The O'Neill Baronetcy (1643)

This was a branch from the Milesian stock from which the present noble family of O'NEILL claims descent.

HUGH BOY O'NEILL, from whom the territories called the Claneboys, in counties Down and Antrim, received their name, grandson of HUGH MEYTH, King of Ulster, 1122, recovered those lands from the English (which had been wrested from his family at the invasion during the reign of HENRY II), and his descendants enjoyed them until the reign of JAMES I.

When a portion was conquered by force of arms from the O'Neills, more purchased by JAMES I by them, and some part left in their possession, which has descended to the O'Neills of Shane's Castle.

His Majesty, when he instituted the Order of Baronets, had chiefly in view the subduing of the clan O'Neill in Ulster, and the Ulster hand ~ the Red Hand of O'Neill ~ was given as a badge to the order.

BRIAN O'NEILL, in consideration of his gallant services at the battle of Edgehill, was created a baronet by CHARLES I in 1643, designated of Upper Claneboys.

Sir Brian married Jane Finch, of the family of the 1st Earl of Nottingham, and dying in 1670, was succeeded by his son, 

SIR BRIAN O'NEILL, 2nd Baronet, of Backerstown, County Dublin, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland during the reign of JAMES II, who married Mary, sister of Christopher, 10th Baron Dunsany, and dying in 1694, was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HENRY O'NEILL, 3rd Baronet (c1674-1759), of Kellystown, near Drogheda, who married firstly, Mary, daughter of Mark Bagot, of Mount Arran, County Carlow, and had an only son,

BRIAN, his successor;

RANDALL, 5th Baronet.

He wedded secondly, Rose, daughter of Captain James Brabazon (son of Sir Anthony Brabazon, and nephew of William, 1st Earl of Meath), and had further issue,

Brabazon;
Henry;
FRANCIS, 6th Baronet.

Sir Henry was succeeded by the eldest son of his first wife,

SIR BRIAN O'NEILL, 4th Baronet, of Kellystown, who died without male issue, when the title devolved upon his brother,

SIR RANDALL O'NEILL, 5th Baronet, of Kellystown, surveyor of excise at Rush, County Dublin, who married, about 1750, Mrs Margaret Tompkins, by whom he had a son, William, and a daughter, Rachel.

Sir Randall died in 1799, and was succeeded by his only son,

SIR WILLIAM O'NEILL, 6th Baronet (c1754-84), of Kellystown, who died childless, when the baronetcy reverted to his uncle (of the half blood) and heir male, being sixth and youngest son of the 3rd Baronet, 

SIR FRANCIS O'NEILL, 7th Baronet (c1730-99), of Kellystown, who was ejected from his property under the Popery Acts, and after renting two small farms near Kellystown, kept "a small huckster's shop and dairy" at Slane.

He married a daughter of ________ Fleming, of County Louth, by whom he had fourteen or fifteen children.

Sir Francis was in possession of the patent of the baronetcy in 1798, but died in 1799, being buried (with his father) at Mount Newton.

His widow died 18 months later.

Following his death the baronetcy expired.

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AS TO aristocratic kinsmen abandoning such claimants, again we may cite Burke's account of the support, moral and financial, given to the above mentioned Sir Francis O'Neill by his distant Protestant kinsman John, 1st Viscount O'Neill:

In that humble cottage the aged and poverty stricken baronet was visited in May, 1798 by John, the first Viscount O'Neill, and his two sons, Charles and John, the late Earl and the last Viscount ... for John, the first Lord O'Neill, princely in mind and he was exalted in station, never turned his face from a poor relation.

BACKWESTON HOUSE was once the residence of Sir Brian O'Neill, 1st Baronet.

He was a descendant of the Chiefs of Claneboy, and proved himself a gallant soldier, first in Holland and afterwards on the royalist side in the Civil War in England.

In relating the vicissitudes of the O'Neill family, Sir Bernard Burke has told how Sir Brian, with a few others, tried to rally the royal troops at the rout of Newburn, and how on the hard fought field of Edgehill he rallied the dragoons with undaunted courage, and finally saved CHARLES I from being taken prisoner.

Honours came to Sir Brian, but without corresponding wealth, and after the Restoration, he appears to have tried to add to his slender income by sending wool to France, a trade for which, on account of his constant loyalty and good service he was given a licence by the King.

Sir Brian, who was twice married, first to Jane Finch and secondly to Sarah Savage, whose mother was a daughter of Hugh, first Viscount Montgomery, of the Great Ards, died about 1670, and was succeeded by his son, who bore the same name.

Sir Brian O'Neill, the 2nd baronet, has been already mentioned in the history of Stillorgan in connection with his marriage to the widow of James Wolverston, who was a sister of Christopher Plunkett, 10th Lord Dunsany.

He was educated as a lawyer at Gray's Inn, which he entered in 1664, and, as stated in the history of Stillorgan, was appointed by JAMES II, in 1687, as one of the justices of the King's Bench in Ireland.

By his first marriage, Sir Henry O'Neill, 3rd Baronet, was father of Sir Randal, 4th Baronet, surveyor of customs at Rush, County Dublin, and died having had a son and a daughter, who both died unmarried. 

Sir Henry O'Neill, by his second marriage, left Sir Francis O'Neill, of Kellystown, in the county of Meath, 7th Baronet, who married Miss Fleming, of County Louth.

• Sir Brian O'Neill, 1st Baronet (d 1670)
• Sir Brian O'Neill, 2nd Baronet (d 1694);
• Sir Henry O'Neill, 3rd Baronet (c1674-1759);
• Sir Brian O'Neill, 4th Baronet;
• Sir Randall O'Neill, 5th Baronet (d 1779);
• Sir William O'Neill, 6th Baronet (c1754-84);
• Sir Francis O'Neill, 7th Baronet (c1730-99).

First published in April, 2011.