Shane O'Neill (c. 1530 - June 2, 1567) was an Irish chieftain whose support was worth gaining by the English even during the lifetime of his father Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone (died 1559). (Shane's mother, Tyrone's first wife,was born the daughter of Hugh Boy O'Neill of Clanaboy.) But rejecting overtures from Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, the lord deputy from 1556, Shane refused to help the English against the Scottish settlers on the coast of Antrim, allying himself instead with the MacDonnells, the most powerful of these immigrants. Events June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. ... Events January 15 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. ... Thomas Radclyffe (or Ratclyffe) 3rd Earl of Sussex (c. ... Events January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor January 23 - The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. ... Antrim in Northern Ireland may refer to Antrim town. ...

Nevertheless Queen Elizabeth, on succeeding to the English throne in 1558, inclined to come to terms with Shane, who after his father's death functioned as de facto chief of the formidable O'Neill clan. She accordingly agreed to recognize his claims to the chieftainship, thus throwing over Brian O'Neill, son of the murdered Matthew, baron of Dungannon, if Shane would submit to her authority and that of her deputy. O'Neill, however, refused to put himself in the power of Sussex without a guarantee for his safety; and his claims in other respects were so exacting, that Elizabeth consented to measures being taken to subdue him and to restore Brian. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... Events January 7 - French troops led by Francis, Duke of Guise take Calais, the last continental possession of England July 13 - France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines. ... Dungannon (Dún Geanainn in Irish) is a town in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. ...

An attempt to foment the enmity of the O'Donnells against him was frustrated by Shane's capture of Calvagh O'Donnell, whom he kept a close prisoner for nearly three years. Elizabeth, whose prudence and parsimony were averse to so formidable an undertaking as the complete subjugation of the powerful Irish chieftain, desired peace with him at almost any price; especially when the devastation of his territory by Sussex brought him no nearer to submission. Sussex, indignant at Shane's request for his sister's hand in marriage, and his demand for the withdrawal of the English garrison from Armagh, received no support from the Queen, who sent the earl of Kildare to arrange terms with O'Neill. The latter, making some trifling concessions, consented to present himself before Elizabeth. Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. ...

Accompanied by Ormonde and Kildare he reached London on January 4, 1562. William Camden describes the wonder which O'Neill's wild gallowglasses occasioned in the English capital, with their heads bare, their long hair falling over their shoulders and clipped short in front above the eyes, and clothed in rough yellow shirts. Elizabeth was less concerned with the respective claims of Brian and Shane, the one resting on an English patent and the other on the Celtic custom, than with the question of policy involved in supporting or rejecting the demands of her proud suppliant. Characteristically, she temporized; but finding that O'Neill was in danger of becoming a tool in the hands of Spanish intriguers, she permitted him to return to Ireland, recognizing him as "The O'Neill" and chieftain of Tyrone; though a reservation was made of the rights of Hugh O'Neill, who had meantime succeeded his brother Brian as baron of Dungannon, Brian having been murdered in April 1562 by his kinsman Turlough Luineach O'Neill. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Earliest English slave-trading expedition under John Hawkins. ... William Camden William Camden (May 2, 1551 - November 9, 1623) was an English antiquarian and historian. ... This article is about County Tyrone. ... Hugh ONeill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone (c. ...

There were at this time three powerful contemporary members of the O'Neill family in Ireland - Shane, Turlough and Hugh, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. Turlough had been elected tanist when his cousin Shane was inaugurated as The O'Neill, and he schemed to supplant him in the higher dignity during Shane's absence in London. The feud did not long survive Shane's return to Ireland, where he quickly re-established his authority, and in spite of Sussex renewed his turbulent tribal warfare against the O'Donnells and others. Elizabeth at last authorized Sussex to take the field against Shane, but two separate expeditions failed to accomplish anything except some depredation in O'Neill's country. Tanistry (from Gaelic tana, lordship) was a custom among various Celtic tribes, by which the king or chief of the clan was chosen from among the heads of the septs and elected by them in full assembly. ...

Sussex had tried in 1561 to procure Shane's assassination, and Shane now laid the whole blame for his lawless conduct on the lord deputy's repeated alleged attempts on his life. Force having ignominiously failed, Elizabeth consented to treat, and hostilities ceased on terms that gave O'Neill practically all his demands. Events The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots. ...

O'Neill now turned his hand against the MacDonnells, claiming that he was serving the Queen of England in harrying the Scots. He fought an indecisive battle with Sorley Boy MacDonnell near Coleraine in 1564, and the following year marched from Antrim through the mountains by Clogh to the neighbourhood of Ballycastle, where he routed the MacDonnells and took Sorley Boy prisoner. Sorley Boy MacDonnell (c. ... Coleraine (Cúil Raithin in Irish) is a town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland at the mouth of the river Bann. ... Events March 8 - Naples bans kissing in public under the penalty of death June 22 - Fort Caroline, the first French attempt at colonizing the New World September 10 - The Battle of Kawanakajima Ottoman Turks invade Malta Modern pencil becomes common in England Conquistadors crossed the Pacific Spanish found a colony... This article is about Ballycastle, County Antrim. ...

This victory greatly strengthened Shane O'Neill's position, and Sir Henry Sidney, who became lord deputy in 1566, declared to the earl of Leicester that Lucifer himself was not more puffed up with pride and ambition than O'Neill. Preparations were made in earnest for his subjugation. O'Neill ravaged the Pale, failed in an attempt on Dundalk, made a truce with the MacDonnells, and sought help from the Earl of Desmond. The English, on the other hand, invaded Donegal and restored O'Donnell. Failing in an attempt to arrange terms, and also in obtaining the help which he solicited from France, O'Neill was utterly routed by the O'Donnells at Letter-kenny; and seeking safety in flight, he threw himself on the mercy of his enemies, the MacDonnells. Attended by a small body of gallowglasses, and taking his prisoner Sorley Boy with him, he presented himself among the MacDonnells near Cushen-dun, on the Antrim coast. Here, on 2 June 1567, whether by premeditated treachery or in a sudden brawl, he was slain by the MacDonnells, and was buried at Glenarm. Sir Henry Sidney (1529 - May 5, 1586), lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney, a prominent politician and courtier in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent... Events January 7 - Pius V becomes Pope Selim II succeeds Suleiman I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Religious rioting in the Netherlands signifies the beginning of the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands. ... Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (also referred to as Lord Leycester such as at the Lord Leycester Hospital. ... This article is about Lucifer the star or fallen angel; for other meanings, see Lucifer (disambiguation). ... The Pale or the English Pale comprised a region in a radius of 20 miles around Dublin which the English in Ireland gradually fortified against incursion from Gaelic Ireland. ... Dundalk (Irish: Dún Dealgan) is a town in County Louth in the Republic of Ireland, close to the border with Northern Ireland. ... This article is about County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ...

In his private character Shane O'Neill appears as a brutal, uneducated savage. He divorced his first wife, a daughter of James MacDonnell, and treated his second, a sister of Calvagh O'Donnell, with gross cruelty in revenge for her brother's hostility; Calvagh himself, when Shane's prisoner, he subjected to continual torture; and Calvagh's wife, whom he made his mistress, and by whom he had several children, endured ill-usage at the hands of her drunken captor, who is said to have married her in 1565.

Reference

• This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.