Hugh O'Neil

Born 1605 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland. Died 24 November 1660 in County Tyrone, age 55. According to 'The Will and Family of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone' (a published historical study) and the Maps of the Escheated Counties (1609), the Castle of Omagh and the lands of the Barony of Omagh were the stronghold of the SLIOCHT AIRT sept of the O'Neills, descended from Art O'Neill (d. 1457), son of Eoghan King of Tír Eoghain. The Sliocht Airt sept is documented as a recognized noble O'Neill branch in the Annals of the Four Masters for the years 1514, 1524, 1586, and 1602. The 1666 Hearth Money Roll for Omagh Barony, six years after Hugh O'Neil's death, lists O'Neill households still in the area: in Termonmaguirk Parish — Hugh O'Sheill at Ballykeill, Stan O'Sheill at Aghnagur, Cormicke and Owen O'Sheill at Glamer and Radargan, Artt O'Neill at Killadrey (the Sliocht Airt namesake), Edmond O'Sheile at Aghagallan; in Cappagh Civil Parish — Brian O'Neill at Edenderry and Lislea; in Killaman Parish (1670 roll) — Hugh O'Neill at Caven and Shan O'Neill at Drumenagh. Across these three Omagh Barony parishes, at least eight named O'Neill households persisted into the 1666-1670 window — confirming a substantial active O'Neill community in Omagh in our Hugh's exact generation and the next. An O'Neil born 1605 in Omagh was therefore almost certainly a member of the Sliocht Airt sept, and a documented descendant of Art O'Neill (d. 1457), the medieval Kings of Tír Eoghain, and ultimately Niall of the Nine Hostages (the 4th-5th century High King of Ireland and founder of the Uí Néill dynasty). His birth came 2 years before the 1607 Flight of the Earls — the event that scattered the ruling O'Neill family to Rome — but the broader Sliocht Airt remained on their Omagh lands as the Plantation of Ulster proceeded.