Iníon Dubh

Lady Fiona MacDonald (Fionnghuala Nic Dhomhnaill) was a Scottish aristocrat and queen consort of Tyrconnell. She is better known by her Irish nickname Iníon Dubh, pronounced in Ulster Irish and Scots Gaelic as in-NEEN DOO ("Black-Haired Daughter").

Iníon Dubh was the second wife of Irish nobleman Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, King of Tyrconnell, and mother of his most significant children, including Hugh Roe, Rory, Nuala and Cathbarr. Her Scottish connections meant she had access to Redshanks, which she regularly used to subjugate her family's rivals. Reverend Miler Magrath described her as "a cruel, bloody woman who has committed sundry murders".

She had significant influence over the reigns of both her husband and son. Historian Emmett O'Byrne has called Iníon Dubh "one of the most remarkable Gaelic woman of the sixteenth century".

Early life
Fiona MacDonald was the daughter of James MacDonald, 6th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, and his wife Lady Agnes Campbell. She was raised at the Stuart court in the Kingdom of Scotland, during the time of Mary, Queen of Scots. James died in Ireland on 5 July 1565.

Once Turlough Luineach O'Neill became Lord of Tír Eoghain, he offered an alliance to the MacDonalds. In November 1567, Turlough asked for either Fiona or Agnes' hand in marriage. At the time, marriage into the MacDonald family was particularly coveted due to their military might.

By April 1568, it was decided that Agnes would marry O'Neill, and Fiona would marry Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, King of Tyrconnell. Fiona married Sir Hugh in 1569.

Queen consort
Iníon Dubh had a major influence over Sir Hugh's lordship. Her powerful connections ensured a healthy recruitment of Scottish Redshanks from Clan MacDonald to Sir Hugh's armies, and she regularly travelled to Scotland to enlist her kinsmen.

Before their marriage, Sir Hugh had attempted to appease both pro-O'Neill and pro-Crown factions in Tyrconnell by avoiding overt political declarations. This did not satisfy either party. It was ultimately Iníon Dubh's influence that pushed the O'Donnell clan further into opposition with the English. In March 1572, her growing power over her husband was noted by government officials. It is believed that Sir Hugh's decision to maintain his alliance with O'Neill was due to her influence.

She bore four sons, including the last two reigning Kings of Tyrconnell, Hugh Roe and Rory. When her husband grew senile in his old age, she took over the effective leadership of the territory. She is described in the Annals of the Four Masters as "like the mother of Maccabees who joined a man's heart to a woman's thought".

In May 1580, Sir Hugh and O'Neill sent their wives to Scotland to procure more mercenaries. Iníon Dubh and Agnes' efforts were successful - 2000 Scots arrived in Lough Foyle that August, eliciting much fear in the English.

Political activity
In 1587, her eldest son, tanist Hugh Roe O'Donnell, was kidnapped and imprisoned in Dublin Castle. In his absence, she devoted herself to defending her son's claim to the chieftaincy. Her husband's health worsened in the 1580s, and a violent succession dispute broke out amongst the O'Donnell family over who would succeed him. Increasingly, Iníon Dubh ruled in her husband's name.

Hugh MacEdegany O'Donnell, the son of Sir Hugh's half-brother, was the principal challenger of the succession dispute. He had challenged Sir Hugh's claim since the beginning of the latter's reign in 1566. MacEdegany was assassinated on Iníon Dubh's orders in May 1588. The Annals of the Four Masters describes MacEdegany's death:

"'[Hugh MacEdegany O'Donnell] one time happened to be coming up, in pride, vigour, and high spirits (without remembering the spite or the enmity against him) towards the place where she was, at Magh-gaibhlin. When he had come to the town, she addressed her faithful people, i.e. the Scots; and begged and requested of them to fulfil their promise. This was accordingly done for her, for they rushed to the place where Hugh was, and proceeded to shoot at him with darts and bullets, until they left him lifeless; and there were also slain along with him the dearest to him of his faithful people.'"

In February 1589, when an English garrison arrived to occupy Donegal Castle, they found it engulfed in flames on Iníon Dubh's orders. She had departed for Scotland to secure additional troops.

In 1590, her stepson through Sir Hugh's first marriage, Donal O'Donnell, attempted to depose Sir Hugh and seize power. In response, Iníon Dubh gathered an army of all those still loyal to her husband, including Clan Sweeney, O'Doherty, and many Redshanks from Clan Donald. When their armies came to blows, Donal was defeated and killed by Iníon Dubh at the Battle of Doire Leathan on 14 September 1590. Throughout this period she made repeated attempts to secure Red Hugh's release or escape from Dublin Castle. When Red Hugh finally escaped and returned to Tyrconnell in 1592, Iníon Dubh temporarily bought off the remaining claimant, Niall Garve O'Donnell, with a dynastic marriage to her daughter Nuala.

In 1592, before an assembly of fellow nobles in Kilmacrennan, Sir Hugh abdicated in favour of Hugh Roe. His abdication, apparently voluntary, was largely organised by Iníon Dubh.

Many historians have noted the role she played in this change of power. O'Cleirigh commented that her attendance at the assembly was valuable, "for she was the head of the advice and counsel of the Cenel Conaill." Historian Hiram Morgan has alleged that the coronation of Red Hugh as The O'Donnell Chief of the Name at the Rock of Doon, near Termon, in 1592 was, "a stage managed affair in which the influence of his mother was paramount". According to Kate Newmann, Iníon Dubh's "military strength and influence is seen as the decisive factor" in Hugh Roe's succession as King of Tyrconnell.

Nine Years' War
During Hugh Roe's reign, Iníon Dubh continued to play a major role as a diplomat. In September 1597, Hugh Roe sent her to stop her brother Angus MacDonald from taking revenge on their ally Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, after the Earl had jilted Angus's daughter.

During 1599, she bought arms and once again recruited mercenaries for the Irish alliance. She nursed her husband until his death in 1600.

In June 1601, Hugh Roe appointed her as governor of Sligo Castle. That October, Iníon Dubh and her daughter were captured in Collooney Castle by Sir Henry Docwra. In 1602, Hugh Roe died in Spain and his younger brother Rory submitted. Iníon Dubh was released, and it seems she retired to Mongavlin near Lough Foyle.

Later life and death
In 1608, with all her sons dead, she implicated her estranged loyalist son-in-law, Niall Garve, in alleged complicity in O'Doherty's rebellion. He was sent to the Tower of London until his death in 1626. In her later years, she also maintained Mongavlin Castle, a small fortress on the banks of the River Foyle, as a residence just south of St Johnston, The Laggan.

Iníon Dubh retired to Kilmacrennan. She probably died shortly after May 1611, when she was last recorded as receiving land in the Plantation of Ulster.

In popular culture

 * In the 1966 Disney film The Fighting Prince of Donegal, Iníon Dubh was portrayed onscreen by Irish actress Marie Kean. She is credited on Disney's website as "The Mother".
 * The life of Iníon Dubh is fictionalized in the historical novel Dark Queen of Donegal (ISBN 9781950251070) by Mary Pat Ferron Canes and JR Foley.