O'NEILL FAMILY. - A famous Irish family, descended from Niall, king of Ireland in the 5th century. To it belonged Muircheartach Mac Neill, who was perhaps the first king of Ireland to convert to Christianity in the 6th century.

Particular fame was acquired by HUGH O. (c. 1540-1616), who, taking advantage of the misgovernment of the viceroys sent to the island during the reign of Elizabeth, was the leader of various insurrections, made himself the champion of freedom of conscience, and gathered Catholics under his banner. Having obtained the support of Spain and of the Holy See, he succeeded in conquering almost the whole island. Clement VII, in 1599, urged him with a brief to persevere in the defense of the Catholic faith and sent him a phoenix feather, a gift that O'N. interpreted as a recognition of his sovereignty over Ireland. From then on the fortune of his arms declined. Having made an act of submission to the crown, he nevertheless no longer felt safe and, fearing arrest, he abandoned the island in 1607 to settle in Rome, where he was hosted by Paul V and where he died. The son of a younger brother of Hugh was EUGENE O'N. (c. 1590-1649), who, after having been in the service of Spain, returned to Ireland and became general of the army that Charles I, engaged in the struggle against Parliament, was forming on the island. He set as his goal the complete independence of Ireland and for this reason came into conflict with the Catholic Council, which was not averse to recognizing, provided the rights of Catholics were guaranteed, the sovereignty of the king of England over the island. Other notable members of the family were DANIEL (c. 1612-64), who on Eugene's death took command of the Irish forces, and JOHN (1740-98), a member of the Irish Parliament and a supporter of Catholic emancipation.

Bibliography

BIBL.: anon., s. v. in Encycl. Brit., 14th ed., XVI, pp. 790-793, with bibl. On the various members cf. Dict. of Nat. Biogr., XIV, London 1921-22, p. 1072 ff., and W. A. Philips, Hist. of the Church of Ireland from the earliest times to the present day, II-III, London 1933-34, passim. On Hugh and on Eugene cf. also Pastor, XI, pp. 369-70, and XIV, part 1, passim. See also S. O. Faolain, The great O. N., London 1947.

Silvio Furlani

@incollection{ec9_o_neill_famiglia, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {O'Neill, famiglia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {130--131}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/o-neill-famiglia} }

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O'Neill Family

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