Sir Niall Garvach O'Donnell

Irish chieftain
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1626 (aged 57) London England

Sir Niall Garvach O’Donnell, (born 1569—died 1626, London, Eng.), Irish chieftain, alternately an ally of and rebel against the English.

Niall Garvach O’Donnell, grandson of An Calbhach O’Donnell (through his son Conn), was incensed at the elevation of his cousin Hugh Roe O’Donnell to the chieftainship of the O’Donnells in 1592—and thus the lordship of the O’Donnells’ traditional land, Tyrconnell—and was further alienated when Hugh Roe deprived him of his castle of Lifford. A bitter feud between the two O’Donnells resulted. In 1597 Niall Garvach formed a military alliance with the English garrison at Derry both against the O’Neills (the other powerful family in Ulster whose power base was in Tyrone) and against his cousin. But in 1601 he quarreled with the lord deputy, who, though willing to establish Niall Garvach in the lordship of Tyrconnell, would not permit him to enforce his supremacy in the neighbouring land of Inishowen, on which the O’Neills and O’Donnells had competing claims. After the departure of Hugh Roe from Ireland in 1602, Niall Garvach and Hugh Roe’s brother Rory went to London, where the Privy Council endeavoured to resolve the dispute but failed to satisfy Niall Garvach.

Charged with complicity in the rebellion of Cahir O’Doherty, lord of Inishowen, against the English government in Derry in 1608, Niall Garvach was sent to the Tower of London, where he remained until his death in 1626.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Lorraine Murray, Associate Editor.