Hugh Roe O'Donnell

Common card · No. 363642

Hugh Roe O'Donnell II (Irish: Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill; c. 20 October 1572 – 30 August 1602), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell, was an Irish clan chief and leader of the confederacy of Irish lords during the Nine Years' War (1593–1603). He was born into the powerful O'Donnell clan of Tyrconnell (present-day County Donegal). By the age of fourteen, he was recognised as his clan's tanist (heir) and engaged to the daughter of prominent lord Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. The English-led Irish government feared this alliance would threaten their control over Ulster, so Lord Deputy John Perrot had O'Donnell kidnapped by wine merchants at Rathmullan in 1587. After four years' imprisonment in Dublin Castle, O'Donnell escaped in December 1591 with the help of Tyrone's bribery, and was subsequently inaugurated as clan chief at Kilmacrennan on 23 April 1592. Along with his father-in-law Tyrone, O'Donnell led a confederacy of Irish lords during the Nine Years' War, motivated to prevent English incursions...

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