The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland, and once in the Spanish nobility. It was created for the final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Viscount Tyrone, son-in-law of the last de Poer earls. His son was created Marquess of Waterford in 1789, and the title has since been a subsidiary title of the Waterford title.Complete Peerage, Vol. XII, Part II, "Tyrone".
It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of the Kingdom of Ireland. Under brehon law, clans were effectively independent, and chose their chiefs from the members of a bloodline – normally, but not always, a close relative of the previous chief; the clan as a whole generally had a voice in the chief's decisions. Also, acknowledged sons of a clan member were members of the bloodline, even when not begotten in lawful marriage. The holder of a title, on the other hand, was subject to the Crown, but held his lands by hereditary right, which the Crown would help to enforce; the rest of the clan were usually now his tenants. Illegitimate sons had no right of succession under the new system unless expressly granted.
The title in the Peerage of Ireland was created again in 1673 for Richard Power, 6th Baron Power, the Anglo-Norman peer and Restoration politician, along with a large grant of land in County Waterford, at the other end of Ireland. He was also given the subordinate title of Viscount Decies; both titles became extinct upon the death of his younger son, the third earl, in 1704; he left an only daughter, Lady Katherine Power, but both titles descended by patent to male heirs only.
Earls of Tyrone, first creation (1542) The king and chief of the O'Neills of Tyrone, Conn Bacach O'Neill, went to Greenwich and submitted to Henry VIII of England and of Ireland in 1542; he renounced the style of "The O'Neill" and his independent rule. In exchange, he was created Earl of Tyrone, which was by the charter to descend to his illegitimate son Matthew or Ferdoragh O'Neill, who was also created Baron of Dungannon, which was always to be held by the heir to the Earldom; this was a substantive title, which gave Ferdoragh a seat in the Irish House of Lords, not a courtesy title. This adaptive process, known as "surrender and regrant", was taken up by other Irish clan chiefs.
This passed over Conn's legitimate sons; the eldest, Shane O'Neill, was only about twelve at the time. When he grew up, Shane (who is remembered as , or "Shane the Proud") drove his father out of Ulster, and was inaugurated The O'Neill (in Irish: Uí Neíll). There was civil strife among the Cenell Eoghain; Shane was victorious, Ferdoragh was killed, Conn was permanently driven out of Tyrone, and died in the Irish Pale in 1559, the area of Ireland directly governed by the English.
In English law, Ferdoragh's eldest son, Brian O'Neill, then succeeded to the Earldom; in practice he continued to be called Lord Dungannon. Queen Elizabeth I, newly come to the throne, proposed to recognize Shane as Earl, since he actually ruled Tyrone and was the eldest legitimate son; but the negotiations collapsed.Christopher Maginn, O'Neill, Shane (c.1530–1567), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 25 April 2011; her deputy, Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex did not trust Shane, who, in turn, did not want the English deciding the quarrels between him and his subordinate chiefs. Brian was killed in 1562, while still young and unmarried, by his cousin Turlough O'Neill, the tanist of his uncle Shane (and a grandson of the brother of Conn Bacagh, the first Earl). Shane died in June 1567, whereupon the English generally supported Brian's younger brother Hugh O'Neill against Turlough Linneach O'Neill. But Turlough was inaugurated The O'Neill Mor and as leader of the clan, was perceived to be the greater threat to English control of Ireland. In 1585, Hugh was recognized as Earl of Tyrone. In 1593, Turlough surrendered to him the position of "The O'Neill" to the Earl and retired.
Hugh O'Neill's career as unquestioned leader of the O'Neills became a series of quarrels with the English government: like many great feudal lords, he rebelled in the Nine Years' War, was proclaimed a traitor, and ultimately submitted to the Crown at the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603. Despite the Anglo-Spanish peace treaty of 1604, in 1607 O'Neill, his brother-in-law the Earl of Tyrconnell, and several of their followers fled to Europe, expecting the Spanish to invade Ireland with an army. He was found guilty of treason the year after this Flight of the Earls. The attainder was confirmed by the Parliament of Ireland in 1614; at which point the Earldom became forfeit under the common law.
Notwithstanding this attaintment, Earl Hugh, followed by his sons, continued to claim to be Earl of Tyrone, through its recognition by the Pope and the King of Spain, until the last legitimate grandson died unmarried, in 1692. Irish marriage practices at the time allowed for a political divorce, but all children were considered legitimate by the Irish: Hugh was married four times. Historians have stated that at this point the Irish title became extinct, as well as forfeit; however, that is by English law of descent. Gaelic law allowed for chiefships and property to descend through tanistry, and thus the descendants of Earl Hugh's brothers acted as The O'Neills of Tyrone, and called themselves Earl of Tyrone by Spanish grant, for the rest of the century. At that point, the chiefship and property transferred to the O'Neill of Tyrone existent back in Ireland through the descendants of Prince Shane O'Neill.
Heirs who did not live to succeed are indented. Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of TyroneEncyclopædia Britannica, Conn Bacach O'Neill, King and Earl of Tyrone(–1559) Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon (–1550) Brian O'Neill, Baron Dungannon, 2nd Baron Dungannon (–1562) Hugh O'Neill 3rd Baron Dungannon, 2nd or 3rd Earl of Tyrone.Destruction of the Peace, Micheline Kearney Walsh, R&S Printers, Monaghan, Ireland, 1986 (–1616) attainted 1608, attainder confirmed by Irish Parliament 1614. Hugh O'Neill, 4th Baron Dungannon (–1609) attainted 1608.
Baron Dungannon
The Barony of Dungannon created for Matthew or Ferdoragh O'Neill was limited, by the terms of the patent, to his descendants who were heirs apparent to the Earldom of Tyrone. This provision would have meant that it acted like a courtesy title: when an Earl of Tyrone had an eldest son, or an eldest grandson by a deceased eldest son, that heir would be Baron Dungannon; when there was no heir apparent, the Barony of Dungannon lapsed until there was.
So when Matthew died, his son Brian became Baron Dungannon. However, when Conn Bacach died the next year, Brien was not recognized as Earl of Tyrone, but continued to be called Baron Dungannon until he was killed by Turlough Luineach O'Neill, Shane O'Neill's tanist.
His younger brother Hugh O'Neill was called Baron of Dungannon until 1585, when he received a charter confirming him as Earl of Tyrone. The same charter confirmed his son Hugh, the eldest son of his second wife, as Baron Dungannon; Earl Hugh's first marriage was invalid, and his children by that marriage illegitimate.
The following men were known as Baron Dungannon: Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon, (c. 1510–1558), cr. 1542. Brian O'Neill, Baron Dungannon (died 1562), de jure Baron Dungannon 1558–9, styled Dungannon 1558–1562. Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, (c. 1550 – 1616) styled Baron Dungannon 1562–1585, never de jure: before his brother's death, he was not heir apparent, for his brother could have married and had sons; after his brother's death, he was de jure Earl of Tyrone, but not Baron Dungannon by the limitation. Hugh O'Neill, 4th Baron Dungannon, (1609), styled Baron Dungannon, 1587–1608, de jure from birth. Recognised Baron on 10 May 1587. Henry O'Neill (1610), de jure 5th Baron Dungannon Shane O'Neill (Juan, John, Sean; 15991641), de jure 6th Baron Dungannon The title Baron Dungannon was attainted in 1614, at the same time the title Earl of Tyrone was attainted. Therefore, Earl Hugh's two eldest sons, Henry and Shane, were de jure Barons.
Exiles Earl Hugh and his family continued to lead the O'Neills of Tyrone from abroad; they also had the title of Earl of Tyrone recognized in Spain in the form of Conde de Tyrone. "Though no longer recognized in England, it was granted by Spanish kings to a line of O'Neills in rightful succession to the end of the seventeenth century".as translated in Micheline Kearny Walsh The Will of John O'Neill, Third Earl of Tyrone, dated September 18th, 1640. pg. 320 Seanchas Ard Mhacha
Hugh O'Neill (–1616), the attainted Earl. Henry O'Neill (–1610Henry O'Neill and the Formation of the Irish Regiment in the Netherlands, 1605, by Jerrold Casway, Irish Historical Studies, Vol. XVIII, No. 72, Sept. 1973, pg. 481–489) Earl Hugh's son by Joan O'Donnell, his second wife; Colonel of the Irish regiment in the Spanish service in Flanders; Knight of Santiago. Accompanied his father in his flight, and was attainted 1608, confirmed 1614. He is omitted from an account of his father's family in 1617; he is noted as dead in 1621 Shane O'Neill (Juan, John, Sean; 15991641), Earl Hugh's son by Catherine Magennis, his fourth wife. Succeeded his father as Earl of Tyrone, his brother as Colonel; Knight of Calatrava; Major Domo at Madrid, 1638; died in the Battle of Montjuïc. He was created the Viscount of Montjuich by the King of Spain upon his death. His younger brothers died young: Conn (–1627?) was left behind in the flight, went to Eton, and died in the Tower of London; Brian (–1617) went to school in Brussels and was killed there, being found hanged with his hands bound. Hugo Eugenio O'Neill, his son, was legitimated at Shane's death by Philip IV of Spain but died young. Shane's will provided that Hugo Eugenio be taught Irish, so he could be an effective leader of the O'Neills; it also provided an elaborate system of succession if Hugo Eugenio died childless, as did happen.Micheline Kearny Walsh The Will of John O'Neill, Third Earl of Tyrone, dated September 18th, 1640. If he died, the Earldom was to pass first to Shane's cousin Conn, then to his illegitimate cousins, the sons of Art mac Baron, then to the descendant of Shane the Proud who should be nearest in blood. Conn O'Neill (Con, Constantino, died before 1660), son of Cormac O'Neill, the younger brother of Earl Hugh who died in the Tower of London, was named as second heir in Shane O'Neill's will, if Hugo Eugenio died childless; by the law of the Kingdom of Ireland, he would be the next heir to the Earldom, if restored. Since he died before Hugo Eugenio, he does not appear to have called himself Earl, but Owen Roe O'Neill, Earl Hugh's half-nephew and a general in the War of the Three Kingdoms, acknowledged "that all the immediate right to the earldom of Tyrone belongs to Don Constantino, who is in Spain" and that while he lived, Owen Roe himself "could claim nothing".Micheline Kearney Walsh: "The Will of John O'Neill" (1976); before the will was published, there were theories than this Conn was an elder brother of Owen Roe O'Neill; or a son of one of Owen Roe's elder brothers; and so descended from Owen Roe's father, Art McBaron O'Neill, an illegitimate half-brother of Earl Hugh (Art's epithet arises from his being the son of Ferdoragh (Matthew), Baron Dungannon). This would not bar him or Owen from being leader of the O'Neills; but it would mean they were not heirs to the Earldom.