Iníon Dubh

Finola MacDonald, styled after her marriage as Dame Finola Ó Domhnaill or Finola, Lady Ó Domhnaill, and better known by the Irish nickname Iníon Dubh (pronounced in both Scots Gaelic and Ulster Irish as 'In-neen Doo'), was queen consort of Tyrconnell (fl. 1570–1608). She was the daughter of Séamus Mac Dhòmhnaill, 6th Laird of Dunnyveg (James MacDonald, 6th Laird of Dunnyveg), and his wife, Lady Agnes MacDonald (née Campbell), and became the second wife of Sir Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill (Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell), king of Tyrconnell. She was the mother of eight children, including four sons. Her offspring included Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Rory, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, and Cathbarr O'Donnell.

Background

The daughter of James MacDonald, 6th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, and Lady Agnes (née Campbell) MacDonald,[1] Iníon Dubh (pronounced 'In-neen Doo') was raised at the Stuart court in the Kingdom of Scotland, and her powerful connections ensured a healthy recruitment of Scottish Redshanks from Clan Donald to O'Donnell's armies after her marriage to him in around 1570.[1] She bore four sons, including the last two reigning Kings of Tyrconnell, Hugh and Rory. When her husband, Sir Hugh, grew senile in his old age, she took over the effective leadership of the territory. She is described in the Annals of the Four Masters as "like the mother of Machabees who joined a man's heart to a woman's thought".[2]

Political activity

In 1587, her eldest son, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, was kidnapped and imprisoned in Dublin Castle. In his absence, she devoted herself to defending her son's claim to the chieftaincy.

In 1588 she had her nephew, Hugh Gavelach O'Donnell, assassinated. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, "Hugh had constantly sided with the descendants of Calvagh O'Donnell, who were all conjointly leagued with O'Neill (Turlough Luineach), who was always at war with O'Donnell and his son-in-law, the Earl O'Neill (Hugh, son of Ferdorcha). Moreover, her dearly beloved brother, Alexander, had been, as we have before stated, slain by Hugh, son of the Dean, and besides these she had many other causes of enmity towards him; and it was sickness of heart and anguish of mind to her that revenge was not taken of him for his pride and arrogance. She complained of her troubles and injuries to the Scottish auxiliaries, who were constantly in her service and pay, and who were in attendance on her in every place; and they promised that they would be ready at her command, to wreak vengeance upon their enemies, whenever they should meet with them. Hugh one time happened to be coming up, in pride, vigour, and high spirits (without remembering the spite or the enmity against him ) towards the place where she was, at Magh-gaibhlin. When he had come to the town, she addressed her faithful people, i.e. the Scots; and begged and requested of them to fulfil their promise. This was accordingly done for her, for they rushed to the place where Hugh was, and proceeded to shoot at him with darts and bullets, until they left him lifeless; and there were also slain along with him the dearest to him of his faithful people."[3]

In 1590, Iníon Dubh's stepson through her husband's first marriage, Sir Domhnall Dubh Ó Domhnaill, attempted to depose his father and seize power. In response, Iníon Dubh gathered an army of all those still loyal to her husband, including Clan Sweeney, O'Doherty, and many Redshanks from Clan Donald. When their armies came to blows, Domhnall Dubh was defeated and killed by Iníon Dubh on September 14, 1590, at the Battle of Doire Leathan. Throughout this period she made repeated attempts to secure Red Hugh's release or escape from Dublin Castle.[1]

When Red Hugh finally escaped in 1592, Iníon Dubh bought off the remaining claimant, Niall Garbh Ó Domhnaill, and persuaded her husband to abdicate in their son's favour. Historian Hiram Morgan notes that the election of Red Hugh as The O'Donnell Chief of the Name at the Rock of Doon in 1592 was, "a stage managed affair in which the influence of his mother was paramount".[4]

She retired to Kilmacrennan. In 1608, with all her sons dead, she implicated her son-in-law, Niall Garbh, in plotting against King James I and saw him sent to the Tower of London, where he later died. Her date of death is unknown. In her later years, she also maintained Mongavlin Castle, a small fortress on the banks of the River Foyle, as a residence just south of St Johnston, The Laggan, East Donegal.

O'Donnell family tree

Sir Hugh O'Donnell (Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill; died 1600)[lower-roman 1]
- Married first: an unnamed Irish woman
  - Donnchadh (Scaite)
  - Donnell (Domhnall d.1590
    - Wife: daughter of Turlough O'Neill
      - Dómhnall Óg[lower-roman 2]
  - Ruadhri (died 1575)
  - Siobhán, or Joan (died 1591)[lower-roman 1]
    - Married: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.[lower-roman 3]
      - Hugh (1585–1609)[lower-roman 3] He was known as the baron of Dungannon, died in Rome and was buried in San Pietro di Montorio.[lower-roman 4]
      - Henry O'Neill (1586?–1617×21)[lower-roman 3] He became a colonel of an Irish regiment in Archduke Albert's army.[lower-roman 4]
      - Margaret, who married Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret.[lower-roman 4]
  - daughter (fl. 1579)
  - Nuala (fl. 1592)[lower-roman 1]
    - Married Niall Garbh O'Donnel(1569–1626)
      - Grania
- Second marriage: Fionnghuala "Inghean Dubh" Ní Seamus MacDonnell (married Aodh in 1569)
  - Aodh Ruadh (1571–1602).[lower-roman 1]
  - Rudhraighe (died 1608).[lower-roman 1]
    - - Elizabeth[lower-roman 5]
        Husband: Luke Plunket later 1st Earl of Fingall survived Elizabeth and married twice more.
    - Wife: Brigid daughter of Earl of Kildare
      - Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell.[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 2]
        Married: Anna-Margaret, daughter of Maximilian de Hennin, Count de Bossut.[lower-roman 6]
      - Mary Stuart O'Donnell (1607–1649?).[lower-roman 5]
  - Maghnus alive 1608
  - Mairghead died 1662
  - Máire (died 1662)
    - Married: Tadhg Ó Ruairc, King of West Breifne (died 1605)
  - Cathbarr (dead by September 1608)
    - Wife: Rosa (c.1588–1660) the daughter of Sir John O'Doherty — married secondly Owen Roe O'Neill (c. 1585–1649) who she met in the Low Countries
      - Hugh O'Donnell (died 1625), became a captain in the Spanish Army, serving in Flanders in the regiment of his stepfather (Owen Roe O'Neill). He was killed during the Siege of Breda.[lower-roman 7]

Notes:

Burke 1866, p. 409.
If the Earldom of Tyrconnell had not been attained, then next in line as 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell would have been Dómhnall Óg son of Sir Donnell O'Donnell (an elder half brother of the 1st Earl)
Canny 2008
Dunlop 1895, p. 196
"Hugh Albert O'Donnell, born [to Rory and Brigid] about October 1606, was the only son of this marriage, Mary Stuart O'Donnell being born about a year later. Some authorities give an eldest child, Elizabeth, probably illegitimate, who became first wife of Luke Plunkett, first earl of Fingall" (Silke 2006).
Burke 1866, p. 410.
Casway 1984, pp. 27–28.

Sources:

Burke, Sir Bernard (1866), A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, Harrison, pp. 409–410
Canny, Nicholas (January 2008) [2004], "O'Neill, Hugh , second earl of Tyrone (c.1550–1616)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20775 (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Casway, Jerrold (1984), Owen Roe O'Neill and the Struggle for Catholic Ireland, University of Pennsylvania Press
Dunlop, Robert (1895), "O'Neill, Hugh (1540?-1616)" , Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 42, pp. 188–196
Silke, John J. (May 2006) [2004]. "O'Donnell, Rury , styled first earl of Tyrconnell (1574/5–1608)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20559. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

In popular culture

In the 1966 Disney film The Fighting Prince of Donegal, Iníon Dubh was portrayed onscreen by actress Marie Kean.
The life of Iníon Dubh is fictionalized in the historical novel Dark Queen of Donegal by Mary Pat Ferron Canes and JR Foley. ISBN 9781950251070.

References

Hill, J. Michael. THE RIFT WITHIN CLAN IAN MORE: THE ANTRIM AND DUNYVEG MACDONNELLS, 1590-1603 (1 January 1993), Sixteenth Century Journal; ASIN: B007M36E1C.
Highley, Christopher (1997), Shakespeare, Spenser, and the Crisis in Ireland, Cambridge University Press, p. 103, ISBN 978-0-521-58199-8
Annals of the Four Masters, 1588.
Morgan, Hiram (1999). Tyrone's Rebellion. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. p. 133. ISBN 0-85115-683-5.

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[Burke_1866,_p._409-5] Burke 1866, p. 409.

[3rd_Earl_of_Tyrconnell-6] If the Earldom of Tyrconnell had not been attained, then next in line as 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell would have been Dómhnall Óg son of Sir Donnell O'Donnell (an elder half brother of the 1st Earl)

[Canny,_2008-7] Canny 2008

[Dunlop,_1895-8] Dunlop 1895, p. 196

[Silke_2003-9] "Hugh Albert O'Donnell, born [to Rory and Brigid] about October 1606, was the only son of this marriage, Mary Stuart O'Donnell being born about a year later. Some authorities give an eldest child, Elizabeth, probably illegitimate, who became first wife of Luke Plunkett, first earl of Fingall" (Silke 2006).

[10] Burke 1866, p. 410.

[11] Casway 1984, pp. 27–28.

[hill-1] Hill, J. Michael. THE RIFT WITHIN CLAN IAN MORE: THE ANTRIM AND DUNYVEG MACDONNELLS, 1590-1603 (1 January 1993), Sixteenth Century Journal; ASIN: B007M36E1C.

[2] Highley, Christopher (1997), Shakespeare, Spenser, and the Crisis in Ireland, Cambridge University Press, p. 103, ISBN 978-0-521-58199-8

[3] Annals of the Four Masters, 1588.

[4] Morgan, Hiram (1999). Tyrone's Rebellion. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. p. 133. ISBN 0-85115-683-5.