Oneilland


Oneilland is the name of a former barony in County Armagh, present-day Northern Ireland. It covers the northern area of the county bordering the south-eastern shoreline of Lough Neagh. At some stage the barony was divided into Oneilland East and Oneilland West.

Territory

The barony of Oneilland—also recorded as Oneilan—derives its name from the anglicisation of the ancient Irish district of Uí Nialláin, which was named after the Irish sept of the same name. Its territory however is based upon three such districts: "Oneilan, Clanbrassil, and Clancann". Clanbrassil and Clancann both lay along the southern shoreline of Lough Neagh, with the River Bann forming the boundary between them, with the former on the east side and the latter on the west side. Oneilan lay south of Clancann also west of the river.

Medieval history

The Uí Nialláin were a sept of Clan Cernaich, and they ruled from Loch gCál, modern-day Loughgall.
Along with the UĂ­ Bresail and UĂ­ Echdach, they were amongst the main dynasties to arise from the split in the 8th century of Airthir, one of the nine kingdoms of AirgĂ­alla. The land of the UĂ­ Echdach corresponded to the modern barony of Armagh. The land of the UĂ­ Bresail, recorded as "Clanbrassil" in English, as well as that of "Clancann" both lay in the modern barony of Oneilland East along the southern shore of Lough Neagh. The River Bann
The related Ă“ hAnluain sept were for a couple of centuries chiefs of Oneilland, after which they ruled for several centuries as chiefs of a much reduced Airthir, which by then corresponded to the modern baronies of Orior Lower and Orior Upper, which derive their name from it.
The Ă“ Gairbhith sept, who were kindred with the Ă“ hAnluain, held sway in Clanbrassil before the Mac Cana sept of Clan Cana took over. The Mac Cana would extend Clanbrassil to encompass all of Oneilland and what is now the barony of Dungannon Middle in County Tyrone. Clanbrassil was also recorded as "McCan's Country". The McCanns last residence in suggested as being in an area of land recorded in the plantation map near the shore of Lough Neagh called "Maghery-Greny".
By the 16th century the O'Neills of Tir Eoghain had taken over what was to become the barony of Oneilland. Due to the areas attractiveness it became a favourite retreat for members of the O'Neill family in times of peace and war. As The O'Neill resided at the clan's capital in Dungannon, Oneilland was set apart for his brother or eldest son, who resided in a crannog in Loughgall, which then was a more extensive lough. The O'Neill reserved for himself the right to temporarily stay at this residence.
Thus Oneilland became the territory of Art MacBaron O'Neill, son of Matthew O'Neill, 1st Baron Dungannon, with the area in a map from 1560 called "Art Mac Baron his countree". Art's younger half-brother, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who eventually became head of the family thus having Dungannon as his residence seemed to favour residing in Loughgall.

Plantation of Ulster

The boundaries of the Plantation of Ulster precinct of Oneilland were conterminous with the barony. As part of the plantation, it was set aside for English undertakers only and due to the high fertility of the land and its closeness to The Pale it was the most sought after area.
The most notable native to be displaced by the English undertakers was Art MacBaron O'Neill. It was considered desirable by the government at the time to handle Art's removal carefully so that it would happen peacefully and thus inspire his kinsmen in Oneilland to react in kind. The council for the plantation in London decided that it would decide where to dislodge Art to, in which they granted him 2,000 acres in the neigbhbouring barony of Orior. Due to his advanced years Art gave little resistance and upon his peaceful acceptance of his proportion in Orior, saw many of his kinsmen in Oneilland do likewise.
For the purposes of plantation grants, Oneilland was divided into thirteen proportions granted to ten individuals: eight consisting of 1,000 acres; three consisting of 1,500 acres; and two consisting of 2,000 acres. Due to the gratuity of the planners so called waste or unprofitable land were thrown in meaning the undertakers may have ended up with far more land than they were intended to be given. In some cases this "unprofitable" land turned out to at times be more profitable than the arable land.
The English undertakers given the initial grants where:
In 1611 a report commissioned by the king to inspect the plantations in Ulster was carried out by Sir George Garew, in which Oneilland's progress was the most favourable. Despite this woodkerns—displaced natives—for three years launched raids on the plantation spreading fear and terror. Woodkerns are recorded as attacking from the dense forests of Clancann, Clanbrassil, and Oneilland, and other districts in County Armagh.

1608 rebellion

In 1608 Eochaidh Ă“g O'Hanlon, son and heir of Sir Eochaidh O'Hanlon, along with the son of the recently executed son of Brian Mac Art O'Neill of Loughgall, rose up in support of Sir Cahir O'Doherty of Inishowen, County Donegal, who had risen in rebellion against the English. Both Eochaidh Ă“g and O'Neill felt obliged to support O'Doherty due to family ties, with Eochaidh Og married to Cahir's sister Margaret. Their main opponent was their kinsman Sir Turlough MacHenry O'Neill of the barony of the Fews who captured the two men. The Lord Deputy of Ireland Chichester tried to blame the forests and Eochaidh Og O'Hanlon's rebellion in 1608 for the woodkern, however it was his own policies that was the problem.

Division of Oneilland

When the barony of Oneilland was split into two, the portion east of the River Bann corrsponding to the ancient district of Clanbrassil became Oneilland East, whilst the portion west of the river corresponding to the districts of Oneilland and Clancann became Oneilland West. Oneilland East consisted of 34,408 statute acres, whilst Oneilland West consisted of 59,502.