Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Irish: Ruaidrí Ó Domhnaill, 1d Iarla na Tír Chonaill; 1575 – 28 July 1608),  was an Irish Gaelic lord and the last King of Tyrconnell. He was a younger brother of Hugh Roe O'Donnell and in 1603 became the first to be styled the Earl of Tyrconnell.

Early life
O'Donnell was one of the many children of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, who reigned as Chief of the Name and Lord of Tyrconnell from 1566 until he abdicated in favour of his eldest son by his second wife, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in 1592. Rory's mother was Iníon Dubh.

Rory's full-siblings included Hugh Roe, Nuala, Manus, Mary, and Cathbarr.

In July 1588, Sir Hugh promised Rory as a pledge for good behaviour.

Nine Years' War
Rory O'Donnell became tanist upon his brother Hugh Roe's 1592 inauguration as Lord of Tyrconnell. Rory fought in the Nine Years' War, though his role is largely overshadowed by Hugh Roe's leadership.

In 1598, Rory was engaged by the governor of Connacht, Sir Conyers Clifford, in a plot against his brother. When this news reached Hugh Roe, he put Rory in chains for an unspecified time. It seems their relationship improved by 1600.

On 9 October 1600, Rory's distant cousin and brother-in-law, loyalist Niall Garve O'Donnell, seized Lifford from him with the help of English forces. Despite attempts from Rory and Hugh Roe to retake Lifford, they were unsuccessful. This culminated in a battle on 24 October, in which Niall fatally wounded Rory's younger brother Manus. Rory and Niall engaged in single combat, though Rory was lucky to leave the battle with his life.

That December, Hugh Roe marched to Mayo, leaving Rory temporarily in charge. According to historian Emmett O'Byrne, "his tenure was not distinguished", as during this time, Niall's forces continued to gain momentum.

The Irish confederacy suffered a major defeat at Kinsale. Rory became acting Chief when Hugh Roe left to seek desperately-needed reinforcements from Spain. Rory led the clan back to Connacht and maintained guerilla warfare, with the help of his ally Brian Oge O'Rourke. However, the two men failed in their attempt to take back power in Connacht. They lost Ballyshannon to Niall in Spring 1602, and could not prevent Oliver Lambart from entering Sligo in June. Rory and O'Rourke also argued amongst themselves.

Hugh Roe died in Spain on 10 September 1602. In December, Rory O'Donnell submitted to Lord Deputy Mountjoy at Athlone.

Head of the clan O'Donnell
Upon his older brother's death, O'Donnell succeeded him as King of Tyrconnell and Chief of the Clan O'Donnell. Having submitted in London to the newly crowned King James I, Rory, under the policy of surrender and regrant was required to renounce his traditional titles and was in return created as Earl of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 4 September 1603, with the subsidiary title Baron of Donegal reserved for his heir apparent. He was further granted the territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 10 February 1604.

A 1614 Hiberno-Latin history of Donegal Abbey, however, criticized the title of Earl as, "how inferior to that with which the Prince of Tyrconnell used to be acclaimed on the sacred rock of Kilmacrenan!"

Flight of the Earls
There was much fury in Ireland and England that he and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, had been treated so gingerly after allegedly committing treason (this became known as the Sham Plot), but time was on the side of the English authorities. On 14 September 1607, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly with their families and followers for eventual exile in the Spanish Netherlands and Rome.

The journey was difficult and harsh, and conditions on their boat were extremely poor. The Earls arrived in France, not Spain as expected, then made their way north to the Spanish Netherlands. They eventually arrived in Rome on 29 April 1608. Tyrconnell and Tyrone were welcomed to Rome by a guard of cardinals. The next day, they met with Pope Paul V, who gave them and their families a small pension.

Rome
In early July 1608, Tyrconnell travelled to Ostia, a coastal town fifteen miles west of Rome, in order to "make holiday and take a change of air". He was accompanied by his brother Cathbarr, Hugh, Baron of Dungannon, and Donal O’Carroll, Vicar General of Killaloe. Unfortunately, the men "all agreed that that particular place [was] one of the worst and most unhealthy for climate in all Italy". Tyrconnell became ill on 18 July, and shortly afterwards he died in Rome on 28 July 1608. He was buried the next day in San Pietro in Montorio. His magnificent funeral was funded by the Marqués de Aytona, Spanish ambassador to Rome, who provided Tyrconnell's younger sister Nuala with 300 crowns.

Family
Around Christmas 1606, Tyrconnell married Bridget FitzGerald, daughter of the 12th Earl of Kildare, by whom he had two children: Hugh and Mary. Tyrconnell left his wife behind in Ireland during his flight. After his death, Bridget married the 1st Viscount Barnewall (1592–1663), with whom she had five sons and four daughters that survived him.

Lord Tyrconnell's only son, Hugh, was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly, and was raised in Louvain, Spanish Flanders. In time he joined the service of the King of Spain, and was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, but left no offspring; the title of Earl would have descended to his first cousin Domhnall Oge's line were it not meanwhile attainted in 1614.

Lord Tyrconnell's youngest child, Mary Stuart O'Donnell, left a more lasting impression on posterity. She was born in England around 1607. After her father's death, King James VI and I, the first Stuart King of England, gave her the name Stuart in recognition of their common Stuart ancestry – they were ninth cousins – hence she was known as Mary Stuart O'Donnell. She was descended, through her mother, from the Stuarts. Mary was raised by her mother in the Kildare lands in Ireland until she was twelve years old. In 1619, Mary was sent to live with her grandmother, Lady Kildare, in London, where Lady Kildare aimed to educate the girl and make her her heiress.

Portraiture
Lord Tyrconnell is depicted as part of a fresco in the Vatican. He stands next to Hugh O'Neill during the 1608 canonization of Frances of Rome by Pope Paul V. It was painted circa 1610.

According to historian Francis Martin O'Donnell, many historians believe that the figure next to O'Neill is actually a Spanish ambassador - either Francisco de Moncada or his father Gastón. Francis Martin O'Donnell argues that the figure lacks Francisco's distinctive facial hair and portly appearance, and looks too young to depict Gastón, who was in his mid-50s at the time. The figure also lacks the ornate clothing an ambassador would be required to wear during such a ceremony. Therefore, it is most likely that the figure standing next to O'Neill is fellow Irish earl Rory O'Donnell.