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Cathbarr O'Donnell

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Cathbarr O'Donnell (Irish: Cathbarr Ó Domhnaill, c. 1583 - 15 September 1608) was an Irish nobleman and member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell.

Cathbarr O'Donnell
Cathbarr Ó Domhnaill
Bornc. 1583
Tyrconnell, Ulster, Ireland
Died15 September 1608 (aged ~25)
Rome, Papal States
FatherHugh McManus O'Donnell
MotherIníon Dubh

Biography

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Born c. 1583,[1] Cathbarr was the son of Sir Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill (Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell), An Ó Domhnaill (The O'Donnell), the ruler of Tyrconnell during the Elizabethan era. His mother was Sir Aodh's Scottish second wife, Iníon Dubh.

Cathbarr's elder half-brother, Sir Domhnaill Ó Domhnaill, was a dynastic rival of Cathbarr's elder full brother, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in the lengthy Ó Domhnaill succession dispute until Sir Domhnaill's death at the Battle of Doire Leathan in September 1590. Hugh Roe became head of the Ó Domhnaill dynasty in 1592. Cathbarr supported his elder brother during Tyrone's Rebellion (1594–1603). In 1602, another elder brother, Rory, succeeded Hugh Roe and made peace with the Crown. The following year, Rory was made Earl of Tyrconnell.

Cathbarr married Rosa O'Doherty, the sister of Sir Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh (Sir Cahir O'Doherty), Lord of Inishowen, who fought on the Crown's side during Tyrone's rebellion but later launched O'Doherty's Rebellion by burning Derry. In 1607, Cathbarr and Rosa accompanied Rory in the Flight of the Earls to Continental Europe.[2]

In early July 1608, Cathbarr travelled to Ostia, a coastal town fifteen miles west of Rome, in order to "make holiday and take a change of air". He was accompanied by his brother Rory, Hugh O'Neill, 4th Baron Dungannon, and Donal O’Carroll, Vicar General of Killaloe. Unfortunately, the men "all agreed that that particular place [was] one of the worst and most unhealthy for climate in all Italy". Rory died of fever on 28 July 1608.[3] Cathbarr also became ill, and similarly died of fever on 15 September 1608 in Rome.[4][5]

The leadership of the O'Donnells passed to Rory's young son Hugh Albert O'Donnell.[2]

After Cathbarr's death, Rosa remarried to the Irish soldier Owen Roe O'Neill.[6]

Cathbarr had a son with Rosa named Hugh O'Donnell, who was aged two years and three months at the time of the Flight of the Earls in September 1607. This puts Hugh's birthdate around June 1605.[7] Hugh became a Captain in the Spanish Army, serving in his stepfather's regiment in Flanders. He was killed in 1625 during the Siege of Breda.[8][4]

Cathbarr also had an illegitimate son, named Conn, with another woman. According to Darren McGettigan, Conn was born with six toes on one foot.[4] According to Francis Martin O'Donnell, it was Cathbarr's son Hugh who had six toes on one foot.[9] In 1608 Sir John Davies stated that the O'Donnell family had high hopes for Conn "for they affirm that one of their saints of Tyrconnell hath prophesied that when such a one, being of the sept of O'Donnell, shall be born, he shall drive all the Englishmen out of Ireland". Conn was raised in the household of Lord Deputy Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland.[4] Conn was also raised by Captain Basil Brooke at Donegal Castle.[10] He was later imprisoned in London prison, and then in 1629 escaped to Flanders alongside his cousins Mary Stuart O'Donnell and Hugh O'Rourke.[4]

Family tree

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Notes

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ O'Donnell, Francis Martin (2018). The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy. Francis Martin O'Donnell names Sir Hugh's first wife as "Nuala, a daughter of O’Neill".
  2. ^ Ó Domhnaill, Niall (1952). Na Glúnta Rosannacha, page 87. The historicity of this person is disputed.
  3. ^ a b c O'Donnell, Francis Martin (2020). Memorialising Emigré Dignity - The Cultural Heritage of St. Anthony's College, Leuven Irish College Leuven - Memorialising Emigré Dignity - The Cultural Heritage of St. Anthony's College, Leuven. p. 7. Francis Martin O'Donnell believes that Margaret was the widow of O'Rourke.
  4. ^ a b c d O'Donnell, Eunan (2006). Reflection on the Flight of the Earls. Donegal Annual (58): 31–44. Meadhb and Gráinne are known only as sisters of the Earl (i.e., Rory), with no additional information.
  1. ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218.
  2. ^ a b Casway 1984, p. 25.
  3. ^ FitzPatrick, Elizabeth (August 2007). "San Pietro in Montorio, burial-place of the exiled Irish in Rome, 1608-1623". History Ireland. 15 (4).
  4. ^ a b c d e McGettigan, Darren (October 2009). "O'Donnell, Caffar". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.002288.v1.
  5. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 58.
  6. ^ Casway, Jerrold (2009). "O'Doherty, Rosa". Dictionary of Irish Biography.
  7. ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "[Flight of the Earls, September] 1607: ...Rose, the daughter of O'Doherty, and wife of Caffar, with her son, Hugh, aged two years and three months..."
  8. ^ Casway 1984, pp. 27–28.
  9. ^ O'Donnell, Francis Martin (1 January 2020). "Memorialising Emigré Dignity - The Cultural Heritage of St. Anthony's College, Leuven". Irish College Leuven - Memorialising Emigré Dignity - The Cultural Heritage of St. Anthony's College, Leuven.
  10. ^ O'Donnell 2006, p. 37.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • McCavitt, John (2002). The Flight of the Earls. Gill & MacMillan.


 

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