Henry VIII to the English throne, the politics of the Tudor monarch's Lordship of Ireland would come to have a dramatic effect on all of Ireland, including the Kingdom of Tyrone. One of the premier Old English (Norman) forces in Ireland, since the Middle Ages, had been the FitzGerald dynasty. During the Wars of the Roses, they had been loyal to the House of York, despite the eventual victory of the House of Lancaster (including the Tudors), who were supported by their rivals from the Butler dynasty. Despite having backing the losing side in the War, the FitzGeralds remained influential in Ireland and difficult to unseat. The King of Tyrone, Conn Bacagh O'Neill, in a personal capacity, carried the sword of state before his uncle Gerald Og FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare when he was made Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1524. The Earl of Kildare had been called to England by the King in 1534 and when he arrived was put in the Tower of London. Before he had left, Gerald had placed his 21-year-old son Silken Thomas FitzGerald in charge of the Lordship of Ireland in his absence.Joyce, Patrick Weston (1910). The Rebellion of Silken Thomas Fitzgerald (1534–1537). Concise History of Ireland The FitzGeralds had many enemies in Dublin, not least the Butlers and false rumours were spread that Gerald had been beheaded in the Tower. This rumour reached the ear of the young and inexperienced Silken Thomas, who, in reaction, rode through the streets on horseback with his men to St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, where he cast off sword and robes of state and renounced his allegiance to the English monarchy (his father in London, upon hearing of his young son's rebellion, did in fact die a few days later "of grief").
Silken Thomas rose up in Rebellion and was determined to take Dublin and "avenge" the death of his father: he rallied to his banner a sizeable proportion of Gaelic Ireland, or at least some of the most influential parts of it, this included; the O'Neills of Tyrone (his cousin) and the O'Briens of Thomond, as well as the O'Carrolls of Éile, O'Connor Falys of Offaly and the O'Mores of Laois who backed him up for the attacks on the English Pale. The English Archbishop of Dublin, John Alen, died during the Siege of Dublin in controversial circumstances. As the tide began to turn against them, Thomas surrendered to Leonard Grey at Maynooth and was given safe passage to ask for mercy from the King in London but was executed at Tyburn with his uncles in 1537. This issue was not concluded though, as back in Ireland the Geraldine League was founded in 1539 by the O'Neills of Tyrone, the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, the O'Briens of Thomond and other clans, to support the claim of the 14-year-old, Gerald FitzGerald to the now forfeited title of the Earldom of Kildare. The boy was then living under the guardianship of his aunt, Eleanor McCarthy, Queen of Tyrconnell. This Gaelic alliance under the auspicies of the Geraldine League was able to menace the English Pale, looting and sacking Ardee and Navan, before Conn Bacagh O'Neill and Manus O'Donnell were dealt a thorough defeat at the Battle of Belahoe by Grey and Gerald Aylmer in 1539.
Tyrone was invaded in 1541 by an army under Anthony St Leger, which saw the final defeat of the Geraldine League and the young titular Earl of Kildare fled to Catholic Europe, becoming a Knights Hospitaller. The King of Tyrone's eldest son Phelim Caoch O'Neill was taken hostage and died the following year. While the FitzGeralds had not been treated with magnanimity, Henry VIII as part of his plan to construct a Kingdom of Ireland adopted a policy of surrender and regrant, whereby, the Gaelic kings who held sway on the ground beyond the bounds of the old Lordship of Ireland could surrender their sovereignty, but be awarded a title in the Peerage of Ireland and keep their lands, so long as they swore allegiance to the King, adopted English law and became members of the new Anglican Church that Henry was creating. This offer was opened up to Conn Bacagh O'Neill through St Leger, who accepted and went to London in 1542, pledging allegiance to Henry VIII: he was rewarded handsomely in terms of money and land and was also made Earl of Tyrone. Retrieved on 23 March 2022. Retrieved on 23 March 2022. The heir to the Earldom would be given the title Baron Dungannon and with the favourite son Phelim Caoch O'Neill dead (he was killed by the MacDonnells of Antrim), Conn made sure to have the patent made out to Feardorcha (Matthew) O'Neill, an illegitimate son. This choice skipped over the legitimate Tanist of Tyrone, Shane O'Neill, who was raised by his foster-family the O'Donnelly clan.Hull, Eleanor (1926-1931). Shane O'Neill and the Scots in Ulster. A History of Ireland and Her PeopleWebb, Alfred (1878). Shane O'Neill. A Compendium of Irish Biography
When Shane O'Neill was 28-years-old, his foster-family the O'Donnellys, ambushed and killed Feardorcha (Matthew) whom they had always maintained was not an actual O'Neill, initiating a bloody conflict within the family. This was excellerated by the death of Conn Bacagh O'Neill the following year in 1559. A legal challenge was launched by Shane O'Neill against Feardorcha's son Brian O'Neill over the rights to the Earldom of Tyrone. By this time, Elizabeth I had come to the throne of England and Ireland: she was keen to come to an agreement with Shane O'Neill, if he would submit to her authority and the Lord Deputy. However, Shane greatly distrusted the Lord Deputy, who at the time was Thomas Radclyffe, the Earl of Sussex. So the authorities instead backed Brian O'Neill. Sussex tried to encircle Shane O'Neill by inciting Tyrconnell against him, but Shane's men were able to capture Calvagh O'Donnell.The English had secretly arranged for various planned assaults on Tyrone with the goal of smashing Shane O'Neill. Sussex and the Earl of Kildare were to attack from the south, the O'Donnell were to be incited from the north-west and the MacDonnell of Antrim (Scots) from the north-east. The capture of the King of Tyrconnell pulled the rug from under that. Calvagh O'Donnell was treated exceptionally harshly: Shane took his wife as a concubine and had several children with her, while Calvagh was tortured and kept in a steel cage in front of Dungannon Castle for three years. Deep inside Gaelic country, Sussex was garrisoning Armagh Cathedral (which had been founded as a monastery by St. Patrick but had recently been declared Anglican under the Tudors), before Shane O'Neill's men engaged the English at the Battle of the Red Sagums in July 1561, destroying much of Sussex's army. Shane had himself inaugurated as The Ó Néill at Tullyhogue Fort which further engraged Sussex, who accused him of treason. The increasingly desperate Sussex attempted to assassinate Shane by poisoning his wine. This having failed, Elizabeth I intervened directly and agreed to treat with the "rebel" chief in London, with the Earl of Kildare and Earl of Ormond escorting him to ensure his personal safety.