Rosa O'Neill (''né'' O'Doherty; Irish: ''Róisín Ní Dhochartaigh''; c.1588–1660) was a member of the O'Doherty family of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

who lived during the late Tudor and Stuart eras.

Biography

Born Rosa O'Doherty, Rosa was the daughter of Sir John O'Doherty, and the younger sister of Sir

Cahir O'Doherty Sir Cahir O'Doherty ( ga, Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh or ga, label=none, Caṫaoir Ó Doċartaiġ; 1587–5 July 1608) was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a n ...

. The O'Doherty's were the traditional rulers of Inishowen. Sir Cahir fought on the Crown's side during Tyrone's Rebellion (1594-1603). In 1608, angered at his treatment by local officials, he launched O'Doherty's Rebellion by burning Derry. Sir Cahir was defeated and killed at the

Battle of Kilmacrennan The Battle of Kilmacrennan was a skirmish fought near Kilmacrennan, County Donegal in 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion. Sir Cahir O'Doherty was a traditional supporter of the Crown whose treatment at the hands of local officials had led him to ...

, and Inishowen was confiscated from the family. Rosa had earlier been married to

Cathbarr O'Donnell Cathbarr O'Donnell ( ga, Cathbarr Ó Domhnaill, died 1608) was an Irish nobleman (a member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Donegal). Biography Cathbarr was the son of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, the ruler of Tyrconnell during the Elizabethan era. His mother ...

, the younger brother of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell. Both Cathbarr and Rosa accompanied Rory to

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

during the 1607 Flight of the Earls. Her husband died of

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

in Italy the following year, leaving Rosa widow at the age of twenty. She remarried in 1613–14 to Owen Roe O'Neill, an Irish officer serving in the Spanish army who she met in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. In 1642 when Owen Roe returned to Ireland to serve the

Irish Confederacy Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

during the

War of Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bis ...

, Rosa accompanied him. She arrived after her husband, landing at

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

in the company of Colonel Richard O'Farrell with supplies and reinforcements for her husband's

Ulster Army The Laggan Army, sometimes referred to as Lagan Army, was a militia formed by Protestant settlers in the fertile Laggan Valley of County Donegal, Ulster, during the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Background Following the defeat of G ...

. Owen Roe became a leading figure of the Irish Confederacy, enjoying mixed fortunes but winning a notable success against Scottish forces at the

Battle of Benburb The Battle of Benburb took place on 5 June 1646 during the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought between the Irish Confederation under Owen Roe O'Neill, and a Scottish Covenanter and Anglo-I ...

in 1646. Owen Roe O'Neill died at

Cloughoughter Castle Cloughoughter Castle () is a ruined circular castle on a small island in Lough Oughter Lough Oughter () is a lake, or complex of lakes, in County Cavan covering more than . The complex of lakes lies on the River Erne, and forms the southern ...

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

November 1649. Rosa had been in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

and arrived a few days after her husband's death by natural causes. She went to

following the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

. Rosa lived in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

until her death in 1660. She was buried at the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

College of

St. Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bor ...

Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

.Casway 1984, pp. 267–268.

Notes

References

* Casway, Jerrold (1984). ''Owen Roe O'Neill and the Struggle for Catholic Ireland''. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading