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Cathbarr O'Donnell

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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

Cathbarr O'Donnell (Irish: Cathbarr Ó Domhnaill, c. 1583 - 15 September 1608)[1][2] was an Irish nobleman and member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell.

Biography

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Born c. 1583,[3] 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, Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill II (Red Hugh O'Donnell II), in the lengthy Ó Domhnaill succession dispute until Sir Domhnaill's death at the Battle of Doire Leathan in September 1590. Aodh Ruadh II (Red Hugh II) 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 Aodh Ruadh 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. The following year, Cathbarr and Rory both died of fever in Italian exile and the leadership of the O'Donnells passed to Rory's young son.[4]

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

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.[5] 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.[6][1]

Cathbarr also had an illegitimate son, named Conn, with another woman. Conn was born with six toes on one foot. 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, was later imprisoned in London prison, and then in 1629 escaped to Flanders alongside his cousins Mary Stuart O'Donnell and Hugh O'Rourke.[1]

Family tree

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Notes

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Ó Domhnaill, Niall; Na Glúnta Rosannacha (1952), page 87. The historicity of this person is disputed.
  2. ^ O'Donnell, Eunan; Reflection on the Flight of the Earls; Donegal Annual, Bliainiris Dhún na nGall, Journal of the County Donegal Historical Society, No. 58 (2006); pp. 31-44. Gráinne is known only as a sister of the Earl (i.e., Rory), with no additional information.
  1. ^ a b c McGettigan, Darren (October 2009). "O'Donnell, Caffar". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.002288.v1.
  2. ^ Walsh 1930, p. 58.
  3. ^ Concannon 1920, p. 218.
  4. ^ Casway 1984, p. 25.
  5. ^ 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..."
  6. ^ Casway 1984, p. 27–28.

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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