Charles Henry St John O'Neill, 1st Earl O'Neill, KP, PC (I) (22 January 1779 – 12 February 1841) was an Irish politician, peer and landowner. He was born in 1779 to

John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill PC (16 January 1740 – 18 June 1798) was an Irish politician. O'Neill was the son of Charles O'Neill (died 1769), Member of Parliament for Randalstown, by Catherine Brodrick, daughter of St John Brodrick, of ...

, of

Shane's Castle Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, having been destroyed by fire in 1816. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the Clandeboy O'Neill dynasty, it was ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and educated at Eton before joining Christ Church, Oxford on 23 November 1795. He succeeded as second Viscount O'Neill in 1798 on the death of his father and was made Viscount Raymond and Earl O'Neill in 1800 after the Act of Union, when it was decided that O'Neill should have precedence in the

Irish peerage The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divis ...

. After the passing of the act he was elected as one of the 28 Irish peers allowed to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in September 1800. In 1807 he was appointed one of the joint

Postmasters General of Ireland The Postmasters General of Ireland, held by two people simultaneously, was a new appointment set up as part of the establishment of the Irish Post Office independent from that of Great Britain, by the Act 23, 24 George III in 1784. The post las ...

along with

Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty Richard Le Poer Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty, 1st Marquess of Heusden (19 May 1767 – 24 November 1837), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1803 and then Viscount Dunlo to 1805, was an Anglo-Irish peer, a nobleman in the Dutch nobility, and ...

and in 1809 with

Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse Lawrence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse (21 May 1758 – 24 February 1841), known as Sir Lawrence Parsons, Bt, from 1791 to 1807, was an Irish peer. Parsons was the son of Sir William Parsons, 4th Baronet and Mary Clere. He succeeded his father i ...

; in practice this was merely an honorary appointment, with the Post Office secretary (Sir

Edward Lees Edward Lees ( 1819 - November 6, 1893) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography A Scottish immigrant, Lees first settled in Ottawa, Wisconsin in 1848. His son, Robert Lees, became a member of the Assembly and the Wisconsin State ...

) doing much of the work. He was made a member of the Order of St. Patrick on 13 February 1809 and

Lord Lieutenant of Antrim A list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Antrim, located in Northern Ireland. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. G. E. C., ed. Vicary Gibbs, ''The Complet ...

on 17 October 1831. He died on 25 March 1841 with no heirs; as such the earldom became extinct and the viscountcy transferred to his younger brother

John O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O'Neill John Bruce Richard O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O'Neill (30 December 1780 – 12 February 1855) was an Irish Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1802 to 1841 and then in the House of Lords. O'Neill was the son of John, Viscount O'Neill ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Charles Oneill, 1st Earl 1779 births 1841 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Knights of St Patrick Lord-Lieutenants of Antrim Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People educated at Eton College O'Neill dynasty Irish representative peers Grand Masters of the Orange Order Members of the Irish House of Lords Postmasters General of Ireland