O'Neill (No.4) family genealogy

Of Shane's Castle, County Antrim

The ancient Arms were: Per fess wavy the chief ar. the base representing waves of the sea, in chief a dexter hand couped at the wrist gu. in base a salmon naiant ppr. Crest: An arm in armour embowed the hand grasping a sword all ppr. Motto: Lamh dearg Eirin (The Red hand of Erin).

PHELIM BACCACH, a younger brother of Brian Ballach who is No. 122 on the "O'Neill" (Princes of Clanaboy) pedigree, was the ancestor of this branch of that family.

122. Phelim Baccach: son of Niall Mór; d. 1533; some of whose male descendants are the O'Neills of Ballymoney. Had two sons—1. Hugh,[1] 2. Brian.

123. Brian [2]: his second son; died 1574.

124. John: his son; had a brother named Conn; was twice married—the only issue by the first marriage was Sir Henry O'Neill; this John died 23rd April, 1617.

125. Sir Henry [3]: his son; had a daughter named Rose, who was his only heir, and who married Randal MacDonnell, Earl of Antrim (a quo "Randalstown"), but left no issue. This Sir Henry O'Neill, whose Will is dated the 13th September, 1637, had four brothers—1. Arthur, of Shane's Castle, who was the heir of his brother Henry, in the event of his daughter Rose (Marchioness of Antrim) having no issue; 2. Phelim; 3. Shane Oge, who died without issue, A.D. 1620; and 4. Hugh, who also died, sine prob. Arthur O'Neill, of Shane's Castle, here mentioned, had two sons—1. Charles (no issue recorded); 2. Captain John O'Neill. This Captain John O'Neill had two sons—1. Arthur, who died unmarried, in Flanders, in 1702; and 2. Colonel Charles O'Neill, of Shane's Castle, who died without issue. After this Col. Charles O'Neill's death, Henry O'Neill administered on 10th Sept., 1716, but died s.p. The estates then reverted to "Shane an Franca" (or "French John"), son of Brian, son of Phelim, the second brother of Sir Henry O'Neill, No. 125 on this pedigree.

126. Brian: son of the said Phelim, the second brother of the said Sir Henry O'Neill; had a brother named Arthur.

127. Shane [4] an Franca (or "French John"): son of Brian; Will proved 1739; had two brothers—1. Henry, and 2. Hugh.

128. Henry O'Neill: the eldest son of Shane an Franca; had a dau. Mary, who was his only heir. This Henry had two brothers—l. Charles, who, after Henry's death, took possession of Shane's Castle; 2. Clotworthy, who left no issue. The said Charles died in August, 1769, leaving two sons—1. The Right Hon. John O'Neill, who, on the 25th October, 1793, was created "Baron," and in 1795, "Viscount, O'Neill;" 2. St. John O'Neill. This John Viscount O'Neill left two sons—1. Charles Henry St. John, Viscount (in August, 1800, created "Earl") O'Neill, and 2. John Bruce Richard, Viscount O'Neill [5]—each of whom died without issue. St. John O'Neill, the younger brother of the Right Hon. John, the first "Viscount O'Neill," here mentioned, died in March, 1790, leaving an only child, Mary O'Neill, of whom no issue is recorded.

129. Mary: daughter and only heir of Henry O'Neill (No. 128 on this stem), the eldest son of Shane an Franca; m. to the Rev. Arthur Chichester.

130. Rev. Wm. Chichester, known as "Doctor Chichester:" their son. This William had two sons—1. Sir Arthur Chichester, to whom the Clanaboy Estates were willed, and who died unm.; 2. Rev. Edward Chichester.

131. Rev. Edward: second son of the Rev. William Chichester. This Edward had four sons—1. Rev. William; 2. Rev. Robert, who died in June, 1878; 3. Arthur, who died young, in 1830; 4. Rev. George Vaughan Chichester.

132. Rev. William Chichester, of Shane's Castle: eldest son of the Rev. Edward Chichester; created "Baron O'Neill" (United Kingdom, 1868); d. 18th April, 1883. This Rev. William, Lord O'Neill, had three sons —1. Edward Baron O'Neill; 2. The Hon. Arthur O'Neill, who died unm., in 1870; 3. The Hon. Robert Torrens O'Neill, M.P. for Mid Antrim; and one daughter, The Hon. Anne O'Neill.

133. Edward Baron O'Neill; eldest son of the Rev. William Baron O'Neill; living in 1887. Has had three sons and three daughters, viz.,

Notes

[1] Hugh: This Hugh MacFelim O'Neill, lord of Kilultagh, mar. and had: 1. Hugh Oge; 2. Niall, of whom presently; and three other sons, who owned the territory of Kilultagh, in Clanaboy.

2. Niall: son of Hugh MacFelim Baccach; had great disputes with the sons of Sir Brian MacFelim O'Neill respecting territory. (See Antrim Survey.) This Niall m. and had: 1. Niall Oge of Killilagh, and 2. Hugh.

3. Niall Oge of Killilagh (b. 1606): son of Niall; m. and had:

4. Sir Henry (b. 1625), who was knighted in 1666, and who m. and had:

5. Sir Neill O'Neill: elder son of Sir Henry; was Colonel of Dragoons in the service of King James II. Sir Neill mar., in 1677, Lady Frances, dau. of the third Viscount Molyneux. He raised and equipped his regiment, and fought with the utmost gallantry at its head, at the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, when thrice he charged through the river and beat back Schomberg's choicest troops. Here he was wounded in the thigh (according to O'Callaghan), and was carried to Dublin, and thence to Waterford where, by the negligence of his surgeons, he died of his wounds. His tomb is still extant in the ruined church of the Franciscan Abbey in the city of Waterford; it is a limestone flag or slab on the ground inside the church walls; the Arms and Crest of the departed are on it, and, from the inscription, it appears he died on the 8th July, 1690, aged 32 years and 6 months. He left no male heir, but was succeeded in his title by his only brother, Sir Daniel O'Neill. Sir Neill had five daughters, who with their mother retired to their grandmother's relatives—the Talbots of Cartown, county Kildare: 1. Rosa, became wife of Nicholas Wogan, of Rathcoffey, whose daughter and co-heir, Frances, married John Talbot, of Malahide; 2. Anne, married to John Segrave, of Cabra; 3. Mary; 4. Elizabeth. We know not the fifth daughter's name.

[2] Brian: Primogeniture, though not universal, was yet coming into use among the Irish about this time; for, see Notification, in Bagenal's Description of Ulster, of Sir Brian MacFelim having been able to get himself elected Prince of the two Clanaboys, because his elder brother Hugh was held in prison by the English.

[3] Sir Henry: At p. 82 of the MS. Vol. F. 3. 27, in the Lib. of Trin. Coll., Dublin, occurs the following entry: "Martha, dau. of Sir Francis Stafford, governor of Ulster, born ibid. 1599, Oct. 8, was wife to Sir Henry O'Neill of ye Lower Claneboyes, and had issue, Rosey, wife to Sir Randal (MacDonnell), Earl of Antrim. The said Martha d. 19th April, bur. 4th June, 1678, in Carigfergus."

[4] Shane: This was the Shane O'Neill who built the Clanaboy Tomb at Shane's Castle, of the inscription on which the following is a copy: "This Vault was built by Shane, MacBrien, MacPhelim, MacShane, MacBrien, MacPhelim O'Neill, Esq., in the year 1722, for a Burial Place to himself and family of Clanneboy."

[5] John Bruce Richard O'Neill: In connexion with the Seal of John Bruce Richard, Viscount O'Neill (born at Shane's Castle, in December, 1780, and died in February, 1855: see Note "Aodh Buidhe," p. 731, ante), we read from a paper by the Right Rev. Doctor Reeves, in pp. 256-258, Vol. I., of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, that said Seal was a shield with the right hand extended, supported by two nondescript animals, with the legend: "S Odonis (an attempt to latinize Aodh) O'Neill Regis Hybernicorum Vltonie . . ." The death of this Aodh (or Hugh) O'Neill is recorded in the Annals, under the year A.D. 1364. (See No. 115 on the "O'Neill," Princes of Tyrone, pedigree.) Of that Seal Doctor Reeves says: "This beautiful specimen of the Sphragistic art is the finest work of the kind connected with Ireland which remains, and far exceeds in elegance the other seals of the O'Neill family ... It is to be observed, too, that the hand, as in other early seals of the family, is a Dexter one—the same as that which now (in 1853) appears on the Arms of the present lord. Argent a hand gules was the heraldic characteristic of Baronetcy when created in 1611 and 1619, in consideration of O'Neill's extermination; and it was remarkable to find Sir Bryan O'Neill, of Bakerstown, in 1642, and Sir Henry O'Neill, of Killilagh, in 1666—the one in the English, and the other in the Irish, Baronetage—adopting an achievement which they were supposed to win from themselves. … All that is known of its History is, that it came into the hands of Horace Walpole, in the course of the last century, from the neighbourhood of Belfast. This appears from his own description of Strawberry Hill, printed there in 1784."

In p. 64 of said Ulster Journal of Archaeology we read: "A SILVER seal, extremely ancient, of Hugh O'Neill (d. 1364), King of Ulster, brought out of Ireland by Mr. William Bristow."

The Seal of Brian O'Neill, King of Tyrone, from A.d. 1241 to 1260, who was killed at the Battle of Down, in 1260, consists of (apparently), a mounted king with a drawn sword, and the legend:

"S Brien Regis de Kinel Eogain."