Tyrconnell - Gaelic State in Ireland

Tyrconnell (Irish Gaelic: Tir Chonaill) was an independent Gaelic state in Ireland. It covered an area that was larger than the present County Donegal.  It took in parts of Derry, Sligo, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Leitrim. The powerful Irish family O’Donnell (Ó Domhnail) ruled the land under Brehon Law.  The statutes of Brehon Law were used to govern early medieval Irish society. As quoted in historian Peter Berresford Ellis' interview with Transceltic, it is “what could be claimed as northern Europe’s oldest legal system”.

The Kingdom of Tyrconnell was said to have been founded in the fifth century by Conall Gulban, a son of Niall Noígíallach. Niall Noígíallach was an Irish King known as Niall of the Nine Hostages. He got his name from his strategy of taking hostages in his battles with other chieftains. There are a number of present day Irish names which claim a link to Niall and his dynasty of Irish chieftains held sway in Ireland for several centuries. The O’Donnell’s were descended from Conal Gulban.

The O’Donnell’s grip on power was drastically reduced in 1602 after Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill’s defeat in the Seige of Kinsale. This was part of the resistance against English intervention in Ireland led by Aodh Mór Ó Néill and Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill. The family O’Donnell was in alliance with the O’Neill’s at the time (also descended from Niall Noígíallach). Prior to the Siege of Kinsale the forces of O’Donnell and O’Neill had achieved some significant successes against English forces. Including at the Battle of Contibret in March 1595, the Battle of Yellow Ford in August 1598 and the Battle of Curlew Pass in 1599. However, by this time, faced with increased English forces, O’Donnell and O’Neill were forced more on the defensive.

Following defeat at Kinsale, Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill went to Spain where he died in 1602. He was succeeded by his brother Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill, the last King of Tyrconnell. The end for Tyrconnell finally came in 1607 in want is known as ‘The Flight of Earls’. On 14 September 1607 Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill and Aodh Mór Ó Néill, their power severely depleted and under threat of arrest by King James, left Ireland. They had hoped to garner military support, particularly from Spain, in support of their return to Ireland. However, power balances and politics were altering in Europe and they were never to return to their native land.

The departure of the Gaelic Earls from Rathmullan on Lough Swilley in 1607 marked a turning point in the history of Gaelic Ireland. Following The Nine Years War (1594-1603) there was a continued and provocative vendetta against the Earls and religious persecution. Forced into leaving Ireland the Earls dreams of returning home with forces to reclaim their lands was never to be. The Gaelic Kingdom of Tyrconnell was gone but never forgotten.