Hugh Dubh O'Neill facts for kids
Hugh Dubh O'Neill, also known as "Black Hugh," was an important Irish soldier in the 1600s. He was born in 1611 and died in 1660. He is most famous for fighting in the Irish Confederate Wars and especially for defending the town of Clonmel in 1650.
Contents
Early Life and Military Career
Hugh Dubh was part of the famous O'Neill dynasty. His family leaders had left Ireland in 1607 during an event called the Flight of the Earls. Hugh Dubh's father, Art Óg O'Neill, was one of these exiles. He became a soldier in the Spanish army.
Because of this, Hugh Dubh was born in Brussels in 1611. He grew up among the Irish military community there. He became a professional soldier, just like his father. He served in the Irish part of the Spanish army in Flanders. This was during the Eighty Years' War, where Spain fought against the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
Return to Ireland and the Wars
In 1642, Hugh Dubh's uncle, Owen Roe O'Neill, helped 300 Irish officers return to Ireland. These officers had also served in the Spanish army. They came back to support the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Hugh Dubh's men became the main part of the Ulster army for Confederate Ireland. This was like an independent Irish state at the time. Early in the war, Hugh Dubh was captured by Scottish enemies called Covenanters. But he was traded back to his own side after the Confederates won the Battle of Benburb in 1646. He became more important after his commander, Owen Roe O'Neill, died in 1649.
Defending Against Cromwell
In 1649, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland began. Hugh Dubh was sent south with 2,000 of the best Ulster soldiers. Their job was to defend southern Ireland. He showed great bravery during the Siege of Clonmel in May 1650. His forces caused the most damage ever seen by the English New Model Army.
After Clonmel, Hugh Dubh became the commander defending Limerick. He fought off the English Parliamentarians' first attempt to take the city in late 1650. However, the next year, Henry Ireton attacked Limerick again. Hugh Dubh was eventually forced to give up. Many people in the city were dying from hunger and sickness. Also, some of his soldiers rebelled against him. Ireton himself died from disease during the siege.
Imprisonment and Later Life
Under the terms of surrender, Hugh Dubh was supposed to be executed for his strong defense of Limerick. But the Parliamentarian general Edmund Ludlow did not carry out the sentence. Instead, he sent Hugh Dubh to prison in the Tower of London.
Hugh Dubh's time in prison ended sooner than expected. The Spanish Ambassador to England stepped in. He argued that Hugh Dubh was a Spanish citizen. Hugh Dubh was then released into Spanish care. The condition was that he could not fight against English forces.
So, he did not go back to Flanders. Instead, he was sent to Spain. There, he became a General of Artillery. He helped put down a rebellion in Catalonia called the Reaper's War. He also became the 5th Earl of Tyrone in Spain after his cousin, Hugh Eoghan, died. Around 1660, after the English Restoration, Hugh Dubh wrote to King Charles II. He asked for his family's old lands back and to be made the English Earl of Tyrone. However, King Charles did not agree to his request. Hugh Dubh died from sickness later that year.
See also
Sources
- J.G. Simms, War and Politics in Ireland 1649-1730, Hambledon Press, London, 1986.
