Sir Neil O'Neill (; January 1658 – 8 July 1690), 2nd Baronet of Killeleagh,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, was an Irish Jacobite, soldier and the Lord of Clandeboye, a powerful clan of the ancient

Northern Uí Néill The Northern Uí Néill was any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall ar ...

.Notes to Wright-Portrait
on the Website of the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

(English, recalled on January 5, 2012) O'Neill's portrait from 1680 by

John Michael Wright John Michael Wright (May 1617 – July 1694) was an English painter, mainly of portraits in the Baroque style. Born and raised in London, Wright trained in Edinburgh under the Scots painter George Jamesone, and sometimes described himself as Scot ...

is historically significant because it is the only surviving contemporary presentation of the traditional costume of an Irish chieftain. At his feet is the armour of a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

as a symbol of victory over the oppression of Catholics; next to him is an

Irish wolfhound The Irish Wolfhound ( Irish: ''Cú Faoil'') is a breed of large sighthound that has, by its presence and substantial size, inspired literature, poetry and mythology. One of the largest of all breeds of dog, the breed is used by coursing hunters ...

as a symbol of Ireland.

Life

An Irish Catholic noble and military leader, he was born in January 1658, the son of Sir Henry O'Neill, 1st Baronet of Shane's Castle, Killelagh, and Eleanor Talbot, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet. His uncle was Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell and Viceroy of Ireland. His male line genealogy is Neil son of Henry son of Niall Og son of Niall son of Hugh son of Felim Baccach son of Niall Mor son of Conn son of Aodh Buidhe son of Brian Ballach son of Muircheartach Cennfhada ( Chiefs of Clandeboye) son of Henry, King of Tír Eóghain

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. O'Neill was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Armagh This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Armagh. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II of England, James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated o ...

by King

James VII and II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

in 1689. He led 800 Jacobite dragoons at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

against Williamite troops under the command of the

Duke of Schomberg Duke of Schomberg in the Peerage of England was created in 1689. The title derives from the surname of its holder (originally Schönberg). The Duke of Schomberg was part of King William of Orange's army and camped in the Holywood hills area of ...

and was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

. He was wounded in the battle, near

Slane Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 (Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2022 census ...

. He was carried first to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and thence to

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

where he died of his wounds due to the negligence of his surgeons. His grave is in the cemetery of the French Church in Waterford; the gravestone reads:

Here lyes the body of S. Neal O'Neill, Baronet of Killelag in the County of Antrim, who dyed ye 8th of July, in the year 1690, at the age of 32 years and six months. He married the second daughter of Lord Viscount Molyneux, of Sefton, in Lancashire, in England. Reguiescant in Pace.

Family

O'Neill married in 1677 or 1683 Frances Molyneux, second daughter of The 3rd Viscount Molyneux, the

Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire. The Lord Lieutenant is the King's personal representative in each county of the United Kingdom. Historically the Lord Lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's ...

, and his wife Mary Barlow. With her, he had at least four daughters: Rose, Mary, Elizabeth and Ann. His wife and daughters were painted by the Irish painter Garret Murphy c. 1700. Rose married Nicholas Wogan of

Rathcoffey Rathcoffey () is a village in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, around 30 km west of Dublin city centre. It had a population of 271 as of 2016 census. The village church, Rathcoffey Church, is part of the Clane & Rathcoffey Parish, ...

, and Anne married John Segrave.
http://www.galleryofthemasters.com/m-folder/morphy-garret-ann-o-neill.htm

As he had no son, the title passed to his brother Daniel, but was forfeited in 1691. Daniel managed to retain much of the family estates, but as his brother had died deeply in debt, he was obliged to sell Killyleagh in 1703. Frances died in 1732. His only sister Rose, foster daughter of Rose O'Neill the Marchioness of Antrim, married Captain Con Modera O'Neill, son of Colonel Con mac Brian O'Neill, both of whom fought with him at the Battle of Boyne, and the former leading the heroic efforts of the Irish forces at the Second Siege of Aughrim.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Neil, Sir 1658 births 1690 deaths 17th-century Irish people Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Irish Jacobites Irish soldiers in the army of James II of England O'Neill dynasty War-related deaths 17th-century nobility