JOHN O'DONNELL OF BALTIM ORE HIS FORBEARS f.!f DESCENDANTS
DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL O'DONNELL ARMS &c.
ARMS : Or, issuing from the sinister side of the shield an arm f essways vested azure cu.ffed argent holding in the hand a cross cross/et fitchee gules. CREST: Two arms armed bent and counter crossed, each holding a sword, that on the_ dexter side transfixi.ng a boar's head, the other a heart. MOTTO: In hoc signo vinces. Sup porters : Dexter, A lion or ; _Sinister, -A bull of the same, ootn gu_ardant.
JOHN O'DONNELL OF BALTIMORE HIS FORBEARS & DESCENDANTS
COLLATED & COMPILED BY E. THORNTON COOK
LONDON THE FAVIL PRESS LTD. 1 934
Other works by E. THORNTON COOK Her Majesty : The Romance of the ~ueens of England. Their Majesties of Scotland. Kings-in-the-Making : (The Princes of Wales). The Royal Line of France. "What Manner of Men?" &c., &ca
CONTENTS
Page Foreword
PART I : The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell I
PART II : The O'Donnells of Baltimore 43 Notes on Families 53
Appendix I. Extracts from Travels in America 100 years ago; Tours in America; The Maryland Journal; &c. 54
Appendix II. Extracts from Baltimore Records ; The Diary of James Gallatin ; &c. 5 S Bibliography 59 Index 60
Genealogical Trees (1) and (11) In back cover
ILLUSTRATIONS
PART I Frontispiece: Armorial Bearings of " The" O'Donnell facing title page Plate I. Map of Ireland facing page 2 2. Iona : Cathedral and St Oran's Chapel " " 8 3. Donegal Abbey : erected 1474 18 " " 4. Donegal Castle (Ruins) and Poem 20 " " 5. Sixteenth Century Map of Ireland ,, " 24 6. Battle Song of the O'Donnells ,, 28 " 7. Rock of Doon " " 34 8. Top of the Cathach ,, " 38
PART II Coat of Arms of John O'Donnell ,, " 43 Plate Portrait of Colonel John O'Donnell ,, 9. " 44 IO. Portrait of Mrs John O'Donnell ,, " 46 I I. Portrait of General Columbus O'Donnell ,, " 50 I 2. Portrait of Mrs Columbus O'Donnell ,, ,, 52
FOREWORD
This book which bears my name as author could never have been written had it not been for the generous help given by Norreys Jephson O'Conor, Esq. His wide knowledge of Irish history was placed at my service and made the way plain for me to follow. The valuable data on John O'Donnell of Baltimore and his descendants was given to me by Joseph Jenkins Lee, Esq., I record my very grateful thanks to both.
E. THORNTON CooK
London 1933
B
PART I.
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
HEN the' Age of the World was 3501 ' Milesius, a mighty warrior of renown, saw a green island from the top of a tall tower in Spain and chose the most stalwart from among his splendid band of thirty-two sons to conquer the distant land. They made the dangerous journey, vanquished the fairy race then in possession, and duly assumed sovereignty. Irish genealogy begins with this legendary settlement, and the four great race stems to which the leading families of Ireland converge are Eber, Ith, Ir and Eremon-the Children of Milesius. It is from Eremon, thirty-seventh in descent from Adam, that the O'Donnells claim ancestry, but it is not until the reign of Niall Naogheallach ( called alternatively Niall of the Nine Hostages and Niall of the Shining Deeds) High Monarch of Ireland in the 4th century, fifty generations later, that authentic history begins, while nearly six centuries divide Niall Naogheallach from Gilla christ, grandson of Donnell Mor, the first of the race t0 bear the family name.*1 The law of primogeniture was unknown in Ireland. Niall was a younger son and obtained his father's throne by force assisted by the eloquence of the hereditary bard. Having secured his position by seizing the sons of various rival claimants*2 Niall sent forth his fleets till 'the oceans foamed with his hostile oars, a.nd Brittany as well as Britain learnt to quake at his name ', then led his armie3 overseas. He exacted tribute from the conquered, saw to it that the C.tscendants of Eremon gained ascendancy over the Picts, and, in remembrance of the Mother of the Race*J, decreed that
* 1 We may trust the pedigree of the O'Donnells' . . • says Douglas Hyde ("The Literary History of Ireland"') than whom there can be no higher authority. *2 NoTE-Niall's brother took 50 hostages; upon his death these were buried alive standing upright in a great circle around his grave! *3 Scota, wife of l\'Iilesius; her grave is marked on the Ordnance Survey Map, Kerry ... 6'', Sheet 38.
I THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Alba (Britain) should henceforward be known as Scotia Minor, as Ireland was then Scotia Major :- Mighty Niall the All-Glorious !
• • • • • • One hostage from each Irish Fifth He conquered by his victories ... Pledges of homage to his power From Alba came four hostages ! So sang the bards, but there was one among the two hundred captives brought back by the High Monarch, as the result of a famous marauding expedition, whose name was to live when that of Niall Naogheallach was forgotten except by students of Irish history. Born of 'pious and religious parents' this sixteen-year-old youth was handed over as the share of a minor chieftain, and tended his master's pigs for seven years. He was to re-appear in a succeeding reign as 'Patrick the Apostle '. By the capture of this youth the name of the ancestral head ef the O'Donnell line is linked with the first of the famous ' wonder working three '-St Patrick, St Brigid and St Columba-two of whom, like the O'Donnells were of Eremonian descent.*1 After a turbulent reign of twenty-seven years Niall of the Nine Hos-~ tages was slain (A.D. 406) by an arrow from the bow of an hereditary enemy.. Of his sixteen sons eight died withou• ~ . -,1,~ , four settled in Meath wher :; their descendants became kr.:0«11 ,. -:. ::. .:.e : :-'-'-~hern Ui Neill (' the four tribes of Tara ') and four more--t:.L-~ :-.:we ~-0~-: ~. :.. purtant of whom were Eoghan (Owen), and Conall Gulban- -became th~ ancestors of the Ui Neill of Ulster. Over forty of Niall's descendants are numbered in the catalogue of saints, and nearly all the High Kings or overlords of Ireland, frum the 5th to the I 2th century, were of the Ui Neill. The O'Neills and O'Donnells (known earlier as the Kinel-Eoghain and Kinel-Conaill) with their correlatives-the septs or tribes descended from the sons of Niall-remained to the last the most powerful clans in Ireland, and their deeds are woven into the framework of Irish history.
*1St. Brigid as well as St. Columba according to O'Mahony's translating of Keating's " History of Ireland " (p. 426).
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PLATE I
MAJ) OF lRELAND called Hibernia by John Goght', A.D. 1 567 with additions by Lord B11rghley. Photo~~raphedfiu111 the State Papers, lrelm11I, in the Record Office, London, England. Donegal C,rstle, belonging to the O,.Do1111ells, is shown. ' Spain to the sou th-west of it; France to the sou th-east of it; great Britain to the cast side of it ; Scotland to the north-east side, and the Ocran to the north-west side. In the form of an egg it is shaped.' ( Geoj/'rey Keating).
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCO:t\TNELL
Conall Gulban was his father's most distinguished son :- ' The prowess of brave Conn of the Hundred Battles Was in mighty Niall of the Nine Hostages, But the valour of Niall of Noble Deeds Was in no son of his except Conall.' His patrimony was Tyrconnell, ' the land of Connell ' that stretch of territory, later to be known as Donegal, over which his descendants, the 0 'Donnells, were to rule as princes. Conall Gulban loved and fought, took hostages and became the father of stalwart sons, before he too was slain (A.D. 464) ' he having been found unprotected', whereupon his brother Owen rapidly followed him to the grave:- ' Of tears died Eoghan son of Niall (So loving and kindly his nature), For Conall of the Hardy Deeds He lies full low at Uisci-caein ! ' But before Conall's death occurred, St Patrick, erstwhile Niall's captive, had arrived to bring the blessing of God upon the men of Erin, ' their sons, women and daughters '. He came with twenty or thirty companions, (these being ' as many Christians as he could find of the Scotic nation '), sent by Pope Celestino ' to walk among the Irish and disseminate religion and piety ' ; Conall Gulban was one of his converts. The saint made the sign of the cross on the chief's shield and bade him adopt as his motto In Hie Signo Yinces (In this sign thou shalt conquer). The motto is shown upon the O'Donnell pedigree which covers a period of over fourteen hundred years. A copy of this interesting document is now (1934) in the possession of Columbus O'Donnell Iselin, Esq. of New York; it is in heraldic Latin and is inscribed on a parchment roll measuring seven feet. Crowns surmount the names of Kings, scrolls, embellished with crosses, list the family saints, armorial bearings are shown, and fists grasping the fiery cross signify warring kindred. This tree was attested by Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms of All Ireland in I 8 50. Tribal warfare continued and chiefs raided adjacent territories, but there were many who listened to St Patrick, and soon awed people told how he had flung down Crom Cruath, the King Idol of Erin, ' after a great struggle with the Demon, the ground opening before him and swallowing up the twelve attendant idols ' ! As the Apostle's power extended he surveyed Ireland and exacted a tenth of all for the benefit of the Church; a tenth of its inhabitants, a
3 THE O'DO:I\TNELLS OF TYRCONNELL tenth of its land, a tenth of its cattle. . . • 'Of the men he made monks; of the women he made nuns. . . . He built three-hundred and fifty-five churches, consecrated as many bishops and ordained three thousand priests .. Soon there was not a nook or corner of Ireland that was not full of pious persons. . . . He, [St Patrick], it was who conquered and expelled evil spirits . . . He it was who conducted the souls of the Irish from the Gates of Hell (where they were bound) to the Gates of Heaven. . . . Indeed he worked so many miracles and wonders that the human mind is incapable of remembering and recording the amount of good he did upon this earth.' *1 The turbulent Kinel-Conaill waxed stronger in their Tyrconnell fastnesses and the fan1e of a new saint spread over the land, one who, if the daughter of a slave woman, could, through her father, count her generations back to their own stem. ' Brigid was she. . . • One who never turned her mind or attention from the Lord for the space of one hour. . . . She spent her time diligently serving the Lord, performing wonders and miracles and curing every disease and malady ... until she resigned her soul to Heaven' (A.D. 524). Then, four years before St Brigid's death, and this time at Gartan in the very heart of Tyrconnell, was born *2 the third of the great trinity-a kinsman of the clan whose patron saint he was to become. ' Noble was the lineage of Columbkille in ·respect of the world ' says the Leabhar Breac (' Speckled Book ') ' namely of the race of ConaII son of Neale was he '. Nearly a thousand years later a Life of St Columba was compiled by an O'Donnell who collated all available material, and an extract from this was published by Colgate in 1647, but the book (which contains also 18 folios of poems on the O'Donnell family) has never been published in full, although many scholars have quoted from it.*3 A yet more famous life is that by Adamnan, one of the twelve of the Saint's own kinsmen who became Abbots of the sacred Isle of Iona. ' He [St Columbkille] was a man of venerable life and blessed memory, very dear to God and of great merit in his sight,' writes Adamnan, ' a father and founder of monasteries . . • sound of body, pure of soul,
*1Keating, O'Mahony's translation. • 2 St Columba's stone is marked on the Ordnance Survey Map (6'', Sheet 44). Thousands of emigrants have spent a night there before going to America in the belief that this would miraculously lessens the ache of homesickness. The saint's boyhood was passed at K.ilmacrennan, near which, at the Rock of Doon, the Lords of Tyrconnell were inaugurated. •asee further pages 7-24. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL polished in speech, holy in work ... one ever showing a cheerful face and gladdened in his inmost heart by the joy of the Holy Spirit . . . In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the virtue of his prayers, he cured men suffering from various diseases .... He drove out from our island (Iona) malignant and innumerable hosts of demons . . . By Christ's help he repressed the furious rage of wild beasts. . . . The swelling of the waves also (rising sometimes mountains high in a storm) were quieted and brought low at his prayer.... He blessed a stone, and lo, when it was flung into the water it would not sink ; he blessed a piece of rock-salt and fire left it unconsumed. Books written by his hand were found unharmed though they had fallen into water. . . . He blessed a sour apple tree saying :-" In the name of Omnipotent God let thy bitterness depart from thee ! "-and it bore sweet fruit. . . . He blessed the herd of a poor man who gave him hospitality, and his cattle increased. . . . He cursed a miser, who had turned him from the door, saying:-" The riches of that miser, who has contemned Christ in the stranger seeking hospitality~ from this day shall gradually decrease and shall be reduced to nothing ; and he himself shall beg ; and his son shall go from house to house with a half penny wallet ; and he shall be struck with an axe and die ". • . • And all was fulfilled. • . . But overmany to recount and declare are the marvels and miracles which God wrought on earth for Columbkille. There is no one who could recount them faithfully unless his own soul or an angel from Heaven should come to declare them.' So wrote Adamnan while men who had spoken with Columba face to face told him of their memories. Saints and druids were Columba's early instructors. He was ordained, and hegan his lifework by founding the monastery of Derry :- ' Oh Derry-my Derry-my little oak grove, My dwelling, my home and my own little cell ! May God the Eternal in Heaven above Send death to thy foes and defend thee as well ! " Other establishments followed. Then, when visiting St Finnian, who had just returned from Rome bringing a psalter, Columba copied the book clandestinely, working at night by the illumination supplied by his o,vn left hand. The act was discovered ( although a crane picked out the observer's eye as he looked through the keyhole!) and St Finnian claimed the duplicate copy which Columba refused to yield. The dispute was referred to Diarmid, High Monarch of Ireland, who decreed that as to every cow belonged her calf, so with every book went its
C 5 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL copy. This judgment, and the seizure by Diarmid of a young prince of Connaught who had taken sanctuary with Columba stirred the saint to action:-. " I will go unto my brethren· the races of Conall and of Eoghan, and I will give battle ! " he warned the King, then fled from Tara to Tyrconnell there to raise the clans. As he went by devious ways to seek safety and support in Donegal St Columba composed the ' Song of trust ' which was to be repeated by generation after generation of Irishmen when confronted by danger :- ' . . . Even in the front of battle No man can kill me before my day. Even had we closed in fierce combat !- And no man can save my life When the hour of death has come. My life! As God pleases let it be • • • ' The clans rose at their kinsman's call. The clash of battle sounded at Cul-Dreimhne (now Cooladrimmon, six miles north of Sligo) ' and before all men Columba prayed and fasted to obtain from Heaven the punishment of Diarmid '. Victory fell to the Kinel-Conaill, and for over a thousand years, till a terrible day of disaster late in the 15th century, the Princes of Tyrconnell held the 'Battle Book ' which became known as the Cathac or Caah of St Columba*1• Despite this victory there was no peace in Ireland for passion still ran high. A synod was convoked at Teilte (Teltown, Meath) at which the saint appeared to find himself excommunicated; (the sentence was an nulled later, chiefly owing to the eloquence of St Brendan of Birr, who announced that he saw Columba standing amid a company of angels) but it was decided that St Columba should leave Ireland. Charged to win for Christ as many souls as the number of Christians who had fallen in the battle for which he was responsible, Columba sailed away to become the :first Abbot*2 of Iona and light the flame of faitl1 in Scotland; with him, in the frail, hide-covered osier boats went twelve comrades. A landing was made on Hy (Iona)-which has been well named' the Island of the Waves ' for one side it is open to the full force of the Atlantic
1 • See later PP· I I, 19-20, 2 5, 39-40.
• 2Of the first eleven abbots all but one were of the race of Conall Gulban.
6 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL as it rolls up from the New World-an island three miles long and varying in breadth from half-a-mile, to a mile-and-a-quarter. It is barren but beautiful in the glory of Scottish colouring, with Mull across a narrow stretch of vivid water. To-day people land in the Port-na-Churraich (Bay of the Coracle) as did St Columbkille fourteen hundred years ago, and climb the Cairn-Cul-ri (Cairn of the Back Turned to Ireland) from which Columba satisfied himself that no tantalising glimpse of the land, from which he was exiled, was visible across the misty sea. Manus O'Donnell tells the dramatic tale of the settlement better than any other writer*1 :- " And Columbkille said to his people :-' It would be well that our roots should pass into the earth here.•.. It is permitted that some one of you go under the earth of this island to consecrate it ' . . . Then one, Odhran, arose quickly and spake thus : 'If you accept me,' said he, ' I am ready for that ' . • . And Columbkille answered : ' Odhran, you shall receive the reward of this ' . . • Odrahn then went to Heaven and Columbkille founded the Church of Hy" . . •• The rules of the brotherhood were simple : Obedience, celibacy and humility ; caution and reason in speech ; hospitality to human beings and kindness to animals. . There was manual labour to be shared by all, much praying, and the transcribing of sacred books. St Columba is said to have made over three hundred copies of the gospels or psalter. The fame of the outpost community spread and pilgrims came from afar; many e_ptered the monastery and were later sent as missionaries to the neighbouring isles_; the Orkneys, Shetlands, the Faroes and Outer Hebrides. Indeed, so many went forth from lona that St Bernard com pared them 'to a hive of bees or a spreading flood. • • • And the monks of Iona brought religion into such repute that they were everywhere received with joy as the servants of God '. The community numbered " thrice fifty monks for contemplation " and sixty for active life :- ' Wondrous warriors who abode in Hy, Thrice :fiftv monks in monastic life With their" boats among the main sea Three score men a-rowing. '
*1Quoted by Adamnan from O'Donnell.
7 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Presently the cockle-shell boats put to sea once more with these stal wart monks at the oars, and St Columba carried his message into the king dom of the Picts. Near what is now Inverness he came to the chief fortress of King Bruidh, and soon men were telling how the bolted doors had opened miraculously at the sign of the cross, while the affrighted king came hasten ing ' to speak conciliatory words '. Other monarchs also were to seek the saint. The :first ceremonial coronation of a British King was performed by Columba at Iona, when, . • bidden by the Angel of the Lord', he warned and blessed Aiden on the historic Stone of Destiny which (carried away from Scotland by Edward I) is now to be seen under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. A year later St Columba was summoned to attend a Convention at Drumceatt (now Drumkeath) together with the lesser kings, the heads of leading tribes, and the principal clergy of Ireland. He went with covered eyes, since a vow had bound him never to look again upon the beloved land of his birth. As for his retinue :- ' Forty priests were their number, Twenty bishops noble, worthy For singing psalms (a practice without blame) Fifty deacons, thirty students. . . . '
At Drumceatt Columba's eloquence secured the independence of Scotland from the domination of Ireland, and here too, (a poet himself) he fought the battle of the over numerous bards then under sentence of banish ment ' on account of their burdensomeness '*1 twelve hundred of whom attended the gathering and sang such a paean of praise to St Columba that he forbade its repetition during his lifetime.
• 1Each chief poet had a train of 30 minor poets and each second grade poet was entitled to a retinue of fifteen lesser lights. All were entitled to claim sustenance where they would, hence their ' burdensomeness '. At this Convention it was decreed that the number of bards should be limited and that certain lands must be set aside for their support. In these days no one could become an ollamh (learned man) who had been proved guilty of falsifying historical truth, and all members of the body must be 'free from theft,killing, satirising;adultery,or anything that would be a reproach '. Eleven hundred years later an ollamhof the O'Brien's attacked the line of Eremon. O'Clery, the hereditary O'Donnell bard replied, others joined in and a conflict known as' The Contention of the Poets ' raged for years. A stout volume of 7,000 lines of verse was the result of the battle.
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PLATE II IO~A CATHEDRAL AKD S1"'. ORA.N'S CHAPEL
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
But even yet the Saint was in no very good repute among the ec clesiastics for his past sins had not been entirely forgiven despite his success as a missionary ; in succeeding years he fell yet further from grace by becoming involved in two more battles. Yet still Iona grew in importance and the number of pilgrims thither increased. Columbkille felt himself ageing : ' Devoutly he asked the Lord that the thirtieth year of his sojourn in Alba should end his exile ... He saw a vision of Angels waiting to lead forth his soul and rejoiced thereat. Then he saw them retreat and realised that there was still need for him to remain on earth'. " But in four years," he told a wondering Brother, " they will return those Holy Angels ! . . . My passing shall be sudden . . . but I shall depart rejoicing to the Lord." The four years slipped away and St Columba made himself ready : " Upon this place small though it be," he told the brethren, " not only the Kings of the Scotic people with their peoples, but also the rulers of barbarous and foreign places . . . shall confer honour ". He blessed the island and its inhabitants. He blessed the harvest, glad that it was bountiful. . . • " In the middle of this most solemn night of the Lord's Day that is now coming . . . I shall go the way of my fathers • . . Even now the Lord deigns to invite me ! " The midnight bell tolled and St Columba hastened to his church, ' running swiftly he entered it alone '. The Brothers followed fast :-" Where art thou, Father?" cried one. St Columbkille lay before the altar but raised a hand to bless the sorrowing monks even as he welcomed Death, ' his face so wonderfully gladdened that it seemed not to be of the dead, but of the living and sleeping' (A.D. 597). Adamnan, gathering fact and legend many years later, was to find an old man who in his youth had been a fisherman in Tyrconnell :-
" And on that night when St Columba by a happy and blessed end passed away from earth to Heaven," he told the Abbot," I, and other men with me, while at work catching fish in the valley of the Finn, saw the whole expanse of sky suddenly illuminated. Struck by the suddenness of this miracle we turned our upraised eyes to the East-and lo-there appeared, as it were, a pillar of fire I "
9 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
So long as St Columbkille lay in Iona the island remained a venerated sanctuary*1 but the very costliness of the shrine that encased the relics proved a danger.. A century later it became necessary to remove this, and soon afterwards ravaging Danish pirates desecrated the island and drove out the monks. ' His grace in Hy (Iona) without stain, And his soul in Derry. His body under the flagstone lies In Down. With Brigid and Saint Patrick'. (Old Irish Life) Many saints of the race of Conall Gulban followed in the footsteps of St Columba, among them St Maelbrighde, ' head of the piety of all Ireland and of the greater part of Europe ; who was thirteenth in descent from Niall's famous son ; and St Adamnan, one time ambassador to King Alfred the Great, the compiler of St Columba's 'Life'. Bede describes this last as "a good man, tearful, penitent, given to prayer, diligent, ascetic and temperate, (for he never used to eat except on Sundays and Thursdays) moreover he was wise and learned in the clear understanding of the Holy Scriptures of God." Gradually the warlike strai:1 In the Kinel-Conaill, which seems to have been temporarily eclipsed by saintly attributes, re-asserted itself. Forty years after the death of Adamnan the tribe ' preyed on and wasted Leynster ' five times in a single twelvemonth, while 'in the Age of Christ 737 the O'Neales with their King behaved themselves so valiently in pursuit of their enemies, and killed them so fast, that they made great heaps of their carcases in the villages and few escaped to carry tidings to their friends; this was the greatest slaughter seen in Ireland for a long time.' Between such happenings the life of the period continued true to form. The High-King of Ireland made circuit among the lesser rulers ' giving to the King of the Kinel-Conaill 20 chessboards, 20 steeds and as many bracelets and rings', as was his due, before requiring of him the usual escort on to Tir-Eoghain ; and the hereditary poets recited the genealogical trees of their clans. Under the tribal system no one could possess any portion
*1Note. The tombs of Scottish, Norwegian and Irish monarchs are shown in Iona to-day. The Cathedral which was used as a sheep pen as late as the r 8th century is now the last resting place of the Dukes of Argyle. The I 3th century nunnery is a beautiful ruin amid the stones of which flourish a glory of wild flowers. The oldest building intact is St Oran's Chapel (1 rth century), and the treasure of the island is the stone that served the saint as his pillow. Two ancient crosses still stand-grey against a background of purple sea.
IO 1"'HE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL of that land inhabited by his clan unless he were of the race, so the veriest child must learn the long tale of his descent back to the Milesians. There were predatory excursions with 'bloody slaughterings'. Tombs were rifled, men's eyes put out, and there were ' killings without any other cause but only for envy and malice,' while' the Munstermen and Leynster men, and the men of the south O'Neill spoyled the Kinel-Conaill from whom they took 300 captives and great preyes of cowes '. Plague swept the land ' despite efforts to assuage the wrath of God by the prayer and fasting of both high and low '. But through the welter of ' treacherous and filthy slayings ' the clan spirit endured and the Ua Neill waxed stronger : now the Kinel-Conaill and the Kinel-Eoghain warred against each other, and now they united to defeat the invading English. Twenty-two chieftains ruled Tyrconnell in less than a century and, only six died natural deaths ; the remainder were slain except one who ' took a deadly and dangerous draught after persecuting the descendant of Jesse' (i.e. Christ) ... he fell on his spear accidentally I When surnames were adopted the O'Muldorys, O'Canannans, O'Donnells, O'Boyles, O'Gallachers, O'Freels and O'Dogherties were all Tyrconnellians; the first two were pre-eminent before the Dalaigh*1 (as the O'Donnells were usually styled) rose to power. In 1010 comes the first definite mention of this surname by the Four Masters*2 :-' Maelruanaidrh Ua Domhnaill (anglicised O'Donnell) Lord of the Cinel-Luighdheach was slain by the men of Magh Ith', and a century later the name re-appears : Cathbharr O'Domhnaill pillar of the defence and warfare, and the glory and hospitality of the Cinel-Lughach died, after having obtained victory over the World and the Devil'. This prince's claim to fame is that he ordered the silver case that was to safe guard the O'Donnell Battle Book to the present time. We may still read the faint inscription on the base :- " Pray for Cathbahrr O'Donnell for whom this casket was made, and for Sitric, son of MacAedha, who made it ; and for Domhnaill MacRobert aigh ... at whose house it was made ••• " Ireland was now to become involved with foreign nations. One of her High-Kings, having been concerned in the killing of his own brother, went to do penance at Rome taking with him the Irish crown : the Earl *1They are called the Clanna Dalaigh na-nodonn sgaith (The Clan of the Brown Shields) in a famous Irish poem by Dugan. *2Three of these were the hereditary historians of the O'Donnell tribe.
II THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRC0!\1NELL of Pembroke, surnamed ' Strongbow ', came from England with many knights and archers, summoned by Ruaidri of Connaught (of the line of Eremon) whose wife had been stolen from him by the Prince of Leinster : Henry II of England arrived claiming the crown of Ireland as his by deed of gift from Adrian IV*1 conditionally upon there building of the faith that had fallen to the ground, the planting of virtues and rooting out of evil*2 • Under threat of excommunication the chiefs of the south bent in homage, but the Kinel-Conaill continued to make prodigious havoc of their enemies ' through the miracles of God, St Patrick and St Columbkille '. Other septs weakened. Eigneachan O'Donnell ' a tower of warlike prowess, succeeded to the lordship of Tyrconnell, and though evil fate over took him when he was engaged in a marauding expedition into Fermanagh (A.D. 1207) the clan, under his successor Donnell Mor O'Donnell, was ready to withstand King John, (who came demanding vengeance for the death of his valiant knight Sir John de Courcy) and united with the O'Neill to 'slay the English and distribute their goods.' Donnell Mor was a vigorous warrior and secured a special niche for himself in the Temple of Fame by pursuing O'Daly (one of the greatest poets of the day) throughout Ireland to take vengeance upon him for his having killed a minor official of the clan. O'Daly was compelled to live an exile in Scotland until he could propitiate the Lord ofTyrconnell by writing a series of laudatory poems. Having accepted these the chieftain granted the poet ' land and position as was pleasing to him '. In the fullness of time Donnell Mor O'Donnell died 'in the monastic habit and was interred with honour and respect at Assaroe in the Age of Christ one thousand two hundred and forty-one '. He left Ireland enjoying a peaceful interlude under the influence of the Papal Legate who had travelled the country ' constitut ing wholesome rules for the Reformation and Salvation of the inhabitants ; so his son Melaghlin *3 was peacefully inaugurated and shortly afterwards received a letter from Henry III of England asking the clan's assistance in a Scottish invasion. It was prefaced :- ' Rex O'Donnell, regi de Tirconnell salutem . . . ' On a first hosting expedition Melaghlin successfully killed a neigh bouring chieftain together with ten of his family .. but a year or so later he was
*1Nicholas Breakspeare, the English Pope. *2Keating, Irish Text Society, Edited by Patrick S. Dinneen. *3 Melaghlin is mentioned by the' Four Masters' although he is not shown on the pedigree.
12 THE O'D01'l"'NELLS OF TYRCO~~ELL
himself slain (A.D. 1247) by a too powerful Lord Justice and left a desolated country to his brother Godfrey. Godfrey O'Donnell made an auspicious beginning by ravaging Lower Connaught, but while indulging himself by invading Tyrone he was over taken by the enemy and had to retreat leaving many of his chieftains in the hands of Brian O'Neill. Then, almost before his losses were made good, he was compelled to fight' a brave battle' to defend his country from the English who invaded Tyrconnell led by the man who had been instrumental in the killing of the last O'Donnell. ' Desperate and furious was the fray; bodies were mangled and heroes destroyed' ... Godfrey and Fitzgerald met face to face in single combat nor did they separate ti11 both were wounded, and the Clan knew that but for this disaster their leader would have driven his enemies back to the Moy. As it was, the English were compelled to withdraw and Fitzgerald died soon afterwards. . But the victory was dearly bought for the O'Donnell himself was permanently incapacitated as a result of his wounds, and no sooner did knowledge of this tragedy reach the old enemy O'Neill than he sent a bold message demanding hostages and submission from the Kinel-Conaill. Undaunted, if stricken, Godfrey O'Donnell assemhled his people and vowed to lead them to victory once ag1in. • . . He had himself carried at the head of his fighting force, which, inspired by the courage of the chief tain, drove the enemy back into Tyrone. Godfrey lived to see the clan's triumph, then Death approached and the chieftain had his litter laid down in the street at Conwa] (near Lette:·kenny); 'here his soul defarted by the venom of the scars and wounds he had received at the battle of Creadan .•. ' The Kinel-Conaill was disorganised by its loss and even as the wise men sat in Council debating as to which minor chieftain should be inaugur ated as Lord of Tyrconnell a blustering message arrived from O'Neill. The assembly swayed this way and that, but came to no decision; then a boy of eighteen strode among them, 'a valiant youth just arrived from Scotland ' and announced himself as Donnell Oge O'Donnell son of the famous Don nell Mor. They set O'Neill's presumptuous message before him and he waved it aside as ' excessive ', gravely explaining that ' every man should have his own world '. Obviously so bold an heir was Heaven-sent Donnell Oge must be inaugurated forthwith. O'Freel (hereditary inaugurator) was summoned in haste, the poets, historians, bishops and abbots assembled' and they placed hirr, that should be their captain upon the Rock of Doon ' ; so standing young Donnell
D IJ THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Oge took oath to preserve the ancient laws and customs of the clan in violate. The ollamh then placed a wand in the new chief's hand-' white in token of truth, straight to signify that the Lord of Tyrconnell is bound to be straight and faultless, without bias in word and judgment' ; and the O'Donnell turned himself round, ' thrice forward and thrice backward '. The final ceremony was religious and took place at the monastery in Kilmacrennan. Camden describes the affair very differently and tells of the slaying of a white mare and the boiling of her in a large pot after which the new chief was required to ' drink up her broth like a hound or beagle with his mouth, and to eat the flesh out of his hands without having a knife or other instru ment for cutting it, and to divide the rest among the assembly before he bathed himself in the pot '. Keating denies this tale with vigour : ' I marvel at Cambrensis reporting this lie and I conceive that it was through malice he inserted it, for it is well-known that they ( the Kinel-Conaill) have been at all times a devout and religious people ; and that they many of them forsook the world and finished their lives under religious rule and moreover that from them came many saints '. The new O'Donnell was not slow in performing the feat of arms which was expected from every chie£ Only waiting to secure his position by exacting hostages from the minor septs of his own tribe he summoned his fighting men and marched into Tyrone (brushed aside O'Neill's resistance) and continued his triumphant progress into Oriel, where 'the country was burnt and hostages taken in all places' ; the Clan felt that it had made a wise choice. Splendid filibustering years followed. The Kinel-Conaill waxed yet stronger and Tyrone was plundered again and again. Occasionally, of course, the fortune of war went against the clan--once Conor O'Neill contrived to kill sixteen of their clergy in the streets of Derry-but almost invariably ' God and St Patrick took swift vengeance ' and victory went to the O'Dounells once more. Edward I. mounted the English throne, but the O'Donnell was too busy waging war upon water and land to notice a change of monarchs in a neighbouring island till he discovered that the English had gained ground in Ulster and leagued themselves with the Kinel-Eoghain. Soon there was mourning in Tyrconnell, for the Battle of Desert ereagh went against the clan, and Donnell Oge O'Donnell, Lord of Tyr connell, Fermanagh, Oriel and the greater part of the Irish of Ulster and Connaught . . . 'the best Irishman for bounty, prowess, worthiness, and
14 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL many other perfections, that lived in his time', was killed (A.D. 1281). He had been 'the knitting needle of arch-sovereignty and the rivetting hammer of every good . . . ' There was scant time for grief, so the dead man's son Hugh (Aedh) was hastily inaugurated. Unfortunately, Hugh had a brother Turlough who desired the chieftancy, so a fratricidal war broke out and all the country was' spoyled ', nor was there peace till Hugh slew Turlough 'after which he enjoyed the lordship of Tyrconnell in happiness and prosperity as long as he lived '. Hugh was kept fully occupied, for while the brothers had fought, the ' Red ' Earl, Richard Burke, had seized the opportunity to erect a fortress at Inishowen to keep both the O'Neill and the O'Donnell in check, and now an enemy arose in a fresh quarter. ' Edward Bruise' brother of King Robert of Scotland arrived suddenly with 'a flett of 300 shipps '. The lands and inhabitants of Ireland shook with fear ' for this Edward Mac Bruise harried and spoyled all Uyster, took hostages, collected revenues and made all acknowledge him as king '. While the Red Earl and Bruce did battle the Prince of Tyrconnell went to ravage Connaught, where he suc ceeded in defeating the O'Conors so completely' that there was never an able man left of an age to bear arms '. Ireland bound her wounds ; a disease called ' the pied-pox took away many persons both great and small' and Hugh's' fortunate reign of fifty years drew to its close. He died peacefully in his bed (A.D. I 333) 'the most dreaded of his name • . . having killed most of the English and Irish that were his enemies.' History repeated itself and in a worse form, for, when the dead man's son Conn assumed his father's place, a brother disputed his occupancy and had to be killed ; Burke was burning and slaying in Connaught ; there was so great a snow that most of the fowl of Ireland died ; and a neighbouring chieftain who had espoused Dearbhaill O'Donnell ' put her aside and took another wife although there was never another woman of her tribe who surpassed Dearbhaill in goodness '. Before Conn could avenge this insult to his sister he was attacked by night in his own fortress and slain by a third brother. The new lord (Niall) seems to have been accepted without protest except by Angus son of Conn, who succeeded in wresting the lordship from his uncle only to be killed immediately by yet another O'Donnell. Cousins, uncles and other relatives continued the tribal struggle till one known as Turlough-of-the-Wine made himself supreme and kept his THE O'D0~1NELLS OF TYRCONNELL
turbulent people busy by leading an army into Sligo whence he returned ' bringing preyes innumerable, all without receiving any injury except a few of the -rear of the army that were killed ' . . • Under this stalwart chief the Kinel-Conaill forgot its internecine strife, gave assistance to the weak, and took hostages from neighbouring tribes in the most approved style. There was mourning in the clan when, in the height of his glory Turlou.gh-of-the-Wine remembered his sins and decided that the time had come for him to make his peace with God. Waiting only to see his elder son Shane Luirg O'Donnell*1 banished to Tipperary, and the favoured Niall ' the Rough ' safely inaugurated he took the habit of a monk and retired to the monastery of Assaroe. Here he died a year later (A.D. 1423) des cribed as a ' peaceful, affluent and graceful man '-while his son was doing battle with the Ene-lish...., . Niall' the Rough' ruled for seventeen years till on an evil day he fell into enemy hands and was delivered up to the King's deputy, ' and the English took revenge for all that he had done against them by holding him to ransom'. Before the captive's brother Naghten could arrange payment Niall died in the Isle of Man. Once more the O'Freel was called upon to inaugurate a new chief, but, as under the method of tanistic succession*2, the honour of the lordship went not to the dead man's son (yet another Turlough) but to that son's uncle Naghtan; so generation fought generation till tribal animosity died down in the face of a common foe. The Duke of York came to Ireland ' with great glory and pomp and many beeves had to be sent to him for the maintenance of the King's kitchen'. His grace did not remain long, however, for word came to Ireland that all the King of England's conquests in France were taken from him, ' save only Calaice, and there was a revolu tion in England where the King was digging a great ditch on the east side of London and required the Duke to assist him.'
• 1Through this son, Shane Luirg, Turlough-of-the-Wine was the ancestor of the O'Donnells of Limerick and Baltimore. •2Tanisticsuccession: 'the inheritance desendeth not to the sonne but to the brother, nephew or cousin-germane eldest and most valiant; the child being oftentimes in nonnage, or otherwise young and unskilful, were never able to defend his patrimonie-his no longer than he could hold it by force of arms. But by the time he grew to competent age, and had buried an uncle or two, he also tooketh his turn .... A custom, however that breedeth many that make continual warres and treasons'. (Note from the 'Four Masters' quoted from Campion's History of Ireland, Cap N.) See also Joyce.
16 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Two years later Naghtan O'Donnell was killed by Donnell and Hugh Roe (the sons of his brother Niall)' in the gloom of the night of the Feast of Brendan ' . . . Donnell then contested for the lordship with his cousin Rory, (son of Naghtan) but was hampered in his efforts by being captured by an O'Doherty, who imprisoned his victim in a castle after loading him with irons. Rory promptly attacked the castle and fought so valiantly that the day seemed lost, whereupon Donnell persuaded his guards to strike off the fetters, arguing that ' an O'Donnell must not be slain in givves '. Once freed he hastened to the top of a tower, and from this vantage point 'made the happiest throw ever cast in Ireland ! ' The stone so thrown hit Rory violently; 'he was instantly bruised to the ground and neither priest nor clerk could find him alive ' . . • and ' by that throw Donnell O'Donnell defended his own soul and secured the Lordship of Tyrconnell to himself'. Rory's army that had come 'full of pride and boasting returned in sadness' and Rory passed out of history. Donnell held his honours for five years before retribution overtook him at the hands of another of Naghtan's sons-Turlough. Ten years later Donnell's brother Hugh Roe captured Turlough in his turn, and to prevent further trouble in capacitated his cousin from a later return to the chieftancy by cutting off one of his hands and one of his feet-' whereupon Hugh Roe son of Neal was styled lord in a lawful manner and became The O'Donnell ' (A.D. 1461).*1 Triumphal years followed for the new Lord of Tyrconnell. Despite the continuance of the internecine wars waged by the deposed, Hugh Roe O'Donnell suc-ceeded in reducing the men of Connaught to such a state of submission that they paid him all the tribute he demanded, and yielded up a chair that had been captured from Donnell Oge O'Donnell and held by the O'Connors of Sligo during the reign of ten successive lords. (The O'Donnells are men of long memory!). He demanded also, and obtained the return of the Leabhar Na H-Uidhri (Book of the Dun Cow)•2 which had
*1This date differs from that given in the pedigree which makes no allowance for Rory and Turlough. • 2This book is believed to be the oldest MSS (not ecclesiastic) now extant in the Irish language .. It is a collection of ancient romances and was compiled by a monk who was killed in the Church of Colnmacnois in I 106; it owes its extraordinary name to the tradition that the parchment on which it was written was made from the hide of a favourite cow that, as a calf, had followed St Ciaran, the founder of the monastery, when he left home to become a student.
17 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL been given to the O'Connors some time before in ransom for an hereditary historian. When the book was returned, the O'Donnells discovered that the O'Connors had inserted in it a prayer ' for the soul of Hugh Roe who by force recaptured this book' ! · And now (A.D. 1474) Hugh Roe and his mother Finole began the building of the monastery of Donegal ' granting it to God and the Flowers of St Francis ', this for ' the prosperity of their own souls and as a burial place for themselves and their descendants'. While this was a-building O'Donnell went on a circuitous hosting to rescue certain of his friends who had been captured recently by O'Neill ; enforced peace on various quarrelsome chieftains ; dashed into Offaly ' to take vengeance upon the English ' and plundered Meath-this in the intervals of spasmodic warfare with the surviving sons of Naghtan until peace with them was secured (temporarily) by appointing Egneghan O'Donnell Tanist. It was a wise move, for both the O'Neills and the English were showing themselves particularly aggressive. But the O'Donnell star was still in the ascendant and Hugh Roe con tinued his plunderings and burnings with unabated energy ; his wealth increased considerably since he exacted ransom money from the towns he spared. Time and again the army returned home laden with spoil and rejoicing in the prowess and resource of this Lord of Tyrconnell, who once, when the O'Neill had made too certain of success, successfully extricated every one of his men by flinging a wicker bridge across a river. News came from England that King Richard had been slain in battle, and that the son of a Welshman had been made ruler of the English, 'there being none left of the royal blood', but to O'Donnell the upheaval seemed of little importance. He ruled supreme in Tyrconnell, defending his friends, exacting tribute from lesser chiefs, and punishing evil doers even when they were members if his own clan. When a few firebrands violated a church Hugh Roe promptly seized their relatives and handed them over to the offended clergy as_ hostages, these to be held until all the stolen property was restored ; nor was he lenient to his own family, and a son (Conn) once found himself in fetters. So strong was this Lord of Tyrconnell that the Lord Justice of Ireland deemed it prudent to make an effort to secure a peaceful settlement of the many outstanding differences beteen the O'Donnells and the O'Neills, but nothing better than an armistice could be arranged. Now, Hugh Roe had sons old enough to fight beside him (Conn and Hugh Duv (' the Swarthy '). These had won their spurs in _ravaging
18 PLATE Ill (Illustration by courtesy of Irish Tourist Association) DONEGAL ABBEY Built !Jy Hugh Rot and Finole A.D. 1474 'for the prosperity of their own souls and as a burial place for themselves and their descendants'.
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Connaught and doing battle with the O'Neill in a strenuous fight ' when all bore in mind their old animosities and new hatreds, and only the dark ness at close of day prevented the O'Donnells from following and anni hilating their ancient foe'; Hugh Roe left Conn besieging the Castle of Sligo and journeyed off to visit the King of Scotland. His return was well timed for Conn soon involved himself in difficulties ; fortunately the Lord of Tyrconnell arrived ' just as the enemies weapons of valour were ready for discharge ' so turned the fate of the day and saw (as was often the case with him), the backs of his enemies. But Conn was still undaunted, so now, with his ' great little army ' (twelve axemen to fight and sixty horsemen to follow up and hold the prison ers) he went speeding into Antrim, lured by desire, having been told that MacEoin of the Glinns had the finest wife, steed and hound in the neigh bourhood. Arriving after dark at the house of the unsuspecting MacEoin, Conn took the unfortunate man prisoner 'and made himself master of his captive's. wife, steed and hound'. But either MacEoin's wife was not as attractive as had been described, or else she contrived to stir a strain of chivalry in Conn, for' after his people had plundered all the Glinns, 'this young O'Donnell made restitution of the lady's personal property, and even freed MacEoin so soon as his freebooters had withdrawn into safety. Retaining only the famous steed and ' the vast preyes and spoyles of the Glinns ', he rode back to Tyrconnell, there to receive a royal welcome, after which he started on a light-hearted plundering of Munster-' these achievements were all performed by Conn son of Hugh Roe in the space of fifteen week-s '. Alas, the wine of victory went to Conn's head and when he found himself in a tight corner while raiding the Maguire country he disregarded a claim to sanctuary despite all warnings. Now Egnaghan, who had been accepted as Tanist, was slain, and a renewed outbreak of family dissension so wearied Hugh Roe that he per mitted his own deposition. Youth mou11ted the saddle in the person of Conn whose first act was to imprison his own dangerously powerful brother Hugh Duv (or Dubh) after which he set out upon the obligatory military expedition demanded of a young chief-and now came the vengeance of God for the violation of the sanctuary ! After severe fighting in the Pass of Ballaghboy Conn O'Donnell was defeated by Denis-of-the-Thumbs, and lost not only many prisoners, but the famous Cathach of St Columbkille, the ' Battler ' that had been the
19 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
O'Donnell pledge of victory for a thousand years ' when carried three times round the army on the breast of a cleric free from sin '. Small wonder that now the O'Neill could march into Tyrconnell, defeat Conn's dismayed forces, kill the young chieftain (A.D. 1497) and capture two of his brothers ! In this dark hour Hugh Roe O'Donnell emerged to retake possession of the lordship ' by consent of God and man '. His first act was to release his surviving son Hugh Duv*1 who had been imprisoned by Conn. Together the two Hughs governed the principality, humbled those minor chieftains who showed signs of turbulence, and a twelvemonth later carried the torch of war into Leitrim, so overawing MacDermot that he yielded all the captives he had held since the disaster in the Pass, and also the sacred Cathach ;*2 never again was it to be wrested from an O'Donnell. With fresh heart the men of the Kinel-Conaill now followed their chieftain on incursions and burnings, and, at his call, joined the great army led by Lord Justice G-a.rrett which marched as far as Galway ..• ' distant was heard the onset of the martial chiefs, the vehement efforts of the champions . . . the charge of royal heroes, the noise of the lords and the clamour of the troops in this triumph of the nobles over the plebeians'. It was Hugh Roe's last experience of war. Scarcely had the clan returned to Tyrconnell before the seventy-seven year old prince died (A.O. 1505) 'In his fortress of Donegal, after making good penance'. ' This O'Donnell ' wrote the hereditary historian with ready pen, ' was the full moon of hospitality and nobility in the North, the most jovial and valiant of his age, strong in peace and war . . . There was no need to make defence of any house in Tyrconnell in his time except to close the door against the wind only. . . • He was a protector of churches and the learned; he gave great alms in honour of the Lord of the Elements ; he raised the castle in Donegal to serve as a sustaining bulwark for his descendants and as a monastery for the Friars de Observantia' ..• Mindful of the splendid predatory incursions made by the dead chief tain, Hugh Duv O'Donnell hastened to prove himself a. worthy successor to his father by raiding Tyrone ; after this he was inaugurated with great ceremonial.
*1Called Hugh Oge by some historians.
2 • see PP· 6, I I, 19, 20, 25, 39-40.
20 PLATE IJT (Illustration ~y courtesy of Irish Tourtst Association) DONEGAL CASTLE Rebuilt, after its destruction by Hugh Roe O' Donnel! in r 5 58 to prevent its falling into English hands. In I 563 Donegal Castle zcas described by tht Lord Deputy as 'one of the greatest I ever saw in Irish hands'. It was again destroyed in 1601.
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
He ruled for five years, and even in defeat the historians praised him; ' there was not in any army of that day a man who won more fame for bravery and prowess than O'Donnell in leading off the rear ' . . . But Hugh Duv was no warrior born, and, when yet another O'Donnell (Manus) came to man's estate, the Lord of Tyrconnell was glad to leave the country in his son's hands while he himself went on a pilgrimage to Rome. En route he visited the English court where Henry VII received him ' with honour and respect '. Young Manus made a good deputy, but Hugh Duv was welcomed 'joyously' upon his return two years later; it was felt that there was need of wise counsel, since a ' great war ' had broken out and the O'Donnell saw both O'Neill and MacWilliam as his enemies, in Lower Connaught. Father and son hired fifteen hundred axemen, executed forays, be sieged castles, and pressed MacWilliam so hard that that chiefhad to swim the Moy, leaving his son a prisoner. This, and the fact that his strongest fortress was 'tumbled to the earth', brought MacWilliam's speedy sub mission, whereupon the O'Donnells turned upon Tyrone with renewed vigour ; nor would they desist from their ravaging till O'Neill relinquished in favour of the Lord of Tyrconnell, ' every claim that had been in dispute between their ancestors '. Manus was left in control once more while Hugh Duv paid a visit to King James of Scotland, returning to find the faithless O'Neill again making trouble. Mercenaries were hired on both sides and the rival clans camped op posite one another for a long time, ' watching warily till by the grace of the Holy Ghost -and the advice of their friends they came to amity upon the bridge at Ardstraw '. So close was the new friendship that each chieftain llndertook to be godfather to the other's next born son. Alas, within a year each was fierce for the other's blood, and O'Neill contrived to win over various minor chiefs who had hitherto been obedient to the O'Donnell. Open hostility was delayed till O'Donnell learnt that O'Neill was daring to plan an incursion into Tyrconnell, whereupon he prepared an ambush ..• But O'Neill came another way and captured the castle of Ballyshannon ! Among the slain were two of O'Donnell's hereditary ollaves-a learned historian and a poet ' who had kept an open house of generous hospitality for the mighty and the indigent ' . . • \Vhen O'Donnell heard that O'Neill had done this thing 'his very gorge rose'. Like his father, Manus felt that it was preferable to die on a battle-field rather than to live a slave ; so the clan marched towards the
E 21 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL enemies' camp, ' and since the opposing army was so very strong it decided to attack by night.' .. With great caution, and having abandoned their horses (' for they had no desire to escape from a battle in which they would be victorious '), the clan crept forward, fell upon the sentries and drove them back with such vigour that O'Neill knew nothing till the enemy was in the heart of his camp. ' Now both armies engaged at striking and killing each other, mighty men were subdued and heroes attacked ; men were hewn down ; evil destiny seized vigorous youths . . . indeed the greatest slaughter of men ever made between the Connellians and the Owenians was at this defeat of Cnoc-Buidhbh' ... Nine hundred of O'Neill's men were left dead upon the ground ; armour, provisions, strong liquors, and goodly treasure fell into the hands of the victors, ' and if the O'Donnells were without horses on coming ·into the engagement, they now had many from the warriors whom they had cut off in that slaughter.' The renown of this great victory spread all over Ireland and the pres tige of the O'Donnell increased so.that armies melted away before him. He made predatory incursions where he would, and returned home again and again ' having left nothing worth notice without burning '. But the years were still filled with the clash of battle, for the O'Neill was not of a type to be entirely subdued, and various young O'Donnells began civil war in Tyrconnell ; two were killed, but still there was no peace, and, preparing for emergencies, Hugh Duv began to build (A.D. 1527) a castle on a three-fold border line. This, (now Lifford) was immediately christened' The Port-of-the-Three-Enemies'. (Port-na-tri-namad). All Tyrconnell seemed in turmoil, for two of Hugh's lion-cubs, Manus and his brother Hugh Boy, were perpetually at one another's throats, and for ten long years, Hugh strove to bring them to reason. Perhaps this Lord of Tyrconnell was ready to welcome Death when that grim visitor found him in the Monastery of Donegal (A.D. 1537) where Finole was already buried ; she had 'preserved her last widowhood for 49 years, comporting herself chastely, honourably, piously and religiously'.... Men spoke of the dead prince as ' the represser of evil deeds and customs, the destroyer and banisher of rebels and thieves, an enforcer of la",.s after the justest manner ; a man under whose rule the seasons were favourable so that the seas and lands were productive ; a man who never did retreat one foot from any army great or small, and one who did not suffer the power of England to come into his country for he formed a league of friendship with England's King. '
22 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Posterity was to know him as the chieftain who purchased the Book of Ballimote for 140 milch cows.*1 ' O'Donnell is deceased, whose place, Manus, his son has obtained by consent of the whole country and the favour of O'Neill,' wrote the Coun cil to Henry VIII. ' Those two strengths joined together is a great power and to be feared. '*2 This Lord of Tyrconnell (four times married) had fourteen children. One of his wives was Lady Eleanor McCarthy who hoped to find in him a protector for her twelve year old nephew, Gerald, heir to the Earldom of Kildare since the execution of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald and his five uncles. As Gerald was a relative of the O'Neills the marriage led to the format!on of the Geraldine League (a combination of the O'Donnells, the O'Neills, the O'Briens and various other clans) which, if its primary object was the restoration of Gerald, aimed also at the overthrow of English rule in Ireland. Manus, like his predecessors, was a bonny fighter, and his rule was one of ceaseless warfare. News came out of England concerning ' a new heresy that had sprung up there through pride, vainglory, avarice and lust, so that the men of England went in opposition to the Pope • . and they styled the King, Chief Head of the House of God ' . . • but the Lord of Tyrconnell was too much occupied to give heed to such blasphemies; -now he fought the English ; now strove to strengthen the union between Tyrone and Tyrconnell by wedding a daughter to the young :firebrand Shane O'Neill ; now he ravaged Connaught, and now strove to keep his quarrelsome sons in check. Five years after his accession Manus O'Donnell (and various other chiefs) had been willing to make peace with the foreigners, but Henry VIII, although prepared to create him Earl of Tyrconnell, refused to make him Earl of Sligo, and Manus was offended ; nor would the English King provide him with the parliamentary robes which the Irish chieftain considered his just due. The English Lord Justice who forwarded this request to Henry VIII mentioned that Manus O'Donnell was exceedingly well dressed already : ' at such time as he mette weith me he was in a cote of crymoisin saten garded with black velvet and wore a bonnette with a fether sette full of
• 1This book took its name from Ballimote (Cp. Sligo) where it was compiled about I 390; it is probably the largest surviving volume in ancient Gaelic and is regarded as one of the treasures of the Royal Irish Academy. *2Note. O'Clery Life of Hugh Rot quoted from Calendar of the Carew Mss. 1, I 2 5 ( I 867). THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL agglettes of gold. . • . Methought it strange to see him so honourable in apparaill and all the rest of the nacion (seen as yette) so vile. . . . ' And so the old warfare continued, and Calvagh, son of Manus, wearied for his inheritance. There came a time when he could wait no longer, so,. having collected a force of relatives and mercenaries, Calvagh captured his father and shut him up securely in the Castle of Lifford. Here Manus found a new outlet for his energy, and reviving an old project, set about the compilation of the life of St Columba-perhaps the most famous member of the Kinel-Connaill.*1 " Be it known,' so runs the preface, 'that it was Manus son of Hugh, son of Hugh Roe, son of Niall Garv, son of Turlough-of-the-Wine, that ordered the part of this life which was in Latin to be put into Gaelic ; and who ordered the part that was in difficult Gaelic to be modified so that it might be clear and comprehensible to everyone ; and who gathered and put together the parts of it that were scattered through the old books of Erin ; and who dictated it out of his own mouth with great labour, and a great expenditure of time in studying how he should arrange the parts in their proper places • . . and in love and friendship for his illustrious Saint, Relative and Patron to whom he was devoutedly attached•••• It was in the castle of Port-na-tri-namad that this life was indited when were fulfilled twelve years and twenty, and five hundred and a thousand of the Age of the Lord' ..• Presumably, the life of a student satisfied Manus O'Donnell, for he showed no desire to accept the wand of office again, and merely offered use ful advice when Calvagh, hard pressed by O'Neill, lost faith in his own abilities and turned to his father. Accepting the counsel that was tendered, young O'Donnell gathered all his forces for an attack, but first sent spies into the enemy camp. These succeeded in making their way even to O'Neill's own tent-' here a huge torch thicker than a man's body was constantly flaming, while sixty great and redoubtable warriors, with large_ keen axes terrible and ready for action, and sixty more armed with massive, broad and heavy swords ever ready to strike, guarded the son of O'Neill.' Now the battle began, the advance guard being led by Calvagh's son Con, and victory was swift ; O'Neill had to swim three rivers before he
*1This book written on vellum 'in a fine, bold Irish hand' is now in the Bodleian Library,. Oxford (Rawlinson B. 514) having been purchased at an auction sale for 2 3/- nearly 2 50 years after the death of Manus O'Donnell. PLATE V Section from the 16th CE"\"Tl,7RY :\L-\.P OF IRELA"\"D (see Plate I), Tvrconnell zcas that territor~v in the .1V.IV. of [·lster na-:c knr;·-:cn as D(jnega!.
THE O'DO!\TNELLS OF TYRCONNELL found safety, while the O'Donnells drank the wine he had left behind him and counted the spoil. Young Con had 80 fine horses for his share in addition to the O'Neill's own celebrated steed 'Son of the Eagle'. It was well that the Kinel-Conaill had this to remember, for Shane O'Neill was to take a terrible revenge. Some few years later he captured not only Calvagh, Prince of Tyrconnell, but also that chieftain's wife ; both victims were carried away into Tyrone, where, while Calvagh was kept in rigorous confinement, Shane made the O'Donnell's wife a mistress. She bore him several children. The English made an effort to punish the freebooter, but Calvagh was well hidden and nothing happened 'except much slaying'. Shane's star was in the ascendant ' and had it not been for the animosity of the English he might have been called King of Ulster '. Defeated in arms, the humbled Kinel-Conaill ransomed their lord. Early in the same year (A.D. I 56 3) Manus died; the clan, in its grieving,. forgot the weakness of his last years and remembered him as a man 'fierce, obdurate, wrathful and combative towards his enemies (until he had made them obedient to his will) but one mild, friendly, benign and bountiful towards the learned, the destitute and the poets.' Three years later (A.D. 1566) Calvagh followed his father, falling dead from his horse, ' and this without the horse starting, shying or prancing on his heels at all ! ' Some whispered that so sudden a death was just punishment because, a short time before, Calvagh had brought the English ' to profane ~e monastery of Derry ', but the hereditary historian wrote of him as one so celebrated for his goodness that no act of his, ' be it ever so great,' was either a matter for wonder or surprise. The dead chieftain's son Con was a prisoner in the hands of Shane O'Neill, so Calvagh's brother Hugh MacManus was inaugurated without dispute. Eager to avenge the accumulated wrongs of the clan, Hugh led his men into Tyrone, but, though he won an initial success, the O'Neills were quick to retaliate, and when in a pitched battle, the hereditary custodian of the sacred Cathach was killed, the O'Donnells wavered and would have retreated in disorder, but for the personal valour of the Lord of Tyrconnell, who dashed forward crying that he would rather die any death than endure longer the contempt in which his tribe was held. Spurred by his action, the clan rallied and fell ' in venomous phalanx ' upon the terrible Kinel Owen. The fortune of the day turned and the enemy fled, 'no man waiting for friend or brother '. . . . THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
The Lord of Tyrconnell led his victorious troops back to their own country loaded with spoil, but there was no peace, for Con had escaped and now began a long struggle for power,,' lively is each kinsman when fighting against the other! ' Nor was it only in Donegal that men fought, for the Pope of Rome decreed that Elizabeth of England, being guilty ' of that kind of treason called heresy ', had forfeited the Kingdom of Ireland, which, ' being a land where Christ was known and received, should belong to his faithful and loyal son in Christ, Philip II of Spain '. As a result Elizabeth sent one fleet and the Pope another. More than once Con succeeded in defeating his uncle Hugh Mac Manus*1 but he failed to depose that chieftain, and dying(A.D. 15 8 3) left eight stalwart sons imbued with a sense of their own wrongs. Five of these died violent deaths, but the survivors (Hugh Boy*2, Niall Garv and Con Oge) carried on the tribal warfare. So to the Age of Christ I 58 5 when Sir John Perrott arrived to take up office in Ireland as the new Lord Justice, whereupon. , all chieftains were required to attend in Dublin ' to do their service.· Sir John was to develop into a fine art the old Irish custom of hostage taking. When he left the country the sons of half the important men in Ireland were held in · Dublin as pledges for the good behaviour of their fathers. Now he heard the superstitious Irish repeating an old prophecy to the effect that when two Hughs should lawfully, lineally and immediately succeed one another as Lords of Tyrconnell, the second should become monarch of Ireland and banish therefrom 'all foreigners and conquerors '. And Hugh MacManus, Lord of Tyrconnell had, by his second wife !need Dubh (' dark little Agnes ') a stalwart young son named Hugh Roe. Sir John laid careful plans, and soon a .ship laden with fine wines, ostensibly on an ordinary trading venture, put in at Swilly where Hugh Roe was staying with his (oster-father ' on an exercise of youthful recreation '. Thinking no evil, this youth, O'Donnell, went aboard with several companions, and while they were below sampling the wines, the hatches were battened down and the vessel sailed for Dublin. Here ' the Council rejoiced at his arrival, but not for love of him '. Not even the landing in Lough Foyle of a thousand men from a wrecked ship belonging to the Spanish Armada could still the wailing of
*1Knighted by Sir Henry Sidney in I 567. *2Hugh of Ramelton. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL the Kinel-Conaill, and all efforts to secure the release of Hugh Roe failed. Hugh MacManus offered his second son as part of the ransom 'together with any other pledge from Tyrconnell '; O'Neill*1 (now earl of Tyrone) wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham ; ' I have matched a daughter of mine to O'Donnell, who is held a pledge in Dublin Castle, . . . and as I have some regard for his well-being, I would willingly see some proofs of him in his father's lifetime ' - but all without avail. Elizabeth answered suavely that if she held what she had ' it might breed quietness in the future '. During the years when Hugh Roe lay loaded with fetters, an elder half-brother mad~ an effort to depose their father, but' dark-little Agnes, who, ' excelled in all the qualities that become a woman, yet possessed the heart of a hero and the soul of a soldier ', called up her kindred the Mac Donald of the Isles (since Hugh MacManus was old and feeble) and held the heritage that she had determined should fall to her son. Though loaded with fetters and left to live ' on common alms ', young Hugh Roe remained undaunted in spirit, and when, after three years in captivity, the Fates gave him a chance to escape he siezed it, let himself down from the top of a tower, dropped lightly upon the drawbridge, bolted a door upon the sleeping guards, and slipped away--only to be recaptured soon after he reached the Red Mountain ! There was prison once more for Hugh Roe' and great gloom throughout the land.7 Some eighteen months later a second attempt was more successful. Accompanied by an old servant and two of Shane O'Neill's sons (who had been fellow prisoners) Hugh Roe reached the Red Mountain once more. One O'Neill was lost in the snow, but Art O'Neill and Hugh Roe hid together in a cave while the servant went ·for help. A relief party succeeded in reaching them; it found Art dying and Hugh Roe snow-covered and unconscious with his feet badly frostbitten. Men carried him on their backs to safety and a wave of loyalty swept the clans.
' Shall a son of O'Donnell be cheerless and cold, While MacKenna's wide hearth has a faggot to spare? While O'Donnell is poor shall MacKenna have gold Or be clothed while a limb of O'Donnell is bare ?
* 1Successor to Shane who had been killed bythe MacDonaldsof Antrim-with whom he had sought refuge after the rout at Letterkenny. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Then come to my home, 'tis the home of a friend, In the green woods of Truagh thou art safe from thy foes ; Six $Ons of MacKenna thy steps shall attend And their six sheathless skeans shall protect thy repose ! ' Hugh Roe found himself royally received on reaching Ballyshannon and, despite opposition from the elder branch of the family, as represented by Niall Garv, and his brothers (the sons of Con son of Calvagh), Hugh Mac Manus decided to resign the chieftainship into the hands of his recovered heir, and ' dark little Agnes ' watched the various septs doing honour to her son. Hugh Roe was inaugurated ' at Kilmacrennan where St Columba was fostered . • . and the clergy proceeded to supplicate the Lord on his behalf, and to sing songs and hymns in honour of Christ and Columbkille '. Quick in action, the young chieftain ordered the hated English out of his country bidding them leave their spoils behind them, and ' they were so terrified and dismayed that they obeyed in haste '. Next came an attack on a lesser O'Neill who was at variance with his own overlord, and meanwhile the Earl of Tyrone negociated a pardon for his son-in-law from the Lord Deputy. If, for once, the ancestrally linked clans of Tyrone and Tyrconnell were in amity there was still warfare, for the Lord Justice called upon them to take part in his hostings, and in such intervals as were left free, O'Donnell sounded his battle cry in Connaught, even when he had ' only 400 men fit for valour', so earning for himself the title of' Red Hugh'. Such ex peditions were frequently magnificently successful, for 'dense clouds of smoke spread in every direction where they passed, so preventing anyone seeing their numbers. Often the O'Donnells found it difficult to return in regular order by reason of the immensity of their 'spoyles and preyes • • . and they could have procured more if they had been able to drive or carry them' ... ' Many a heart shall quail Under its coat of mail ; Deeply the merciless f oeman shall rue When on his ear shall ring, Borne on the breezes' wing, Tyrconnell's dread war-cry, ' O'Donnell Aboo !*1
• 1The complete battle song, with music is to be found in The /ri;h 8011g Book edited by A· P. Graves, published by Fisher Unwin, (London). O' Donnell Aboo. March Time ,, l fll MJMCCann. Air O Donnell Aboo. 4ic4-tlJ tJlr ~·ilJ.f] IJ 1:IJ l'J 1.i .l •=R J ~ I Proud-lH the note oJ the 1rttm-pet is sound~ing, Loud.... 19 the war cries a - rise on lhe 9ale; &1 J. 1J ti \t ;· >J.etlJ cc [J.tf1~ ~-; r c I Fleel::- lH lh.e sl:eed by Lough Swil-l!J is boundiU9,To join the thick sq,uad.rons in Saim-eat1s green vale trC-lelJ\cc.rJ;;JIJliJiJ'\JJJJ r I On, ev1-rB mountain·eer, stranget1s t-o fight and feat'! Rush l:o the sta.ndardof Dauntless Red Hugh! i1 t.r 1 .l' J IF r IJ].fJ tu O : ¥] .t11r ~· ~ r tll Bonnau.gh and Gallowglass, thron9fromeach mountain'- pass; On for old E-{lin,- 0 ,-Donnell A-boo.' PLATE 171
BA'T'1'LE SONG OF 11 HE O'DONNELLS Taken fro111 'The Irish Song Book with origh,al Irish Airs' edited by Alfred Percevt1I Graves.
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
The precarious friendship between Irish and English was of short duration, and all too soon each was at the other's throat once more. Now one, and now the other, counted themselves victorious, while Lord Justice and England poured fresh troops into the disturbed country till an armistice was arranged, 'and all the insurgents were bidden to desist (for a short time) from their acts of plunder and rebellion'. Unfortunately the English Council refused to accept the terms which would have been acceptable to the Lords of Tyrconnell and Tyrone, and a message from Queen Elizabeth of England told O'Donnell that his demand for free liberty of conscience was not reasonable ; ' it being a request to have liberty to break laws, which Her Majesty never yet gave to any subject of any degree '.* 1 Accordingly ' the ancient flame of hatred was rekindled ' and Hugh the Red sent out urgent letters to foreign countries and especially to Philip I I of Spain, telling how he, and the other chiefs, were striving to defend themselves against the power of England, and asking that aid should be sent right speedily•.. ' If even 3000 Spanish soldiers came to help them O'Neill and O'Donnell were sure that 'all heretics would disappear•... We beseech your majesty to send someone known to you, and perfectly :fit to be King of this island who will not be unwilling to rule over and live among us '*2..•• There was a price upon O'Neill's head and all Ulster was in arms. So the long drawn struggle continued and the two great northern tribes gathered all their forces to do battle in the Curlews, Each chieftain harangued his._men, telling them that they could not fail ' for ye are on the side of truth-and they on that of the lie I • • • There has not been found, and there never will be found, a more truthful judge than a battle field '. And had not Ireland been theirs 'since the year 3500 of the Age of the World' ? Then an O'Donnell poet sprang forward to increase the general enthusiasm by crying that this place where they would meet the English was that Yellow Ford whereat St Berchan had foretold the defeat of the foreigner ; like one man the clans swore never to retreat one foot. The battle began, and, after a terrific struggle, the tide of victory turned in favour of the Irish so conclusively ' that that part of the Queen's army which escaped being slaughtered went back to Armagh pursued by
• 1O'Clery's Life ofHugh Roe, (edited by the Rev. Patrick Murphy, s.J.).
• 2 Ibid.
F THE O'DO~'NELLS OF TYRCONNELL
their enemies, who continued to slay them in pairs, threes and scores till they passed beyond the walls ...' Thanks was then offered ' to God and the Blessed Virgin, for all knew that it was not by force of arms that they had defeatd the English, but through the miracles of our Lord and the intervention of O'Donnell '. But England's forces seemed inexhaustible, so yet more urgent letters were sent to Spain, where Philip III now ruled :- ' The enemy's strength grows daily and our people are losing courage seeing that succour delays .•. For His Holy sake, and for the increase of his Holy Faith, watch over us ! ' The distraught chieftains had no money and little food for their men. Had they known it, the English position was almost as serious :- ' Our biscuit is spent and our other provisions be only meal, butter and a little wine,' ran a warning message from Sir Henry Docwra to the Lord Deputy. As the war seemed at a standstill, O'Donnell appointed Niall Garv to guard Tyrconnell and ' watch the foreigners ' while he himself set off on a marauding expedition, this although he had recently further antagon ised his always discontented kinsman by insisting upon an exchange of c:istles. Acting under orders, Sir Henry Docwra, who had vainly tried to bring about peace by compromise with the O'Donnell, now turned to Niall Garv O'Donnell who, according to the English law of primogeniture, was the rightful Lord of Tyrconnell. Diplomacy succeeded where force had failed, and presently a frightened messenger carried word to the absent chieftain that' Niall Garv had passed over to the English with forty horse and sixty foot'. It was not altogether surprising that Niall had succumbed to temptation for he had always felt aggrieved in that the elder branch of the family had been set aside, and now the English promised him ' the whole ofTyrconnell for himself and his heirs '.•1 · On receipt of the news O'Donnell hastened back to Lifford in such fury that he arrived ahead of his clan and had to play for time. When the troops overtook him, under the leadership of his brothers Rory and Manus, a hand to hand battle began-' Woe to the country in which ill-luck per mits relatives and kinsmen to destroy one another ! '.
*1This promise was afterwards confirmed by the Lord Deputy and the Council in Dublin. See Appendix, Annals of the Four Mastert. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Rory had a personal encounter with Niall Garv and would have killed him 'but Niall reared up the foreign steed upon which he rode', and Rory's death stroke fell upon the horse. When darkness prevented further fighting the O'Donnells returned to their tents in grief, for Manus was mortally wounded; he was carried to the monastery at Donegal where his father was living in his dotage, and • made a good death in the sight of God', being followed almost immediately by the old lord. News of the arrival of Spanish ships at Killybegs,' in the territory of Conall to the west of the glen which famous Columba blessed ', necessitated Red Hugh's temporary absence from the scene of trouble. Alas l the Spanish King had sent so small a supply of gold that the Irish chieftain was ashamed to let the amount be known I and in his absence Niall Garv* 1 seized the monastery. The brethren fled to the woods with what church treasures they could carry, and the O'Donnell swept back like an avenging fury, to find that the English had garrisoned the place strongly. Now • neither army passed the time pleasantly, for killing and destroying, con flict and shooting were carried on by each party against the other '. Once ' God took vengeance upon the English ' by permitting an ex plosion of gunpowder, but owing to the gallantry of Niall Garv, the fire was extinguished and the remaining section of the monastery held until rein forcements arrived. At this dark hour the urgent letters sent to Spain bore fruit, and Span ish ships arrived ' bringing aides to assist the warre ', but with a total dis regard of geography they put in at a southern, instead of a northern port. It became necessary for the clans to attempt the impossible. O'Don nell assembled every man able to carry arms at the Castle of Ballimote, (purchased for £400 and 300 milch cows) was first to take the road, and by a series of forced marches (once travelling thirty-two miles in a day) effected a juncture with O'Neill despite the efforts of the English to drive a wedge between the clans. Struggling on to Kinsale they found that the Spaniards, under Don Juan of Aguila, had seized that town and were be sieged by the English; these in turn were blockaded by the newly arrived Irish.
• 1Niall Garv was knighted by Lord Mountjoy in April I 602. In addition to being Red Hugh's kinsman he was his brother-in-law, having married Nualla O'Donnell. She deserted her husband when he went over to the English, seeing it as an act of treachery. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
When the English called upon Don Juan to surrender he sent a bold answer, declaring that he held Kinsale first for Christ, and next for the King of Sp~n; but for all their leader's bravado the Spaniards were in dire straits and sent out messengers urging the Irish to attack the besiegers immediately. O'Neill was for caution, and the weakening of the English by starv ation, but O'Donnell thought it shame that their allies (the Spaniards) should suffer, and O'Neill was over-ruled. Then, when the attack began, everything went wrong. The English frustrated the Spanish sally and the Tir-connellians lost their way; by the time they arrived at the scene of battle the O'Neills were already defeated and no personal valour could retrieve the position :- ' Wavering and unsteadiness seized upon the soldiers, and fright and terror on their horses . . . and though it was their duty to remain . . • they could not do it, for it was not the will of the Lord to give victory to them. They did not follow the rules of God, and they forgot the gifts left to them by St Patrick . . . to Eoghain, victory in battle and valour in the field to Conaill . . • so their hosts were defeated ' . . •* 1 At a village eight miles distant from Kinsale the leaders halted their retreating forces and held council. The Irish were exhausted by the eight year-long struggle against England, and it seemed that Spain alone could help them. To O'Donnell was allotted the task of explaining to Philip III both Don Juan's failure and the need for further assistance, though ' loud was the wailing throughout O'Donnell's camp '. Rory O'Donnell was appointed to act as chieftain during Red Hugh's absence. Three days later the Lord of Tyrconnell·sailed from Castlehaven w-ith a few companions, ' and the breath of the first wind that rose wafted them over the boisterous ocean'. · The party reached Corunna in safety and O'Donnell rejoiced' seeing it to be a good omen of success that he had arrived at that place whence his ancestors had formerly obtained p(?wer and sway over Ireland,· for nearby was. Breogan's. , Tower, whereat the Milesians had decided upon their first 1nvas1on · ... A generous welcome was offered to the new arrivals, indeed, ' the Earl of Carac;ena invited O'Donnell to lodge in his house, but hee, being seasicke in a good manner, refused the curtesie, so the Earl lodged him in
• 1O'Clery Life of Hugh Roe. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCO~TNELL a very fair house not farre from his own' ... When the' Seasickness> was passed the Earl sped the Lord of Tyrconnell on his way to the King with a farewell gift of a thousand ' duckets '. Philip III also was gracious, writing O'Donnell a letter ' wherein it plainely appeared that he would even endanger his kingdome to succour the Catholics of Ireland '. First audiences passed off well, but presently the King's graciousness became less apparent, and admission to his presence was rarely granted; Don Juan had returned from Ireland and secured the royal ear. Winter gave place to Spring and despite rumours of great preparations always to be begun 'tomorrow', ·nothing happened, and O'Donnell felt that he would ' foreswear his honour and good name if he remained away longer ' in his country's hour of need. His despairing letters took effect at last and an audience was promised at Valladolid. With renewed hope Red Hugh started on his journey but fell ill en route and died (A.D. 1602) after an illness of seventeen days ; Spain provided him with· ' a four wheeled hearse, and luminous and bright flambeaux of beautiful wax '. A century later the State Archives yielded their secrets and to-day men may read a fading cypher letter a:mong the Carew MSS in Lambeth Palace. *1 Writing to Lord Mountjoy, Carew mentions a man named James Blake as having taken a solemn oath ' to do such service as would merit good recognition and reward ' . . . ' I applauded his enterprise whereupon he departed from me,' added Carew, ' and he is gone into Spayne with a determination to kyll O'Donnell . • • God give him strength and per severance ! '*2 · Later he·was to write again : 'O'Donnell is certainly dead ... the report was brought to me from Lisbon by merchants of this town which I employ in Spain . . . the death of this traitor will advance the Queen's service in Ireland, for the Irish who live in Spayne are not of the estimation in which O'Donnell was of'. . . • In Ireland matters had gone from bad to worse. The northern Irish had returned to their own teritories harried at every step by the enemy and Sir Niall Garv was holding Ballyshannon against Rory O'Donnell. Tribal warfare was incessant, and Rory, hampered by his wounded, asked 0 'Rourke's permission to lodge them in one of his castles, only to be refused .. Then came a letter from Lord Mountjoy telling of the death of the Lord of
• 1Calendar IV. p. 241. State Papers. •2Q'Clery.
33 THE O'DO~~ELLS OF TYRCONNELL
Tyrconnell in Spain, and all realised that the long struggle must end in sub mission; without foreign aid there could be no victory over the English. But if. peace was agreed Irish passions still smouldered, for Rory's wrath against O'Rourke was unassuaged, and Niall Garv O'Donnell was. demanding his rights. ' He thinks the time long till he hath his grant and protests that he will do us no more service until he have it,' wrote Docwra to the Lord Deputy, adding that he found this O'Donnell of the older line ' proud, valiant, miserable, tyrannous, unmeasurably covetuous, without any know ledge of God or almost any civility', but he could be used when he was satisfied-' although this he can hardly be, being like a quince which requires great cost ere it be good to eat '. Notwithstanding, Docwra believed that the man he described would be a loyal servant to the Queen and more reliable than Rory. Sir Niall soon proved himself to be of as grasping a disposition as the Englishman had thought him, for when he was offered Tyrconnell he demanded Fermanagh in addition, 'and all those parts of Connaught which the O'Donnells had had in their power at any time.' He also required that allegiance should be sworn to him instead of to the Queen. Rory and Sir Niall O'Donnell were summoned to Dublin. Rory obeyed ' waiting only to put his cattle into safety ', but Niall Garv ' not withstanding my lord's commands, seized these cattle as his own under pretence that they were the goods of the country belonging to him ' ! And Rory arrived complaining of the theft and that his cousin had ' laide a plot to murther me by the way ' ! Sir Niall did not come. Instead he turned aside to Kilmacrennan ' The place where the O'Donnell used to be chosen ', and there had himself proclaimed Lord of Tyrconnell with all the accustomed ceremony, after which he went to Derry (now Londonderry) 'with a great troop of attendants they styling him at every word, ' my lord'. • 1 Protests were useless. Sir Niall held that he had but taken his own ' and now by this meanes the counry is sure to me. • • • If I have done any thing amiss, lett all be pardoned that is past, and from this day forward, by Jesus' hand, I will be true to the Queen ! ' Sir Henry set about the difficult task of making peace between the rivals, and while he laboured there came news from England that James of Scotland had succ:eeded his 'fair sister' upon the English throne.
• 1Narra.tion of Sir Henry Docwra.
34 PLATE Pl/ (Photograph by R. Welch) THE ROCK OF DOON near Kilmacrennan -zchere the O' Donne/ls ·=cere inaugurated. The last ceremony of this kind rcas that of Sir Niall Garv O'Donnell.
THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
' I am undone ! ' cried Niall Garv, ' for Rory O'Donnell has better friends about this court than I ! ' The scene changed to England to which country hastened both Rory and Sir Niall, ' and then after a-while came Rory O'Donnell to Dublin with his Majestie's letter to be made Earle of Tyrconnell ',all' given under our signet at Totenham, the fourth day of September 1603.' 'Right trustie and well-beloved, we greet you well '*1 so ran the epistle 'We have been credibly informed that Rorie O'Donnell, brother to the ar~h traitor O'Donnell lately deceased in Spain, made his humble submission ..• and in token of the detestation of his former disloyalties, and firm resolution to continue dutiful and loyal, the said Rorie hath dutifully presented himself before our royal person. • . • And therefore our pleasure is, that you cause Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm to be made and passed in form of law. . . • ' With certain exceptions all was to belong to Rory and the heirs male of his body, with remainder to his surviving brother Caffer, and the new Earl of Tyrconnell and Sir Niall Garv O'Donnell were bidden to ' live in peace and amity evermore '. The miracle was accomplished surprisingly, for never again is recorded a murderous attack by one upon the other. But Ireland, if not rent by open warfare, was not tranquil; famine stalked the land, there were plottings and counterplots, and every man suspected his neighbour. An a.ttonymous letter warned the English of an attempt on the life of the Lord Deputy and a rising fomented by the Spaniards in which the Earls of Tyrconnell and Tyrone were involved, these 'believing that false witnesses would be brought against them', fled (A.D. I 607) before action could be taken with the result that ' their principalities were taken from them . • • their territories, their harbours and their fishful bays were given to foreign tribes,' the six counties of Ulster being forfeited to the Crown.*2 O'Donnell's wife had to be left behind*l but he took with him his little son Hugh, his sister Nualla*• (who had never been reconciled to Sir Niall),
1 • Irish Antiquarian Researches. Sir William Betham. 2 • Tyrconnell was formed into Co. Donegal by the Lord Deputy Sir John Perrott during the reign of Elizabeth and took its name from the chief town-Donegal. *3A daughter was born to her shortly afterwards. The child was christened Mary Stuart O'Donnell by direction of King James, and her strange history can be read in Mageoghan's History oflrela11d, Vol. III, pp. 649-9. • 4She is the subject of many poems including one by Mangan beginning ' 0 Woman of the piercing wail '.
35 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
his brother Caffer (Cathbarras) with wife and children, together with various lesser members of the clan : " the sea had not supported, nor the winds wafted from Ireland in modern times a party more illustrious in point of genealogy or more renowned for deeds of valour! " wrote the ' Four Masters'. After a difficult journey, and many adventures, the fugitives reached Rome and were received by the Pope who granted them an allowance. Both Rory and his brother died in the Imperial City. Despite the attainder, and the fact that the title was under forfeiture, Rory's son Hugh was known as the second Earl of Tyrconnell;*1 he entered the service of Spain becoming page to the Infanta Isabella-Clara Eugenia, daugher of Philip III. In later years this Hugh O'Donnell made repeated efforts to return to Ireland, but Spain realised his political value and kept him employed. This branch of the family became extinct two generations later. There remained in Spain the descendants of Caffer O'Donnell who had fled from Ireland with Rory.
TABLE I SIR. NIALL GARV I MA."'WS Killed at Benburb 1646. I Transplanted to Co. Mayo by Oliver Cromwell. - I CoLONEL MANUS OF N EWPOR.T D. 1793 (1733) Neal the 3rd son of Col. Manus was created a baronet in 1780. His father had been admitted ·to the benefit of the Limerick Treaty. l CHARLES RoE - I LEWIS O'DONNELL OF KILLEEN (Co. Mayo) I LEWIS O'DoNNELL OF Ross
• 11n 1685 a Colonel Richard Talbot was created Earl of Tyrconnell; four years later James advanced him to the rank of Duke as recognition of his services as chief governor of Ireland ; for his attachment to this King he was attainted and his honours taken from him in 1691 ; the title seems to have been unfortunate. THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL
It may well be that on the flight of the Earls of Tyrconnell and Tyrone Sir Niall Garv hoped that the wheel of fortune would turn in his favour, but within a year ' dark little Agnes ' gained the ear of the English and accused him of treason. She received a grant of land, and Sir Niall was sent to the Tower of London, together with his eldest son ; here he remained until death freed him eighteen years later (A.D. I 626). " There were noe vices in poor Neale Garvie and he did us manie good services," wrote Sir Henry Docwra in kindly mood. Through his surviving son, Manus (see Table I, page 36), Sir Niall became the ancestor of the O'Donnells of Newport, Co. Mayo. and of Austria. Sir Niall's brothers Hugh of Ramelton*1 (see Table II, page 37), and Con Oge*2 (see Table III, page 38) remained in Ireland; the former was arrested for carrying on a treasonable correspondence with the prisoner in the Tower, but his captivity was of brief duration. By the custom of tanistry (made illegal by King James) this Hugh was
TABLE II HucH (BoY) OF RAMELTON Brother of Sir Niall Garv was considered the O'Donnell after the death of his nephew Col Manus at Benburg in 1646 ; this by tanistry. I JoHN I CoNNELL (Who returned from foreign service after the death of his father and was made Lord-Lieutenant of Donegal by James II in 1689. His chieftancy was interrupted by the arrival of Ball-Dearg). I HUGH O'DONNELL (Who, after the downfall ofJames II left Donegal and finally settled at Larkfi.eld ; his sons entered Austrian service and of them was written ' The Tyrconnellian race produceth at this day persons who reflect back to their ancestors the honours they desire from them.' I CoN 'THE ' O'DoNNELL (This, according to the Irish system; he married the sister of Sir Neal O'Donnell of Newport who was' The' O'Donnell according to English law). I HUGH (Of Larkfield and Grayfield, Co. Leitrim).
*1Hugh a quo the O'Donnells of Larkfield and Grayfield, also Austria.
• 2Con Oge a lfUO the O'Donnells of Castlebar, Spain, Austria and the West Indies.
C 37 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL considered chief of the clan ; forty years later his grandson (Connell O'Donnell) became Lord-Lieutenant of Donegal. Ireland was still 'the most distressful country' and the clash of arms in the wars of·the Jacobites sounded like a clarion call to those O'Donnells_ who were in foreign service. Among them was one who by the sanction of the Spanish crown bore the title of Conde de Tyrconnell, and when he came hastening to fight in the cause of King James II the clan hailed him as Ball-De.arg ('Red Spot') O'Donnell*1 and rallied at his call. The battle of the Boyne had been fought four days before Ball-Dearg's arrival and the King's cause seemed lost, but after a brief interview with the flying King (in fatal Kinsale) O'Donnell placed himself at the disposal of the Viceroy, and within six weeks the magic of his name had raised 8,000 men. But the tide of defeat could not be stemmed by ill-equipped forces.
TABLE III CoN OcE* (Brother of Sir Niall Garv) I MANUS I CHARLES RoE I HUGH I CHARLES (His sons entered the Service of Spain and Austria). I MANUS I . JosEPH (to Spam) I MANus LEWis OF CASTLEBAR - (From Vol 6 4'11114/s of the Four Masters Appendix by O'Donovan) • .Ancestor i11ter a/ios of Leopold Duke of Tuman in Spain and of MaximUian Count O'Donnell of Austria, aide-de-camp to Emperor Francis Joseph.
1 • Burke (E~ti11ct and Dormant Peerages) shows Ball-Dearg as a grandson of Hugh the elder brother of Niall Garv, but O'Donovan, the learned editor of the Fo11r Masters, suggests that he was a descendant of that Caffer O'Donnell who fled with Rory to Rome. . 5!~£ii~r, ~~ ~ ;.:--=~~-~-=---- :~ 1·-tr-~-~=:~=-~-s..::--=p;a-":::--:_.-.:._ ~;:;..:-~~- -~ ~-----..,.._ -~- -fi. ~-::-=::;::;.,- ---~-=~--.c.:..~=~
. ·-~~
-~ ------~-- ---
.... "7 - • .,, ---~~-
~-~-=-~~;,
C ...... - ..0
... ,...;::,..... ::r:: C CJ u '"d < ~ ::r:: u ,:_. ~ "k I ·~:·;; .. ··:: >' ! ~; .I ~ ; . ~ ~ ~ ;- -~ -==- ~ ~ ~ . ' ~ ':::::t !I j ~ •\,, ..... ~ ...... " THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL Galway fell and Limerick surrendered. Ball-Dearg fought while a ray of hope remained and then accepted the terms offered by William of Orange. His position was serious for, as the Spanish monarch had refused to grant him leave of absence, he now ranked as a deserter from the Spanish army; France, which offered an asylum to many of King James's followers might not be entered by Ball-Dearg since this country was at war with Spain, so, when William (Spain's Ally) offered the pay of a brigadier, Ball-Dearg accepted the favour, and left Ireland, whereupon Connell O'Donnell resumed the disputed chieftainship. It was supposed that Ball-Dearg had sold his sword to the Dutch ; in reality he returned to Spain incognito and served as a volunteer with the Spanish army ; six_ years later he was restored to his forfeited military honours. The defeat of James II sent many an O'Donnell overseas. Hugh, son of Connell O'Donnell was obliged to leave Donegal, but after some wan~ering he settled at Larkfield, Co. Leitrim and his sons entered Austrian service. Among those self-exiled after the Battle of the Boyne was Colonel Daniel O'Donnell,*1 a descendent of Turlough-of-the-Wine, who followed the fortunes of the Jacobites and fought at Oudenarde and Ma1plaquet. When he left Ireland he carried with him St Columba's Battle Book. Dying, Colonel Daniel left the sacred Cathach in the custody of a Belgian monastery until claimed by whosoever proved himself to be head of the O'Donnell family. And now the story swings back to the descendants of Sir Niall Garv and the O'Donnells of Newport, for, sixth in descent from his famous ancestor was another ' Sir Neale' (creation I 780, extinct I 889) and the trust was relinquished into his hands despite protest from the Lark field branch (descendants of Connell), and the claims of Lewis O'Donnell of Ross. To-day through O'Donnell courtesy, the relic which has been held by the family for twenty-five generations, lies in the Royal Irish Academy for all men to see. St Caillin had bidden ' the sept of Conall Gulban look well to the Cathach that it should not come into the hands of the foreigner', and trad- • 1O'Donovan, and also Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms both show this Daniel as' of the race of Hugh Duv, brother of Manus who died in I 563 ' but the 'ODonnell pedigree makes him a descendant of Shane Luirg O'Donnell. The phrase used above is correct in either case, since Turlough was a common ancestor. 39 THE O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL ition forbade its opening under dire threat of disaster, but antiquarian curiosity triumphed, despite a Chancery suit, and inside the chased and bejewelled outer case was found a rough wooden box containing an almos~ solid mass of stained vellum. This was carefully treated and presently straining eyes deciphered a fragment of a latin psalter as written fourteen hundred years before . . . Exsultate deo aduitori nostro uihilate deo iacob •••• 1 Three thousand men had died that their clan might hold the relic ; it had caused the exile of St Columbkille and sent him to preach the faith in Scotland. No O'Donnell could touch the fragile sheets unmoved. To-day the race of Conall Gulban is scattered in many lands : it has given service in Austria, Spain, Hungary, England, India and the United States ; there seems something symbolic in the fact that the last direct descendant of the last Sir Neale (through a daughter) fell in the World War after having won the Military Cross. An O'Donnell saved the Emperor Francis I from assassination at the risk of his own life and was granted the privilege of impaling the Imperial arms of Austria with his own ; another was appointed Governor of Tran sylvania. An O'Donnell became a Spanish Field-Marshal, Grandee-of Spain, Duke of Tetuan, achieved Cabinet rank, ruled Cuba as Captain-General ( I 844-8) and went into exile with Queen Cristina ; another married a princess of Cantucacini, descendant of the Greek Emperors of Constanti nople-winning her with no other fortune but his name and sword. In the New World too the O'Donnells have set their mark. Sir Charles Routledge O'Donnell, of the senior Tyrconnellian line (knighted by the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in Phoenix Park, I 835) was staff officer with a Governor-General of Canada ; and the vigorous strain, dormant through several generations, made itself notably manifest in John O'Donnell ( see Part 11 The O'Donnells of Baltimore) who purchased a plantation in Mary land and applied for American citi~enship in the eighteenth century. He too, like Sir Charles, was a lineal descendant of that Shane Gohn) Luirg O'Donnell, who (banished by his father, Turlough-of-the-Wine) three centuries before, had wandered through Tipperary to settle in Limerick. ' The roots of the present lie deep in the past , *1National MSS of Ireland, Vol. r, Sir John Gilbert. PART II. THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE DESCRIPTION OF THE O'DONNELL _,\RMS &c. ALLOWED BY HAWKINS, ULSTER r772 ARMS : Sable, two lions rampant combatant argent armed and langued gules, in chief a dexter hand couped erect between two mullets and in base another mullet, all of the second. CREST : Out of a ducal coronet or, a naked arm embowed grasping a dart all proper* MOTTO : In hoc .signo vinces. THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE ORN O'DONNELL of Limerick was a direct descendant of Turlough-of-the-Wine whose ancestor was Niall of the Nine Hostages*1 ; his kin had ruled Tyrconnell for twelve hundred years. Of John's two sons the elder was the most venturesome in spirit. When scarcely more than a boy he ran away to sea and contrived to reach India, where, after a period of service with the Honourable East India Company he found himself a rich man at thirty. Perhaps he had not slept for a night on St Columba's stone, for now a wave of homesickness NIALL oF THE NINE HosTAGES A.D. 406 (and his generations) I TtrJLLOUGH-OF-THE-Wnnt A.D. 1423 I SHANE LUillG O'DoNNELL 15th Cen. (and his generations) I JOHN O'DONNELL 1715-1780 (ofTruagh Castle Limerick, and Mount O'Donnell Co. Clare) (m. Deborah, d. ofWiUiam Anderson of Garrinceanty, Co. Lim.) I I I CAPTAIN JOHN O'DoNNELL CAPT. HEnY ANDERSON O'DoNNEI.L .B. 1749-1805 1759--1840 (of Hon. E. India Co. fs of Baltimore) ( of Hon. E. India Co. and Ireland) m. Sarah Chew Elliott m. Lady Jan (niece of the Shah of Persia) I I CoLuMBUS O'DONNELL and Others Sir CHA1U.ES RoUTLEDGE O'DONNELL JC.c.B. 1792-1873 I 5th Hussars ( of Baltimore) (no issue) m. Eleanora Pascault 43 THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE assailed him and he decided to revisit Ireland. Still adventurous he selected the unusual route across Arabia and set off with a 1arge native escort and two white companions, having secured a safe-conduct from the British Government and a pledge from the Arabs to permit the journey._ But a week's travel proved all that the escort could stand, and one night the natives fell upon the white men. One of these was murdered, but Captain O'Donnell and his remaining companion were left alive although they were stripped of their possessions, and beaten. The two survived a long period of slavery, then escaped across the Persian Gulf and made their way back to India where friends welcomed them as returned from the dead. John O'Donnell must have been as penniless as when he first arrived in India but character stood him in good stead and there came an immediate offer of a partnership from one Huggins, a rich merchant and Paymaster to the army of the East India Company; within a few years the enterprising young Irishman had built up a second fortune; he now decided to leave India and strike out in a new land. The scene changes to America : 'Maryland Journal, August 12th 1785 .•. On Tuesday evening last, arrived here, direct from China, the East Indiaman P alias commanded by her owner Captain John O'Donnell. She has on board an extensive and valuable cargo consisting of a variety of teas, China silks, satins, nan keens, &c. We are extremely happy to find the commercial reputation of this town so far increased as to attract the attention of gentlemen who are engaged in carrying on this distant but beneficial trade. It is no unpleasing sight to see the crew of the Ship, Chinese, Malays, Japanese and Moors, with a few Europeans, all habited according to the different countries to which they belong and employed together as brethren '. Some two months later Captain O'Donnell advertised his cargo for sale by Public V endue and his goods sold well. In an age when million aires were unknown he was esteemed a very wealthy man. Scarcely had the papers tired of describing the sale, before the Mary land Journal was able to make ~other announcement concerning this interesting stranger, who had quickly fallen a victim to the bright eyes of young America. ' October I 6th 178 5. Captain John O'Donnell, an eminent mer chant from the East Indies to Miss Sallie Chew Elliott, daughter of Captain Thomas Elliott of Fell's Point, Baltimore '*1 (see footnote page 45). As a married man John O'Donnell purchased a plantation (198 I acres) made up of thirteen tracts of land on the North-Western branch of the Patapsco River some six miles from the centre of Baltimore. The estate 44 PLATE IX COLONEL JOHN O'DONNELL of Canton, near Baltimore. Son of John O'Donnell of lmagh Castle, near City of Limerick. Settled in Baltimore about 1780. THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTilvIORE was named " Canton " to commemorate the fact that its owner had brought into Baltimore the first cargo to reach Maryland from China. Captain O'Donnell built himself a long, low, comfortable house with deep verandahs, and applied for citizenship, but he retained his trading interests and made one more long voyage to the East. Returning in the summer of 1789 after an absence of two-and-a-half years he offered his ship Chesapeake and her merchandise for sale ; his wanderings were over. Apparently his experiences in India suggested a new form of work, for in the correspondence of the Department of State for this year (1789) there is a letter from Captain O'Donnell to President Jefferson requesting an appointment as Commissioner of the United States of America for India with all the privileges of the office and the right to grant pass-ports, but the application was refused; nor was a second attempt (in 1793) more successful although Captain O'Donnell pointed out ' the inequalities of official recognition extended by the British authorities in India to citizens of other countries, to the detriment of Americans '. *1Sarah Chew Elliott was the grand-daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Bond Chew; her great-grandmother was a daughter of Dr Thomas Wynne of Wynnewood Pennsylvania who arrived with William Penn in the ship Welcome, and was one of Penn's chief friends. CoLONEL JOHN CHEW (Born in England about 1590, came to Jamestown Virginia in 1622) I CHANCELLOR. SAMUEL CHEW (m. Anne Ayres) I WILLIAM CHEW, d. Feb. 28 1710 m. Sydney Wynne, 1690 I BENJAMIN CHEW m. Sarah Bond, Jan. 1727 I MARY CHEW m. Captain Thomas Elliott of Fell's Point I SARAH CHEW ELLIOTT m. John O'Donnell Oct. 16, 1785 Through the Chews the O'Donnells are connected. with many distinguished families in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, including the Carrolls, Howards, Ridgeleys, Lloyds, and the Chews of Cliveden, Germantown. (Two daughters of Chief Justice Benjamin Ch.ew Pennsylvania married respectively, Charles Carroll of Homewood, and Colonel John Eager Howard, a Revolutionary hero.) H 45 THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE In the Baltimore Directory, Mr. O'Donnell's name is given as ' Colonel John O'Donnell*1, gentleman, Gay Street (across East Street) ', probably the east side of Gay Street, four or five doors above Lexington. The h<;>use was still standing in 19 I 7. · John O'Donnell was known as a public-spirited and wealthy citizen, the husband of a beautiful wife and father of a growing family. He owned 4,000 acres of land in the State of Maryland including ' Canton ' and the two Miller Islands in Chesapeake Bay (386 acres) and 'Never Die' in Howard County, (1629 acres)' Orange' (100 acres), and also some 3,000 acres in Virginia with 107 parcels of land in Baltimore itself, may of which are still owned by his descendants. The first Census of Maryland Counties summarises the Colonel's household as consisting of :- Free whites over 16 including head of house • • IO Free whites under 1 6 • • • • • • none Females. • • • • • • • • 6 Slaves • • • • • • • • • 36 ' Canton ' was evidently a show place to which all important travellers were invited. Thomas Twining in his Travels in Ameri.co. I oo years Ago (Harpers 'Black and White' Series 1893) describes his visit to the plan tation 'where Colonel O'Donnell gave me one of the pleasantest days I passed in America '. The two had long talks and the Colonel betrayed a delightfully frank envy of the other man's experiences ; he himself had never visited inland India and had always desired to see Lucknow ; the adventurous spirit of the O'Donnells had not been quenched by prosperity. Richard Parkinson in his Tour in America (1798-9) is another who describes ' Canton ' where he found the Colonel in bed in pessimistic mood and suffering from gout. He told his guest that although he had brought between sixty-five and seventy thousand pounds sterling to Amer ica he could not live comfortably upon this fortune and had come to the conclusion that ' the cultivation of one's own land would make any man poor '. He added that he had just .purchased a bull and two cows which had cost him £1,000. Parkinson describes ' Canton' as 'a very magni ficent place for that country ' but observes that Colonel O'Donnell had told him that he would rather live two years in England than ten in America, and that ' when peace should come a third of the inhabitants would have to • 1He served for several years as Colonel of the Sixth Maryland Militia. ,, r.,, ,JJI . ✓ ' '◄'I< . . . ,, i. ...,., . -~.. .· ~· PLATE X MRs. S:\RAH CHE\V-ELLIOTT O'DONNELL Wife of Colonel John O'Donnell of Canton, Baltimore. A bozd I 800. (From a portrait by Charles IP7l!iam Peale in the National Gallery, Washington. O·:cned by 1Wrs. Eliza G. Parke of J.Vorfolk, Pirginia.) THE O'DONNELLS OF BAL Tll\.-10RE leave Baltimore '. This statement Parkinson compares with the opinion expressed by General Washington ' that Baltimore would be the risingest town in America except the Federal City.' · Perhaps the gout·,accounted for Colonel O'Donnell's jaundiced view. He saw the merchants of Baltimore 'as a body of men not worth a guinea'. There were rich merchants in the place, he admitted, but these could not overbalance the poor ones. Forty had failed in a month and he pro phesied ' that in the course of a year there would be such distress among them as would amaze me '. An old sampler worked by Colonel O'Donnell's eldest child*1 in the form of a letter to her uncle gives details of family affairs as well as of certain historic happenings :- " Dear Uncle-We all long to embrace you in America. Fly swiftly thou tedious days. Mary O'Donnell, May I I 790 (1) Columbus O'Donnell, born October I 1792 (2) Deborah O'Donnell, born August 6 I 794 (3) John O'Donnell, born August 30 1796 (4) Elliott O'Donnell, born March 2.1 1798 (5) Eliza White O'Donnell, born March 13 1800 (6) Henry O'Donnell, born January 29 1802 _ Baltimore City April 15 I 803. George Washington the Patriot of America died at Mount Vernon 14 December 1799. Aged 68 years_. A sad day to America. We are all certain of seeing our dear Uncle in the ship Ann, Captain Rutter. We all pray to Heaven ·she may have a speedy and prosperous passage to Baltimore. Henry O'Donnell Esq. Calcutta 1803 ". • 1Now in the possession of her Great-grand-daughter, Mrs. Eliza G. Parke of Norfolk, Virginia, and ' Never Die', Maryland. 1Married Joseph Etienne Berret in I 808 2 Married Eleanora Pa.scault in I 8 I 3. 3Married Dudley Poor 4Married Mary Palmer SMarried Sara Vize. Returned to Ireland. His descendants reside there and in England. 6Married Ebenezer Finley 47 THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE The little girl who worked this record was painted by Charles Wilson Peale (the elder) together with her mother and grandmother (Mrs. Mary Chew Elliott). The three charming. portraits belong, like the sampler, to Mrs Eliza G. Parke, but were on exhibition (1925) in the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Henry O'Donnell (b. I 802) presumably died in infancy since he is not mentioned in his father's Will dated October 2 I 805. The Colonel died at' Canton' in his 56th year (three days after executing this testament) and it was found that he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States. The whole of Mr O'Donnell's Irish property was left to the brother (Henry Anderson O'Donnell) who, like himself, had taken service with the Honourable East India Company. Columbus O'Donnell was still a child at his father's death and the Colonel appointed his intimate friends William Patterson*1 and Robert and Charles Oliver (all well known in Baltimore traditiot?-) as Executors of his Will and Guardians of his children. To each of these was left a blood mare ; other friends received suitable legacies ; debtors were to be for given and slaves provided with suitable mourning. An inventory of Colonel O'Donnell's household property throws interesting sidelights upon a bygone age :- Dollars Othello, young man • • . • • • 300.00 Man, 28, one hand • • • • ' . • I00.. 00 Ann, 40 years . • • • • • • 80.00 Clem, old man • • • • • • • 50.00 Elijah, 60 years . • • • • • • 50.00 Infant, 2 years, Ann • • • • • • 2.00 Blind horse • . • • • • • I0.00 4 gallons of Madeira . . • • • • 9.00 I 2 gallons of Sherry • • • • • • 12.00 • 1Qf Springfield, an estate adjoining 'Never Die', the father of Madame Bonaparte, who by the way, had little faith in the discretion of her father's old friend, for in a. letter written from England (Aug. 1805) wherein she described her troubles in regard to Emperor Napoleon who was offering her a pension of twelve thousand dollars as a bribe to return to America, she says : ' I request you will not mention a word of my affairs to ivir O'Donnell, for although he would not willingly injure me by telling, yet he is incapable of keeping a secret'. THE O'DONNELLS OF BALTIM ORE Dollars 2 3 gallons of Whisky . • • • • • r4.oo Rum, Brandy, Port and Arrack • • • • gallons and pipes of it. • • • • I 2 Mahogany arm chairs • • • • • 48.00 I sofa, sopha (sic) • . • • • • 30.00 I sett (sic) enamelled Tea China • • • • 10.00 1 High Post Mahogany bed • • • • 5.00 I Mahogany Desk with drawers • • • • in counting room • • • • • 20.00 Some of the fine china once owned by Colonel O'Donnell now belongs to the United States Government and can be seen labelled with his name in the National Museum, Washington. He left quantites of silver plate, numerous blood horses, Irish mares and pedigreed cattle. If hereditary Ollaves belonged to past days modern newspapers now existed and the Maryland Journal provided Colonel John O'Donnell with an obituary notice in which he is described as a man who devoted a considerable portion of his large fortune to objects of national importance : ' He imported cattle of the most improved breeds and multiplied them at his own expense. He was the founder of that elegant edifice in which the Dancing Assembles are held and in which the Public Library is deposited, the handsomest, perhaps the most spacious for the purpose, to be seen in the United States. He projected and carried into effect (solely with his own means) the supply of good water for shipping at Fell's Point. He built the warehouses and wharves, and was President of the Fire Insurance Company in the State. He was Colonel of Militia and beloved by his Regiment. He represented the City of Baltimore in the State Legislature where he gained reputation as an orator by his speeches in favour of the Potomac Canal, being henceforth known as the ' father of the Potomac Canal '. In acts of charity, benevolence and hospitality who is the man in this community who hath exceeded ? ' Colonel O'Donnell's estate was partitioned by the High Court of Chancery of Maryland in 1 8 I 5. His real estate was valued at $ 52 1,8 5 I .oo. A vast fortune in I So 5. 49 GENERAL COLUMBUS O'DONNELL OLUMBUS O'DONNELL, who derived his military title from the State of Maryland, was the eldest son and second child of John O'Donnell ; the first of the line to be an American citizen by birth and education*1• Vigorous, handsome and wealthy Columbus O'Donnell married on the eve of his majority a girl even younger than himself-Eleanora, the fourteen-year-old daughter of the Marquis Pascault de Poleon, *2 a French refugee from Santo Domingo. On p. 316, Marriage Register no. 1 in the Archives of the Old Cathedral at Baltimore the record reads ;- ' Christopher Columbus O'Donnell and Eleanora Pascault, married September 8 1813 by the Reverend Enoch Fenwick, Rector of St Peter's. Witnesses : E. Messonier J. H. Gallego Peter Chevalier. ' (In the unfamiliar names of these lies a hint of an elopement.) Eleanora is described in "The Diary of James Gallatin' (published by Charles Scribner, 1914) as "very beautiful, like a full blown rose' ; she had a child before she was sixteen, Gallatin became Eleanora's brother in-law marrying her younger sister Josephine. An elder sister, Henrietta, married Reube!, the travelling companion of Jerome Bonaparte who fell in love with and married Henrietta's close friend Elizabeth Patterson. The quartette sailed for France where Napoleon forbade Elizabeth to land ; Henrietta became maid-of-honour to the Empress Josephine and was at one time Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen of Westphalia, the princess to whom Jerome was forcibly married by his strong-willed brother the Emperor. *1At St Mary's College, Baltimore, an institution conducted by th.eFathersof the Oratory of Saint Sulpice, Paris. *2For interesting details concerning this family see Appendix and The Diary of Jame! Gallati11. so PLATE XI GENERAL COLUl\lIBUS O'DONNELL son of Colonel John O'Donnell. Born October rst r792, died 1"1,fay 26th r873. THE O'DONNELLS OF BAL TIMORE Columbus O'Donnell and his bride established themselves in Charles Street ( no. 407) directly opposite the residence of the Archbishop. Their country estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western Maryland was named Mount O'Donnell after one of the family properties in Ireland ; the Irish connection was still strong and visits were exchanged with Colonel Sir Charles Routledge O'Donnell who ultimately became godfather to Columbus O'Donnell's eldest grandchild, (the son of his daughter Mrs Thomas Sim Lee). The General was to make a name for administrative and executive ability, energy, :firmness and decision. His keen :financial ability enabled him to increase his magnificent inheritance from his father John O'Donnell and assured him a share in the major business operations of his time. He was influential in the direction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway ; President of the Baltimore Water Company (15 years); Director of the Union Bank of Baltimore (3 o years) ; an original member of the Maryland Club ( r 8 52 ), and one of the Commission appointed to lay out Baltimore's beautiful Druid Hill Park. In addition, he was substantially interested in the development of the coal-mining industry of Western Maryland and when his father's estate on the banks of the Patapsco River was taken over by the Canton Company (of which Columbus O'Donnell was head) he developed it into what is now one of the most prosperous industrial and shipping sections of Baltimore. O'Donnell Street and O'Donnell wharf are reminiscent of the family connections. Perhaps_ the best-known office of trust which General O'Donnell was called upon to fill was that of President of the Baltimore Gaslight Company ; he occupied the Chair for thirty-seven years. This was the pioneer enter prise of the kin__d in the United States and underwent many tribulations. The first building in Baltimore to be illuminated by gas was Peale's Museum in Holliday Street, and people willingly paid an entrance fee to see the won der. (It was this experiment that brought about the use of gas for city lighting, and, a Charter having been obtained from the State Legislature, one hundred shares of stock were assigned to Rembrandt Peale as com pensation in full for the privilege of testing the invention of Dr Benjamin Kugler of Philadelphia for manufacturing, collecting and using carburetted hydrogen gas). Columbus O'Donnell was blind for the last five years of his Iife but lived to be 8 I years of age. Eleanora died first (aged 7 1) and was buried in the Greenmount Cemetery Baltimore on July 27 1870; THE O'DOl\TNELLS OF BALTIMORE her husband followed her on May 26 1873 (Records of the Greenmount Cemetery). The Venerable Bede had compared St Columba' s monks to a spreading hive as they scattered to influence the Old World ; so the young shoots of the O'Donnell line spread and spread in the New World, the children of Columbus linking themselves in marriage with such representative families as the Iselins of New York, the Carrolls, Hillens, Jenkins and Lees of Maryland.* ' Among my fathers, names of ancient story, Heroes and god-like patriots, who subdued The world by arms and virtue ; •••' Rowe •see Notes page 5 3 52 ~ ;. ,, ..,. .,,.,./ .•✓- ... , ... , PLATE ){II l\IRs. COL Ul\IBUS O'DOX~ELL nee Eleanora Pascault Daughter of Jean Charles Alarie Loui Pascau!t, J.\farquis de Po/eon. lr{fe of General Columbus O'Donnell. Born I 799, J1arritd September 8th I 8 I 3, died July 27th, I 870. J(gtes on Families into which the Children of General Columbus O'Donnell married HILLEN FAMILY EMILY married Solomon Hillen Mayor of Baltimore ( 1842 ), Member of Congress and Member of the Maryland Legislature. The Hillens notable in Maryland History first settled at Jamestown, Virginia, 1623. Later they removed to Maryland. They furnished many officers in the Revolution and the War of r 8 r 2. LEE FAMILY JOSEPHINE married Thomas Sim Lee, grandson of Thomas Sim Lee, Governor of Maryland 1779/84, 1792/4 descendant of Colonel Richard Lee who emigrated from Shropshire, England to Virginia I 640. Two sons of this family were Signers of the Declaration of In dependence. !SELIN FAMILY ELEANORA married Adrian Iselin an eminent Merchant and Banker of New York. The well known firm of A. Iselin and Co. bears his name and is still conducted by his descendants. His father, Isaac, born in Bile 1753 came to New York in 1801. He was a member of an old and honoured family settled in Switzerland since · 1 364. Adrian Iselin was born in his father's country house which then stood on the banks of the Hudson River near the present site of the Tomb of General Grant. CARROLL FAMILY CHARLES OLIVER married Helen Sophia Carroll, great-granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. This family was established in Mary- land by Charles Carroll of Litterloona, King's County, Ireland who came to America in 1689 as Agent for Lord Baltimore. JENKINS F AlVI ILY CoLUMBus married Caroline Jenkins of the Maryland family founded by William ap Jenkins and his wife who was a Courtenay and a niece of the Earl of Devonshire. They came to Mary- land in 1640 to escape religious persecution. J 53 APPENDIX I Thomas Twining in his Tra'lJels in .America 100 years ago (Harpers' Black and White Series I 893) describes a visit to" Canton " :- " (1796) Early in the afternoon the friends of Colonel O'Donald (sic) who were to dine with him called upon me at his desire to accompany me to his country house, distant about seven miles. Having mounted my horse, we proceeded down Market Street, and when nearly at the bottom of the town turned to the left and gained the country extending along the basin of the Patapsco. We reached " Canton " after a merry ride. Colonel O'Donald has shown his Indian predilections in the construction of his residence as well as in its name. The long, low house with a deep verandah in front had somewhat the appearance of a" pukka" bungalow. It was pleasantly situated amongst fields and small woods not far from the junction of the Patapsco and the Chesapeake. The Colonel told me that when he was in Calcutta he had a great desire to visit the interior of India and particularly Lucknow. My journey into the same part of the country seemed to afford him considerable interest as well as my Imperial Seal. He appeared. to wish that he had passed more years in India and fewer in America. Nothing was omitted to testify his satisfaction at seeing me and I should gladly have accepted his invitation to pass two or three days at " Canton " if time had permitted me. After a sumptuous dinner the Colonel's mends accompanied me back to Baltimore and even to the door of my Hotel. This was one of the most pleasant days I passed in America ". Richard Parkinson in his Tour in .America (1798- 54 APPENDIX I Colonel O'Donnell died at" Canton" on October 5th, 1805 in the 56th year of his age. The Maryland Journal, in making this announcement says: "He was possessed of a large fortune, a considerable part of which he applied to objects of great national importance. He imported cattle of the most improved breeds and multiplied them at great expense. He was the founder of that elegant edifice in which the Dancing Assemblies are held, in which the Public Library is deposited, the handsomest, perhaps, and the most spacious for such purpose to be seen in the United States. He projected and carried into effect (solely with his own means) the supply of good water for shipping at Fell's Point. He built warehouses and wharves and was President of the Fire Insurance Company in the State. He was Colonel of the Militia and beloved by his Regiment. He represented the City of Baltimore in the State Legislature, where he gained reputation as an orator by his speeches in favor of the Potomac Canal, being henceforth known as the " father of the Potomac Canal ". In acts of charity, benevolence and hospitality who is the man in this community who hath exceeded?" APPENDIX II In the records of the Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore are the following entries : " COLUIVIBUS O'DONNELL; buried May 26 1873, 81 years of age ELEANORA PASCAULT O'DONNELL; July 27 1870, 71 years of age (wife of above)." Eleanora Cecilia Pascault, wife of General Columbus O'Donnell was the second daughter of the Marquis Jean Charles Marie Louis Felix Pascault de Poleon and his wife Mary Magdalene Slye, a member of a well known family of St. Mary's County, Maryland whose marriage is set forth in the records of the Old Cathedral at Baltimore under date of December 22, r 789. Most of the scanty information regarding the family of the Marquis de Poleon is derived from the Diary of James Gallatin (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1914). As Gallatin intimately knew the family and received his knowledge at first hand, there seems to be no reason why his testimony, which is the most veracious obtainable, should not be credited. He notes (February 18, 1815) :- " We also called on Madame Patterson Bonaparte in Geneva. She was very witty and made father laugh." (Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison, Minister to France and Ambassador to England.)" She told us how she first met her husband Jerome Bonaparte. He had gone to America in command of a ship arriving in Baltimore. He was invited to dine with an old Frenchman, the Marquis de Poleon who had escaped from Santo Domingo.•.. On account of the troubled state of France he had thought it wiser to go to America. All the beauties of Baltimore were invited to the dinner. Among them the Catons (grand-daughters of Charles Carroll of Carrollton who married respectively the Duke of Leeds, the Marquess of Wellesley and Lord Stratford). Miss Patterson was gazing out of the window over- 55 APPENDIX II looking the drive with Monsieur de Poleon's eldest daughter, Henriette. She continued ' We saw two young men approaching the house. Mademoiselle Pascault exclaimed, pointing to the taller one,' That man will be my husband!' I answered' Very well. I will marry the other one '. Strangely enough we both did as we said. Henriette Pascault married Reubel, son of one of the five Members of the French Directory and· I married Jerome Bonaparte ". The father of the Marquis de Poleon had married, in France, Mademoiselle Dupuy, daughter of a Naval Surgeon. It was considered a mesa.lliance and he settled in Santo Domingo where he possessed. large estates. He died in I 766 and was succeeded by the father of Mrs. O'Donnell. The uprising of the slaves in the Island and the horrible massacres of white planters caused him, with many other refugees, to flee for his life. He sought safety in Baltimore and made his home there. An interesting sidelight upon the sojourn of the Pascaults in Santo Domingo is contributed by a ietter (February 6 1924) from Count Jean de Sayve, who married Aileen O'Donnell ( ) in which he states that his sister-in-law the Marquise de Sayve (nle de Poleon Saint Georges) had shown him her family genealogy which sets forth that a certain Marquis de Poleon had last been heard of in Santo Domingo in the I 8th century. All trace of him having been lost his brother assumed the title in France. This brother left no sons and the son of his daughter, the Marquise de Saint Georges added the Poleon name to his own resulting in the present patronymic de Poleon Sain t Georges. Besides Henriette, (Madame Reubel) the Pascaults had one son, Charles Louis, a Captain in the Mexican War (married Anne Goldsborough) and two younger daughters Eleanora (Mrs. O'Donnell) and Josephine (Mrs. Gallatin). After Henriette married the friend and travelling companion of Jerome Bonaparte, who became the husband of her most intimate friend Betsy Patterson, this brilliant honeymoon quartette sailed together for France, but before reaching their goal fate parted these two young women who were destined never again to meet. Elizabeth Patterson was not permitted to land in France but Henriette Pascault, as the wife of the son of Baron Reubel, was handsomely received at the Court of the First Consul. There she became Maid of Honor to the lovely Josephine whose train was afterwards carried by six Queens. Madame Reubel was an acknowledged beauty of the First Empire and at one time was Lady in-Waiting to the Queen of Westphalia, Jerome Bonaparte's second wife at the Palace in Cassel. Her descendants have always lived in Paris. The children of her son Frederic, who married. Julia Coster of New York, were Jack (married Miss Post of New York) and Etta who died unmarried. One of her daughters married first, Frederick Bryan of New York and n, secondes nous, l\'Ionsieur de! Peche. The Marquis Pascault de Poleon was not known in Baltimore by his title. His name appears on old maps of the City and in local histories as Louis, or Louis Felix Pascault. It was the practice of the French Noblemen, including the refugees from Santo Domingo, to lay aside their titles in free America. APPENDIX II The Baltimore property of the Marquis near Saratoga and Paca Streets, with. grounds ex .. tending nearly to Baltimore Street, is recorded in the name of Louis Pascault on old City Maps in the Maryland Historical Society. This same institution is in possession of a coloured plate of his commercial house-flag, showing the initial" P" on a white ground with scarlet swallow tails indicating his interest in shipping. To resume from Gallatin's Diary-(Baltimore, September ro 1823) :- " General Reubel and his wife have just called. They are living with Monsieur Pascault who has the beautiful daughter ... I have seen Miss Pascault; Madame Bonaparte was right. I have never seen anything more lovely. (September 24 1823)" I went this afternoon to Monsieur Pascault's house, it is the oldest house in Baltimore. Most beautiful iron gates that he had sent from France, an air of refinement about the interior that I have never seen out of France. I was received by Madame Reubel who is very hand.some. She has a daughter and two sons; the youngest, Frederick, is the handsomest young ina.n I have ever seen. . . . Miss Pa.scault is charming. I am without doubt in love with her. Her father has lost most of his money. Madame Reube! asked me'"to sup with them to-morrow evening; quite sans fafon. She wishes to present me to her father-he is very old. Madame Pascatilt never appears. (September 26 1823) "I am quite off my head. Monsieur, who is the Marquis de Poleon, is a gentleman of the Old Regime. No wonder his daughter is so well bred. He received me with the most wonderful courtesy, tapped a beautiful gold snuff box and offered it to me .... the supper quite simple but served on beautiful silver. Every thing had the air of the greatest refinement. I thought myself back in France again. (September 29 1823)" I have again called at Monsieur Pascault's and was received most kindly. He gave his consent to my paying addresses to his daughter. Mr. Pascault has another daughter married to a Mr. O'Donnell the son ofa rich Indian Nabob. She was married when she was fifteen and had a child before she was sixteen. She is. very beautiful, like a full blown rose. (December 26, I 8 2 3) " All is settled. Mademoiselle Pascault has consented to be my wife and we are to be married early in the New Year. Mama and Frances are delight ed with her. She is so gentle and innocent. Mama says she is like a beautiful lily. She is beautiful, there is no doubt about that. Madame Reubel rather astonished me by appearing the other day in a bright red wig. It seems she has wigs of every color to go• with her frocks. A Bonaparte fashion and not certainly adopted by the ladies of the Restoration as I never saw such a thing in Paris. A brother of Monsieur Pascault lives. in a lodge at the gate but nobody ever speaks to him, the reason I do not know. (December 31 1823) "To-night we all sup with Monsieur Pascault to see the Ne\v Year in. (January 2 I 824) "The entertainment at Monsieur Pascault's was of the greatest elegance. Father was n1uch pleased and I noticed his astonishment at the fine plate and also the quantities of family portraits, (Sc." 57 APPENDIX II (May 10 I 824) " The French Minister intimated to us that he had an important package to deliver into one of our hands or to accredited servants .... Imagine my surprise when I found it was addressed to me. It was from the Duke and Duchess d'Angouleme-a most beautiful silver-gilt vase with their arms on one side-a wedding present. • • • Monsieur Pascault was greatly overcome when he saw it." James Galla.tin and Josephine Pascault were married in 1824. On February 27 1825 a son was born to them and named Albert. The Diary relates that :- " The first clothes my boy wore were those of Napoleon. The Queen of Westphalia gave then to MadamP. Reubel when her boy was born and she gave them to my Josephine. He still wears the dressing gown made by Madame Mere." The Marquis Pascault de Poleon died in Baltimore on May 3 I I 824 and his wife departed this life on December 24 1830. Each was seventy-five years of age. Their graves are marked by a marble obelisk, inscribed as above, in the New Cathedral Cemetery at Baltimore. Their only son, Louis Charles, a Captain in the Mexican War, married Anne Goldsborough of that well known Maryland family. He left three daughters and four sons the eldest of whom, Louis Felix, was the father of Mrs. Emily Pascault Bums of Baltimore who is the oldest living representative of the family. Her only brother, Louis Felix, left a son of the same name, of Talbot County, Maryland, who is the head of the Pascault family. Bi!Jliography ANNALS OF THE FouR MASTERS (7 vols. from MSS in Library of the Royal Iri~h. Academy, Dublin). ANNALS OF U I.STER. BuRKE's PEERAGE. ,, DoR.\!ANT AND EXTINCT PEERAGES. ,, VICISSITUDES OF FAMILIES. CANTON DAYS, pub. by The Canton Company of Baltimore, 1928. CELTIC ScoTLAND, by Dr Skene. CHANGING IRELAND, by Norreys J. O'Conor. DoCW:R.A's NARRATION. ENCYCLOP1£DIA BRIT. 14th and I 1th Eds. FAcsIMILIES OF NAT. IRISH MSS., Sir John Gilbert. FucHTOF THE EAIU.S, by Rev. C. P. Meehan (tr. Rev. P. S. Dinneen, Irish Texts Society). HIGH DEEDS OF FINN, THE, by T. W. Rolleston. Hot.INSHED. IRELAND, HISTORY oF, by Geoffrey Keating (tr. O'Mahony). llllsH A.~IQUARIAN RESEARCHES, by Sir WiUiam Betham. llllsH ARcHAEOLOGICAL SocIETY. Mrsc. IiusH PEDIGREES, by O'Hart. LIFE OF HucH RoE (O'Clery's, ed. by Rev. Denis Murphy). LIFE OF ST CoLuMBA, by Adaronan, (tr. by Wi11iaro Reeves). LIFE oF ST CotuMBA, by Adarnnan, (tr. by W. Huyshe). LIFE OF ST CoLuM~ by the Count de Montalembert. LIFE OF ST CoLuMBA, by J. Smith, Member of the Antiquarian and Highland Societies of Scotland. LIMERICK, H1sro:a.Y oF, by Fitzgerald and MacGregor. LITERARY HISTORY OF IRELAND, by Douglas Hyde. LivEs OF THE SAINTS, by W. Stokes. MYTHOLOCICAL LEG!NDS OF ANCIENT IRELAND, by J. O'B. Crowe. !v1YTHs AND LEGENDS oF THE CELTIC RAcE, by T. W. Rolleston. NATIONAL AND HisTOIUCAL BALLADs, SoNcs C!fc., by Thomas Davis. PROPHECIES, MrRACLEs AND V1s10Ns OF ST CoLUMBA, by Adamnan (tr. by J. T. Fowler). REPORT oF RoYAL CoM. oF HisT. MSS, 1871 (Second Appendix:). SMALLER Soc1AL HISTORY OF IRELAND, A, by P. W. Joyce. TEXT-BOOK oF IRISH LITERATURE, by Eleanor Hull. TRAGEDY oF lsABELLA II, THE, by Francis Gribble. TRIBES OF HY-FIACHACH FROM BooK OF LECAN, by J. O'Donovan. UNCERTAIN CROWN oF SPAIN, THE, by Robert Sencourt. 59 Index Adam, I. Cathach (or Caah), the Battle Book; Princes of Adarnnan writes Life of St Columba, 4-5. Tyrconnell hold the, 6 ; case ordered for, 1 I ; Adrian IV, deeds the crown of Ireland to Henry II lost, I 9 ; recaptured, 20 ; custodian killed, of England, I 2. 2 5 ; carried away from Ireland, 39 ; now in Aedh (see Hugh O'Donnell). Dublin, 39 ; St Caillin prophecy 39; open Agnes (!need), 26, 27, 37• . ing of, 40. American citizenship papers taken out by Captam Celestino, Pope, 3. O'Donnell, 45. Chews, note to 4 5. Assaroe, Donell Mor O'Donnell interred at, I 2. Cnoc-Buidhbh, Defeat of, 2 I. Ball-dearg (' Red Spot ' O'Donnell) Table II, p. 37. Columba (see Saint). Clan rallies around, 38 and IIOU. Accepts Columbkille (see Saint). King Wi1liarn's pension C!f c., 38. Conall Gulban son of Niall., 2; patrimony of, poem Ballimote, The Book of, purchased for I 40 cows, 2 3 on, death, and reference to conversion of by Bal)irnote, The Castle of, 3 I. St Patrick, 3; saints of his race, 10; present Battle Book of the O'Donnells, (see Cathach). day descendants, 40 and O'Donnell Family Bede, The Venerable, 52. Tree. Berret, Joseph Etienne, 47 • Contention of the Poets, 8. Betham, Sir WiUiarn, his attestation of O'Donnell Dalaigh, 11 and note. family tree, 3, Reference to 39· Denis-of-the-Thumbs, I 9. Bloody Slaughterings, I I. Desertereagh, I 4. Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon 48, 50, 58. Diarmid, High Monarch of Ireland, dispute Bonaparte, 'Madame', (Elizabeth Patterson), 48, referred to, 5 ; judgement stirs St Columba, 6. 50 (11ote), 55, 56. Bonaparte, Jerome, 50. Docwra, Sir Henry, on position of the English, ;o ; Bonaparte, Empress Josphine, 50. secures Niall Garv, 3o and 110te ; his opinion Book of the Dun Cow (Leabhar Na H-Uidhri) ofNiall Garv, 34; on death ofNiall Garv, 37. recaptured, 17, and nott. Prayer inscribed_ Donegal, the O'Donnells princes over, see Tyrcon in it for Hugh Roe O'Donnell, I 8. nell. Boyne, Battle of the, 38. Donnell Mor (O'Donnell) first of the race to bear Breogan's Tower, 1, 32. the family name, I. Bruce, Edward (of Scotland), 15. Eber, I. Bruidh, King, 8. Edward, 1, 14. Burke, Richard(' the Red Earl'), I 5. Elizabeth, Queen, sends fleet to Ireland, 2 5 ; Canton, 45-46. refuses to release Hugh Roe O'Donnell, 27; Caracena, Earl of, welcomes O'Donnell, 3 2. refuses to permit him freedom of conscience, Carew MSS., 3 3. 29. Carrolls, 1lote to 45 and p. 52. Elliott, Mrs. Mary Chew, 48. 6o INDEX Elliott, Miss Sallie Chew marries, 44 ; her descent, K.inel-Eogha.in (later to become the O'Neills), 45· descent of, 2 ; English league with, I 4. England, plight of, 16; heresy in, 23. K.insale, disaster of, 3 r-2. Eoghan (Owen), 2; death of, 3. Leabhar Breac or Speckled Book, I I. Eremon, I. Leabhar Na H-Uidhri (see Book of the Dun Cow). Finley, Ebenezer, 47. Lees, Sim, 5 2. Finole, burns Monastery of Donegal, 18; obituary Loyds, 45. notice on, 2 3. MacDermot overawed, 20. Fitzgerald, Lord Thomas, 23. MacEoin of the Glinns, his wife captured by Conn "Four Masters, The", 11, 2 (11fJte), 12. O'Donnell, I 9. Gallatin, Albert, 5o and Appendix ii. MacKenna, 27-8. Garret, Lord Justice leads army into Galway, 20. MacWilliam swims the Moy, 21. Geraldine League, 2 3. McCarthy, Lady Eleanor marries Manus O'Don- Gillachrist, I. nell, 23. Gulban, ( see Conall). Maryland Journal, 44, 49. Henry II, claims crown, 12; asks O'Donnell's Milesius, I. assistance, I 2. Motto, origin of, 3. Napoleon, Emperor (see Bonaparte). Henry VIII offends Manus O'Donnell, 2 3. 'Never Die', 46. High-King takes Irish crown to Rome, 11. Hillens, 52. Niall Garv, Sir (see O'Donnell and 11otes to 31). Howards, 11ote to 45. Niall Nuogheallach (Nial/us Nwiobsidum, Niall of Huggins, Paymaster, 45. the Shining Deeds, Niall of the Nine Hostages) Hy (see Iona). Authentic history begins from, I ; captures Inauguration of the O'Donnell chiefs, 14. the youth who later became St Patrick, 2; Ineed (see Agnes). his descendants 2 ; is slain ; modem des cendants, 4 3. Inishowen, fortress erected at, I 5. O'Boyles, r I. Iona, 4 ; St Columba lands on, 6 ; description of, O'Canannana, I I. 7 ; grows in importance, 9 ; rava.ged by O'Conors defeated, I 5. pirates, 10; at present time, 10 and 110te. O'Connors of Sligo, I 8. Ir, I. - 17, O'Donnell, ancestry I ; rule over Tyrconnell, 3 ; Iselin, Columbus O'Donnell possession of family motto, 3 ; an O'Donnell writes Life of St tree, 3 ; descent of, 52. Columba, 4 ; O'Donnell assistance asked by Ith, I. King Henry III, 12; Battle Song, 28 and James I creates Rory O'Donnell Earl of Tyrconnell, illustrations facing page 29, 35. Jan, Lady, 43. Jenkins, 52. John, King of England, I 2. O'DONNELLS OF TYRCONNELL Juan, Don ( of Aguila) siezes K.insale and refuses to Caffer (brother of Rory), 36. surrender, 3 I. failure of, 3 2 ; returns to Calvagh (son of Manus) captures his father, 24; Spain, 33. vanquishes the O'Neill, 24-5 ; O'Neill Kilmacrennan, 2 8. revenge on, is held to ransom and dies, 2 5. Kinel-Conail, the O'Donnells a sept of, 2 ; growing Cath bharr orders case for Battle Book, r I. strength of, 4; warlike attributes, 10; king's Con (son of Calvagh) a prisoner, 2 5 ; escapes and tribute to, Io ; makes havoc, I 2 ; joins dies leaving eight sons, 26. army of Lord Justice Garret, 20. Conn (son of Hugh) becomes chief and is slain, r 5. K 61 INDEX O'DONNELLS OF TYRCO~~ELL (cont.) Manus (son of Hugh Duv) writes Life of St Conn ( son of Hugh Roe) his war-like achievements, Columba, 4; his account of the settlement of becomes chief and imprisons his brother, 18- Iona, 7; first mention of surname, 1 I.; is 19; defeat, r9; killed, 20. deputy, 2 r ; defeats the O'Neill, 2 I·; suc ceeds, 23 ; dispute with Henry VIII, 23; Connell, Lord Lieut. of Donegal, 37-3 8 ; resumes is captured by Calvagh, 24; MSS ofh.is book on leadership, 39. St Columba sold centuries later, 24 (note); Con Oge, 26. dies, 25. Daniel, Colonel, 39 and note. Manus (brother of Hugh Roe), 31. Dearbha.ll, set aside by her husband, 15. Mary Stuart, not; 3, p. 3 5. Donnell Mor, withstands King John, pursues O'Dally, dies, I 2. Melaghlin, I 2. Donnell, Roe, contests for leadership, is imprisoned, Naghla.n inaugurated and killed by his nephews, 17. kills Rory and is overtaken by tribulation, 17. Niall held to ransom, 16. Eigneachan succeeds to the lordship, 12. Niall Garv (Sir) carries on tribal warfare, 26; Godfrey fights a brave fight and dies, 1 3. opposes Hugh Roe, 28; left to guard Tyr Hugh (Aedh) inaugurated, slays his brother and connell; goes over to English, 30; is nearly killed by Rory, 3 I ; seizes Monastery of dies, I 5. Donegal, 3 I ; and holds Ballyshannon, 3 3 ; Hugh of Lark.field, 37. his demands, 34 ; proclaimed Lord of Tyr Hugh (son of Rory), 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, 36. connell, 34 ; goes to England, 3 5 ; descend Hugh of Ramelton (brother of Sir Niall Garv), 37. ants of Tables I, II and III, 36-38; sent to Hugh ' Duv ' (Son of Hugh Roe), 18 ; is released Tower and dies, 37. and becomes chief, 20 and note ; goes on Nualla, 35. pilgrimage and visits Henry VIII, 2 I ; builds castle, 22; death and public opinion of, Rory (son of Naghlan) captures Donnell Roe, 17 22. Rory (brother of Hugh Roe) in hand-to-hand battle, Hugh (MacManus) inaugurated, 2 5 ; inter-tribal 30; his encounter with Sir Niall Garv, 3 I ; conflict, 26; his second wife, 26; fails to appointed acting-chief, 32; carries on the ransom his son Hugh Roe, 27; resigns, 28; struggle, 33; summoned to Dublin, 34; dies, 31. goes to England and is created Earl of Tyr Hugh Roe (son of Niall) kills Naghlan, mutilates connell, 3 5 ; flight to Rome, 3 5-6 ; attainted. Turlough and becomes 'The' O'Donnell, 17; and dies, 36. builds monastery, goes hosting and shows his Shane-Luirg banished to Tipperary, 16 and note; strength as Lord of Tyrconnell, appoints 40. Egneghan Tanist, I 8 ; visits Scotland ana resigns chieftaincy, 19; dies, obituary notice Turlough-of-the-Wine, leads army into Sligo, I 5- I banishes his son, Shane Luirg, on, 20. 6 ; 16 ; becomes a monk at Assaroe and dies, 16, Hugh Roe, captured by the English, 26 ; attempts his descendants, 4 3. to escape, 27; inaugurated at Kilmacrenman, 28; becomes known as 'Red Hugh', 28; wrote to Philip of Spain, 29 ; success in battle, 29-30 ; appoints Niall Garv to guard O'DONNELLS OF BALTIMORE Tyrconnell, 3o ; makes a forced march to Descent through John O'Donnell of Limerick, Kinsale, 3 I ; defeat, 3 I ; his embassy to Turlough-of-the-Wine and Niall of the Shin Spain, 31-32-33; death, 33. ing Deeds, 43. INDEX Captain John, runs a way to sea, 4 3 ; extraordinary O'Neill demands submission and is overpo;,vered, adventures and arrival in ...i\merica, 44; 21. marries, 44-5 ; purchases a plantation, 45-6 ; O'Neill, Shane, weds daughter of Manus O'Donnell, corresponds with President Jefferson, 45 ; 2 3 ; attacked by Calvagh O'Donnell, 24 ; his his household, 46 ; opinion of Baltimore revenge, 2 5. merchants, 47; sampler by his daughter, O'Neill (Earl of Tyrone), 27 and 11ote; negotiates Mary, 47 ; death, 48 ; inventory of his a pardon for Hugh Roe O'Donnell, 2 8 ; price property, 48--9; obituary notice, 49; value on his head, 29 ; defeated at Kinsale, 3 I. of his estate, 49 ; See Appendix i. O'Rourke, 33-34. His children according to age, 4 7. Palmer, Mary, 47. Mary (1790), 47-8. Parke, Mrs. Eliza, G., 47. Columbus (1792), 47-8. Parkinson, Richard, on Colonel O'Donnell, 46 ; Deborah (1794), 47. and Appendix, i. John (1796), 47- Patrick, see Saint Elliott (1798), 47. Patterson, Elizabeth (see Madame Bonaparte). Eliza White (1800), 47- Patterson, William, 48. Henry (1802), 47-8. Peale, Charles William (the elder), 48. General Columbus (son of Captain or Colonel Pedigree of the O'Donnells, see Iselin. John) first of the line to be an American Pembroke, (' Strongbow '), Earl of, I 2. citizen by birth, 50; (note to 43 for des cent and also Appendix ii) ; his marriage, 50 ; Perrott, Sir John, 26. Pascault de Poleon, Marquis, 50. in Charles Street, 5 I ; his activities and public interests, 51 ; his death 52; allied families, ,, Eleanor, her marriage to Columbus 52 ; Notes on families into which the children O'Donnell, 5o ; her death, 5I. of General Columbus married, 53. Philip II of Spain, crown of Ireland assigned to him by Pope, 26. Philip III of Spain, 30, 32, 3 3. Plot to kill Hugh Roe O'Donnell, 33. O'DONNELL'S Poor, Dudley, 47. ,, of Grayfield, Table I, 36 and Table II, Reube!, Appendix ii. 37. Richard, King of England, I 8. of Killeen, Table I, 36 and Table II, 37. " Ridgeleys, note 4 5. ,, ofNewport, Table I, 36; Table II, 37. Rock of Doon, 4, 13- ,, of Ross, Table I, 36 and Table II, 37. Ruaidri of Connaught, his wife stolen, 1 2. ,, of Spain, Austria and _the Indies, Table Saint Brigid, of Eremonian descent, 2; her charac !land III, 37, 39. ter, 4. Saint Columba (or Columbkille) of same stem as O'Donnell, Sir Charles Routledge, 40. 43, 5l. the O'Donnells) 2 ; Birth of and race, 4 ; Life by O'Donnell, 4, 7, 24 ; by Adamnan 4, 5 ; copies the psalter and is discovered, 5 ; Odrah, 7. takes action, 6; is excommunicated and sails O'Freel, II, 13, 16. for Scotland, 6 ; founds monastery on Iona, 7 ; O' Gallachers, 1 r . goes to Britain, 7 ; crowns Aiden, 8 ; at O'Neill (O'Neales), r I. tends Convention at Drumkeath and fights O'Neill Brian, I 3. Battle of the Bards, 8 ; dies, 9. O'Neill Conor, r 4. Saint Finnian, 5. INDEX Saint Patrick, as a captive youth, 2 ; arrival in Twining, Thomas on Colonel O'Donnell, 46 and Ireland, 3; flings down King-Idol, 3; his Appendix i (from TrarJels in .America). effect on Ireland, 4. Tyrconnell (later Donegal), 3 ; note 2, p. 3 5. Sampler worked by Mary O'Donnell giving family Tyrconnell, rst Earl of, (see Rory, brother of Hugh details, 4 7. Roe O'Donnell). · Shane Luirg (see O'Donnell). Tyrconnell, 2nd Earl of, (see Hugh., son of Rory). Slye, 55· TyrcoweUians, I I. ' Son of the Eagle ' taken by Con O'Donnell, 2 5. Tyrone, rst Earl of, (see O'Neill). Song of Trust, 6. Ui Neill, 2, I I. Spanish Armada, 26. Ulster King of Arms, (see Sir WiUiam Betham). Spanish ships at Killy begs, 3 I. Ulster forfeited, 3 5. Stone of Destiny, 8. Union of th.e O'Neills and O'Donnells, 29. Talbot, Colonel Richard, Earl of Tyrconnell, Walsingham, Sir Francis, 27. '/IOte, p. 36. William III, 3 9. Tanistic succession, r6 'IIOte; made illegal, 37. Wynne, Dr. Thomas, note, 45. Turlough (brother of Hugh O'Donnell), I 5. Yellow Ford, prophecy of, by St Berchan, 29. Turlough-of-the-Wine (see O'Donnell). York, Duke of, comes to Ireland, I 6. This edition privately printed for Columbus O'Donnell Iselin, Esquire, of New York, is limited to three hundred copies of which this copy is. No. 38 Printel in EAglatul at THE FAVIL PRESS LTD. 152 ChvrclJSl,eet,Kmsi,sgw,. London, W .8 THE FOLLOWING CHARTS ARE REPRODUCED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR IN THE PRECEDING VOLUME. Colonel John (!J..J)onncLL .Sa rah CheLV [!lioll of. Canfon,,Bcfl,'marc, ,t,'f,,,-_ylcnd J,,'1.SJ.,.f.,,. ol C apta;n. "T'horn.,p [/l;nft hcrn f,71+:) J;,d f80'j of J:,-/1:, P~mt_,}3alf,mo.,.., , '1-tf-,,::_r,lcnd E--' .. 1-1:,,,...... '.13on.d Chcr.v r.-t,err'rt.1d !,78) ,---r t·Ta,".!,, C;.J)onnc!i 1~ ·t~1.;!~ 1700 m.,Jo>;ph At:~',-.naJ3,,rrtZl Jo.sef:;h1ne,,. CJJ)onnell-Thomq.s _)im. t·ee [iG.a(Jora OJ)onn.ell~ Adr;ion 1.selin 1.ouj.s O;J)onne.ll #ary tJJ)onnr:z.il E,,r.,:fy C"':Donnei: ~Sofomon 1-ii1Len 1 b .[Jee tf,. 1818 _9rrm.d>on oJ'7Ji.r,rno;,,.51m "lit&.. h.;J."r..q_ }C,_ 182.O °} •~•w.J' h . ./lpr 2;,, - I 8 I 6 f":: 1t,,lr., ff,. i8: 7 t'f"1,,.uo~ of)J-t!lltmon. 1:,-,,2. yort d. ;Jct:!. !888 _ -~:n,,,.,.,. "' C"'".9,..~~ . d. '3t1-h -,~ .. :.l'~OH ,Sovw.rno,,-Jot.-t-111,y:~nd t/79-2-- d l\feo.,J Z7'• lfjJ7 ·M~f"f"I;.,.,,- o_l rti~ ,t.,r,,.~_.11f4,,,J 1,_~,.r:11.1r4. ,y ,792.·-~ Joi-i.r. Chcr!e,:5 eJ'J)onnell • Jdia idie r/Yr ae,_1.J Aco,.5ta tiJ)on n ell 'He.Len 1,. #'!-'1 ,, ... 1868 d.Ju~ ,g•• Iq,'t ,_ ,/,,g s:· 1s69 b T\/.ou 19"' /87! d..,.:;r.:;_i, 11 Thon:icr,51-lri/Qn ~Scpn,c [,,--n /; u 1-i, ti en Ill n,..,., (,z ../ vl·C ,.,4rn.aud c".r. Zo Y5> ~ [/ enz "'·Com t.: :Je~n de. ,S ")JI 1, Moy 19~ 18'-0 dfvi., .:.o• 1388 1:, Apr !5" t85f , - ,/ john Columhi.f--5 tJ'J)on.nQll " ~ct. Jo,. 1srs· d. 1'0 2.7~ r 9 o5 • John {3 rd) C;;J)onnrzll £dmond 1-larr:_y CfJ)onn<2fl 11ary.Jane CJ))onnell Aron Palmrzr G))onnel! Charip Carro!L CJJ)onnell 1-ouj5 '1rndf:y 0))onnel "' d•'::!9Ml?r" oj A~u,s!m J",.c_hli;'~ ,5m,fh °} ..Altz:xcn..d,.,a, Vr~1n10 I ne!John ~onnc!L .Sa rah Chew Elliot! Captain Henry J:fndczr5on O;J)onne!l c.13. = 'Lad_y Jan. fon,,~clf,mort;,, ,ftfa,,-_yland J,,"'91-,.l,,,. ol Captain. 'Ti.om. I 1-1en·ry ~J)onnv!l E, f,n. 2_J"' I ao:., .Saroh Maria t:;Vonne.ll t'f--larriel 0,;I)onne!l '1--!en1y (:[Donnell, Dj__;cb~fi-,.S. 1--,'arr,'.:,on ch;;obc!h (JJ)on rn. 7V. e u.J~ cr1. 1, 1a55 a rs7,,_ b. J)..:r..• 2 6 ·• :a;_ 7 J. _,,.:!'~- .l. _. 1875 d 1cn 17• ,;;,sf c:~~Cl'l i"rt 11-r..,, Ch 1trc.f-t e_/ i,~~/.uui rn lV_ew.-'c om. 1%.Y- r,,_ 'Zl.·'cr'ren onnell • :Julw .:.die. d'tr a,:___i., .Aco,.st~ tfj)on n ell 'H12 le n Carro!l (J J)on n.ell t}--T..A. •/ "]';:.j ,i]ly Cotlt~.z ,;Dublin. M'CJ rd~ nu!_f:y hi:;, t~ct.JeJli1J:.9 t9i4 h . .,,,t.9 B_.. !869 .2.t. ,s'· b N_o"' :9' tB?r d.A~r-. ~ t92. 9 c~mf?:Ct"l1'on "t Ark/1t.o n~ar fv'&::,:,or- lfl am {.z .Arnai..d d 1/1-39h Oj)onn12.l! 1.:,,i,,.,,nf 1( [ 0))onnaLl 1-cuµ Courln:!_Y O~Oonnel! 0LLv nnell Charli-5 Carroll CJ;_Donnell 'Loujs '"1tnd15 0;J)onnelL"' Carol~n.e_ 1ohn,::;on. •1-homcr;s [!!."ol! 0;_I)onnell Seor_ge, Wa.5hif';.9lon CJ;Donnll.l!c W::lh.rzlmi'na 1-/,,rn1ck..,_t2ll /Ide,J3_yron '_jo/hn I 1-len·ry [!'J)onn~!l 1, /"" 2.3"' J ao:.., hy,5 (JJ)onnell ~G:Jraii,·,rz. Jer.qJr._5 ... ;BJ/ d. Apr,l .:r· ,il-M "l ,fv._,,) l,..r,d .Sarah tfvTCJria Cri;_Donnell 1-./orrie! 6,;Donnell cl,- ✓o6c!h tf[)onr.e!l E. leanor'a 6,I)onne.ll 1?5:hrz.rl &lmon.d C{J)on.nc.U i, 1a55 • JJ<1rr,',,l<.r rn:, 7V. e u)_-; ori. a re1~ - d :J~n 17• 186' r tn 7Y...ee.uc:orn ,zr ~·t. 1i He~ 5~ tB,,.2 d)uf!, ty' n97 ,.,,_ f'L~-"cr,..~n '"• ~ ':Jlf"'lrt'l.or~ I 1--!enr:!:J CJ;_J)onnr.z.!l 1-le!o.na 0;.vonnc!! JJrfJ;ad,<. r ~en£raf P,..A'. 'Pc:'n!~,,.• Exh.,h:tcJ ,'.": /,:"· f1,,,,•,.. s°(,:r ~nd 'L.4'c. rur4:.. ,- h .S•l'r 10~ 1862.. dOcfjt' IJ23 R_oy cl .. /tc. qJ ~ ":.:I. '-> 7,~ ,7• 1a72 ..{;!00::1 C(_l)onnQ.!l ..5,·r~~rnu.e!. P<2r01 CJ'J) onnefl J(C..SI., l(.C::.1£. rn ,,S.(,... 'H"'n!:.Y ;J)~~ j:r,jf n ftJ3..,d, IQ ,'I .,..Sgc. ~-~f.a(_,~ t:,..9o'-"'4rn man.l m ·r-,r~,..;, ,.., .. r;..~99 _a 5~,"'f ..:7 1~ :~, ..~t, _.,r11oh..-:ybcd, ln.d,'c1. 1-i1.f.9h Oj)onna l! '1.;,uf.,ndnf 1r,[ CJliv<2.r lll;olt t{Donne.il I,. Carohn.e_ 1ohn;;on. 'Thoma;, [.!hol! 0;J)onn12ll Seor_ge, Wa,shir}_9lon CJ;I)onna.ll• Wi1h.almi'na 1-larn,c~ll (-IdaJ3yron ~qhne CJ;I)onnelf 1{ae Mai::gar12,f q:Donn<2..ll of J} .,{r{:.n vr ol t,,. 'H. f:. 1.Voole n. m. C. r!J.'1-fun.!J!t -J 1-'ionfana (t) Char!~ <1...-an" -j-U-/a;h1t;.5lon (z) h. -t--r;,yf~ q90 ni.;Jo,:,,:ph At, 1-ouj5 O;J)onne./ l #ary CJ;J)onr:.rzil lr.10:f C";I)onnci: -Sofomon1-f;{len, C horfe:, 01,uer CJJ)or1nell h LO~ iif:t,2. J A'::':;:,• 18(( h. Apr 2-.. ~ I B ie: .~ :Jt..,!c,, [7na :8:7 1V[ouo~ 'Jf;B~llrmor~ rZ"rl. ;Jen d. JcC t :08'8 -~/n,-,,rr •I (.,.r...qr;~ '~""}-,.,- ~f lhc-~1cf_;;,#f"l.·d, 1.-,,)1.4lur,e. _,-r ' , -fy- ' •• •1trr.. • .r ' Thon:,.a,51-hllcn ~Scpnuz E-rn l,y 1--1,! i en =- H.. ,cnarc ·, ,~rrac,,'"1 ia$5n.~Y':J fl) h f,1';,_y /CJ,.. !8~9 d't'~r. .2c" t888 I, fipr 1;• 18J; ; ; .Allan 1--"TaµhcrY__y (2) john Columhtp 0J)onnafl !, CJ • £dmond 1-lari:y Cfl)onnrzll Mary.Jane O;J)onn12-ll ..Sarah ChQ.w CJ))onnr:z1 I .Aron Palmczr (9)Jonnell Charlp Carroll rJJ)onnell 1.__ouj.s 7ind~ 0))on ,n da':!9hl'" of A~u,1:in J",.c. hli:'~ ,_5rnilh m. ~on. oj ,/i1:5!J~tin JacJ...l,'~)Smr-:/h ;/ At 4X.artd,,-, a, V, ,=7tn1a •f ,:;,.,,rl1t.:x-an.d.,.-;,,, u?ini..d Wr'/fi"am Cmd pefrn a Ali'ce 1{_09er,5Jonr2,5 Ca!umf']r.p C'l'J)onne/( 1,se[i'n = [di/!-,_ CcJf ord Jon~ 6 Jon. If'"· 18"t8 b. ,5.,,1 2 6~ 1351 d. J'{ "" 10~ 1955 h 1-r;._y 1~ 1790 !,n.!i,(Zr,-l. 4Z. r~ ~ .. it, m.yo~1tph .Al,e.nncJ3~rr~t '-.t~,.lJ :nd rtt!urri.~t:J-~rr cir~,. "'~ fa:f:~r.:i d .. 1-fenr__j} 0;Donnc!l .Przfronc!ia tJ;I)onruzlt !Jrf-9<:d!. 7})onn ef! 1... cc %1-r'annah Ann f]y~an [8_f} !C26_,, cfi~h. Oj)onnef / "l.:~,.J..,.nonf 1(..£ john. Columhtp 0))onn12ll 1...ou0, Courln:3.;1 CJ;Donnell 0lrvQ.r [U~ol! {:)ponnell 4 i. 0cl. 50'• 1s5a· d.1'f-;, 27~ 1905 h. ;}•"- 2.0" 1860 d.,t,C,'; i, rss5 l,. cJd. f" I 1362 J.N_"'-" ·,9~ 1901 arah. Ch12.w 0))onno.1! .Aron Palmrzr (:J)Jonnefl Charfj.5 Carroll DJ>onnell 1-.oujs 'Jin.d15 0))onnell = Jhoma:, l!iiot! 0;,J)onnell .(Ida;J3yron :.;Jcjhnrz 0;J)o r.'L .son. oJ A'-'su~tin Jachlt~~.th /1,. 1-f.f:. Woolen. 1 :A'Jc;.a.~d,-(a1 o/i;sinia I I r1...ou.j.s C3J>onnell Ch.arl<;5 0//ve, 1;:;e/in "" ?Jronc~SarnQr (:) 1-lenry ~elr'n. [rru'fi"e. 0el1·n , ,. - . h '_5.,,_., 8 Id,'.,- h. Ar-r: 2 8"' I 3_51:, h ,S•J,f. If'" !860 . d ,.:Jan I" l_J j 2- ']·1 opa.,_.!;oddard (:z) d 1'!;? 26" 185b d M'!..~ 2'-t" 1,916 ft\ q,r-r IZ. r"1!:!J '!) c, 'L.,"m-u-ic~ ~nd rr:[41,rn.(td-~rr cjlilr l'\µfa!/.:.izr)dz.,;::h ;nfi.c:timo .... .z •'t-lcri,,.":", rc»,,'t{a.d Al'Tl~r-1 '-4 ~ loolt.lli• C:.£9,,--•q,,,:J MD. dl ~,n.d_y, Col!r:.94./)..,,;,lm. b~rllt7 a b0 (J'J)on.n.eU ~wroii.-:.2 Jer.i,,jn,5 25••;BJI ,d.Apn{..:5'"1A~ oj'fv."')1 .. ,.d • Di,ahalh 'L.:wra CJJ3,i'~n. .Saroh Moria tJ;I)onnell };lor:_y 0;,Donnc!L 5i'rS'arnue! Per:..;:1 0'J)onnell i(C.Sl, K.CJE. rr. ..S,r n~nr.y;!)4~ J;r:Jjtri F(tJJ,t!,,., 1911 ...Se(,,-.trf-a(!:I to ~O;.,l't:rn m,vil n, 1'-~Y,1-:. {4 4 ,:;99 :I S¢J-d .2.71" t51,,_6 .,,..ruahdbid, !ndr.",:J. 1-J~h OJ)onnel! 1..;,~f.-nonf 1(.[ (JlLJ.,,rz,r Elliot l 0/)onn.ell i.. 0,l. 5~ 1862 J.N_o.,../9~ 1901 .(fdo;Byron :;Jaj!ine CJ;I)onnelf 1{ae Ma ,:gore t q:Don n <2.-lL t,,. 'H.E. Wooten. rn. C. (JI. 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