Nuala O'Donnell

Nuala O'Donnell (Irish: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill; c. 1576 - c.  1630) was an Irish noblewoman of the O'Donnell dynasty who took part in the Flight of the Earls. She was known as "the Lady of the Piercing Wail".

After the death of her sibling Rory, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, she became the key representative of the O'Donnell clan. During her time in Continental Europe, she petitioned both Philip III of Spain and James I of England to assist the O'Donnells. She died circa 1630, presumably in Leuven, where she is interred.

Early life
Born in sixteenth-century Tyrconnell, Nuala was the daughter of Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell, Gaelic Lord of Tyrconnell and Chief of the Name of Clan O'Donnell, and his Scottish wife Iníon Dubh.

Historian Jerrold Casway estimates Nuala's birth year as c. 1575. Similarly, historian Helena Concannon reasoned that "Nuala was already married to Niall Garbh in 1592. This will place her birth-year with some degree of probability about 1577 — not later."

Based on Nuala's intellect and her later affiliations with the Franciscans, it is likely they were responsible for her education.

Her father's other children include Donnell, Hugh Roe, Rory, Manus, Mary and Cathbarr. She was also a sister-in-law of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone due to his marriage with her elder half-sister Siobhán.

Clan politics
Much of her family became engulfed in the violent O'Donnell succession dispute of the 1580s and 1590s, as various claimants attempted to secure the right to succeed her father as clan chief. In 1590, her elder half-brother Donnell was killed in battle by Scottish redshank mercenaries hired by Iníon Dubh, allowing her brother Hugh Roe to emerge victorious by 1592.

In 1591, Nuala made a dynastic marriage with Niall Garve O'Donnell, her cousin and a rival claimant to the O'Donnell lordship. Niall had failed in his ambitions to succeed Sir Hugh as chief, and this marriage was the family's attempt to temper his hostility and reconcile with Niall.

However Niall, along with three of his brothers and many followers, dramatically switched sides and began assisting Crown forces under the English commander Sir Henry Docwra who were operating out of Derry. He led forces during the Crown victories at the Battle of Lifford and Siege of Donegal, and had troops of the Royal Irish Army placed under his command. Niall's ambition was to depose Hugh Roe and have himself declared the Lord of Tyrconnell.

When Nuala heard of her husband's defection, Nuala left him and returned to live with her brother Hugh Roe, taking some of her children with her. In a furious reaction to Niall's betrayal, Hugh Roe is alleged by Dowcra to have beat Nuala's four year old son (and his own nephew) to death against a post. Nuala would have been expected, if this were true, to launch a blood feud against her brother, but she instead divorced Niall in 1600. Following Hugh Roe's death in 1602, she joined the household of his successor Rory, who was made Earl of Tyrconnell.

Flight of the Earls
In 1607, Nuala O'Donnell fled Ireland with several Gaelic nobles, led by Hugh O'Neill and Rory O'Donnell, as refugees into Catholic Europe. It is highly likely that, as a single woman, Nuala made her own decision to join the Flight, believing her prospects would be better in Catholic Europe than in a colonised Ireland. She was the eldest of the noble women who fled, and she took with her one "dama" (lady-in-waiting) and one criada (maidservant).

According to Casway, "she was the only woman born to either of the two ruling northern families and was a decade older than the other noble ladies. It is also conceivable that only Nuala had the opportunity to decide for herself whether to participate in the Flight of the Earls. Had the other women resisted or remained in Ulster, they faced the certain prospect of estrangement, deprivation, and possible captivity—not to mention separation from their children and a loss of status. Though these women became dependent on foreign pensions and the good will of their reluctant hosts, those who stayed behind barely survived on remnants of their former estates."

Nuala and her sister-in-law Rosa (Cathbarr's wife) became responsible for Rory's son Hugh Albert - whose mother had remained behind in Ireland - and Cathbarr's son Hugh. The nobles stopped in Leuven, where both boys were left under the care of the Franciscans. Scholar Eleanor Hull claims Nuala was left behind in Leuven, though Casway believes she continued to Rome.

The exiled nobles were granted asylum by Pope Paul V. However, their small pension and sparsely furnished residences made their living conditions unpleasant. In 1608, both Rory and Cathbarr died in Rome from a fever, leaving Nuala as the key representative of the O'Donnell clan.

Rome
The Spanish ambassador petitioned Philip III of Spain to grant Nuala her late brothers' pension. He also pleaded for both women to be allowed to return to Flanders, where they could care for the young O'Donnell heirs. Philip had no issue with Nuala's pension, but he did not want to raise tensions with England by allowing the exiled nobles to travel freely. However, Nuala was not deterred, and she implored the King to reconsider, complaining about Rome's climate.

On 26 August 1610, Philip III gave in and allowed Nuala to go to Flanders. Nuala received 300 crowns for expenses, and her pension was diverted to a secret fund for the Spanish Netherlands’ army. In the words of Philip III, the pension was to be paid "as long as she may live or as long as I may wish".

Flanders
In October 1610, her two nephews were removed from the Dame Blanches Convent by Irish clergyman Hugh MacCaghwell and sheltered at St Anthony's College, Leuven.

Sometime later, Nuala and Rosa were finally permitted to leave Rome for Flanders, and were supported by the new Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, Florence Conroy. Since her nephew's fathers had unexpectedly died leaving no adult patriach to the O'Donnell family, the well-being of the boys had become paramount to the Catholics. During their journey Nuala and Rosa were accompanied by Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Eugene Matthews, and in Flanders she was reunited with her two nephews.

According to historian Knox, in moving to Flanders, Nuala went directly against Philip III's wishes. However, she was able to support herself in the form of a pension for carrying and delivering documents between Flanders and Rome.

Brussels
In March 1614, Nuala secretly traveled to Brussels for a meeting with English diplomat William Trumbull. He offered to withdraw the young Hugh Albert from Flanders, claiming that MacCaghwell was actually a loyalist who supported King James I. In response, Nuala asked for James I's "grace and pardon" and for "the restoring of [Rory O'Donnell's] lands". Trumbull gave no guarantee of the king's favour - due to the past conflicts between the O'Donnells and the English - and suggested Nuala travel to England with Hugh Albert to plead for "bounty and clemency" from the King. Unfortunately for Nuala, she could not be granted safe passage back to the British Isles, and her proposals were in vain.

Her secret pension suffered "ever-threatening cuts", though she managed to prevent it from being depleted. As Hugh Albert matured, he took over leadership of the O'Donnell clan. At one point she called on Florence Conroy to vouch for her.

Death and legacy
Nuala O'Donnell died circa 1630 and was interred in the chapel of St Anthony's College, Leuven, Belgium. She never returned to Ireland.

Issue
The topic of Nuala's children is unclear. Her daughter with Niall, Grania, had accompanied her into Italian exile. According to the Calendar of State Papers, Nuala and Niall's four-year-old son was killed by Hugh Roe around 1600.

Niall Garve O'Donnell had a son, Naghtan (fl. 1608), who was imprisoned in the Tower of London with his father. He may also be Nuala's son. Historian George Hill mentioned Naghtan having two younger brothers. Conversely, Casway believes Nuala and Niall had no children.

In poetry
Nuala O'Donnell is referenced in several poems. Her colleage Owen Roe MacWard wrote a poem describing her mourning at the graves of her late brothers. James Clarence Mangan's 19th-century elegy, Lament for the Princes of Tyrone and Tyrconnell (Buried in Rome), references Nuala. It begins:

''O Woman of the Piercing Wail, Who mournest o'er yon mound of clay With sigh and groan, Would God thou wert among the Gael! Thou wouldst not then from day to day Weep thus alone. 'Twere long before, around a grave In green Tirconnell, one could find This loneliness; Near where Beann-Boirche's banners wave Such grief as thine could ne'er have pined Companionless.''