Manus Ó Domhnaill, 21st Chieftain

Manus Ó Domhnaill, anglicized Manus O'Donnell (died 1564), was an Irish clan leader, son of Hugh Dubh O'Donnell. He was an important member of the O'Donnell dynasty based in County Donegal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manus_O'Donnell

Kilde/Source: The Peerage:

Niall Conallach O'Neill was the son of ART Óg O'Neill.2

He married Rose O'Donell, daughter of Manus O'Donell.1 He died in 1545.1

Tanist (designated heir) to Tir Eoghain or Tyrone.1

Child of Niall Conallach O'Neill and Rose O'Donell

1.Sir Terence/Turlough Lynagh O'Neill+2 d. 1595.

Manus O'Donnell (d. 1564), son of Hugh Dubh O'Donnell, was left by his father to rule Tyrconnel, though still a mere youth, when Hugh Dubh went on a pilgrimage to Rome about 1511.

Hugh Dubh had been chief of the O'Donnells during one of the bitterest and most protracted of the feuds between his clan and the O'Neills, which in 1491 led to a war lasting more than ten years.

On his return from Rome in broken health after two years' absence, his son Manus, who had proved himself a capable leader in defending his country against the O'Neills, retained the chief authority.

A family quarrel ensued, and when Hugh Dubh appealed for aid against his son to the Maguires, Manus made an alliance with the O'Neills, by whose assistance he established his hold over Tyrconnel.

But in 1522 the two great northern clans were again at war.

Conn Bacach O'Neill, ist earl of Tyrone, determined to bring the O'Donnells under thorough subjection. Supported by several septs of Munster and Connaught, and assisted also by English contingents and by the MacDonnells of Antrim, O'Neill took the castle of Ballyshannon, and after devastating a large part of Tyrconnel he encamped at Knockavoe, near Strabane.

Here he was surprised at night by Hugh Dubh and Manus O'Donnell, and routed with the loss of goo men and an immense quantity of booty. Although this was one of the bloodiest fights that ever took place between the O'Neills and the O'Donnells, it did not bring the war to an end; and in 1531 O'Donnell applied to the English government for protection, giving assurances of allegiance to Henry VIII.

In 1537 Lord Thomas Fitzgerald and his five uncles were executed for rebellion in Munster, and the English government made every effort to lay hands also on Gerald, the youthful heir to the earldom of Kildare, a boy of twelve years of age who was in the secret custody of his aunt Lady Eleanor McCarthy. This lady, in order to secure a powerful protector for the boy, accepted an offer of marriage by Manus O'Donnell, who on the death of Hugh Dubh in July 1537 was inaugurated The O'Donnell.

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