Mabel Bagenal

Mabel Bagenal
Mabel Bagenal
Countess of Tyrone
Born	c. 1571; Newry, County Down, Ireland
Died	December 1595; Dungannon or Newry
Spouse(s)	Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone
Parents	Sir Nicholas Bagenal; Eleanor Griffith

Mabel Bagenal (c. 1571 – December 1595) was an

Elizabethan Wars".^[2]

Life

Mabel Bagenal was born around 1571 in

Turlough Luineach O'Neill had previously expressed interest in marrying her. The recently widowed Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, declared his love for Bagenal and asked to marry her. The Bagenals refused. She was sent to live at Turvey House, County Dublin with her sister Lady Mary Barnewall. Her brother referred the decision to the queen and privy council of England, claiming that his sister was not prepared to live in what he termed an uncivil Gaelic household. A number of prominent officials, including Archbishop Loftus and Sir Geoffrey Fenton

, believed that the match could be in the public interest. Bagenal and O'Neill preempted the decision, pledging to marry when he visited her in Turvey in July after which they eloped.

They were married in an Anglican ceremony by Bishop Thomas Jones on 3 July 1591 after the bishop was assured that Bagenal gave free consent.^[1]^[3]

Her brother was still opposed to the marriage and declared "that my blood which in my father and myself hath often been spilled in repressing this rebellious race, should now be mingled with so traitorous a stock and kindred". He also questioned if O'Neill's divorce from his first wife was authentic, and withheld his sister's £1,000

Catholicism, which along with O'Neill's alleged infidelity, stoked his enmity further.^[1]

In May 1593 the couple is said to have clashed over the assassination of Phelim mac Turlough O'Neill with "the countess clapping her hands together was sorry, as should seem, of that which happened, to whom the earl in English spoke with vehemency."

Death

Mabel Bagenal O'Neill died in December 1595, either in Dungannon or Newry,^[1] having possibly left The O'Neill and lodged a public complaint against him.^[3]

It was suggested that a skeleton that was uncovered during an archaeological dig in 2011 could have been that of Lady O'Neill.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy; O'Byrne, Emmett (2009). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^ Newmann, Kate. "Mabel Bagenal ( - c.1600): Wife of Hugh O'Neill". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Bagenal, Mabel (c. 1571–1595)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
^ "Reconstructed face of medieval skeleton may reveal Ireland's 'Helen of Troy'". www.tyronetimes.co.uk. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

[Clarke-1] Clarke, Aidan; Barry, Judy; O'Byrne, Emmett (2009). "Bagenal (O'Neill), Mabel". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[Newmann-2] Newmann, Kate. "Mabel Bagenal ( - c.1600): Wife of Hugh O'Neill". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

[Encyclopedia.com-3] "Bagenal, Mabel (c. 1571–1595)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

[4] "Reconstructed face of medieval skeleton may reveal Ireland's 'Helen of Troy'". www.tyronetimes.co.uk. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

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