{{Short description|Irish soldier (died 1705)}} {{More footnotes needed|date=November 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox military person | name = Gordon O'Neill | birth_date = {{Circa|1650}} or c. 1652 | death_date = 1705 | death_place = France | allegiance = {{Bulleted list |Jacobite army |French army }} | rank = Colonel in Ireland, | battles = {{Bulleted list |[[Williamite War in Ireland]] | }} }}
'''Colonel Gordon O'Neill''', was an officer in King [[James II of England|James II]]'s Irish army who fought at the [[Siege of Derry]], the [[Battle of the Boyne]], and the [[Battle of Aughrim]] for the [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]].
== Birth and origins == Gordon was born, about 1650{{Sfn|Walsh|1933|p=[https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromiri00wals/page/88/ 88, line 5]|ps=. "... was born about 1650 ..."}} or about 1652{{Sfn|Casway|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613911/page/859/ 859]|ps=. "Gordon O'Neill (c.1652–1705)"}} as the only child of [[Felim O'Neill of Kinard]] and his third wife Jean Gordon. His father was a prominent member of the [[O'Neill dynasty]] and one of the leaders of the [[Confederate Ireland|Confederates]]. His mother was Scottish, a daughter of [[George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly]], and the widow of [[Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane]]. His parents were both Catholic.{{citation-needed|date=October 2025}} They had married in November 1649.{{Sfn|Webb|1878|p=[https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n425 417]|ps=: "In November 1649 he married Lady Jane Gordon a daughter of the Marquis of Huntly and the widow of Lord Strabane."}}
{{Chart top|width=auto|collapsed=no|align=right|clear=right|Family tree}} {{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both; font-size: 90%; width: 26em;}} {{Tree chart|Txt|Txt=Gordon O'Neill with parents, and other selected relatives.{{Efn|This family tree is based on a tree showing Phelim and Hugh O'Neill.{{Sfn|Farrell|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iHg5DwAAQBAJ&pg=245 245]|ps=. family tree}}}}|boxstyle_Txt=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}} {{Tree chart/end}} {{Tree chart/start}} {{Tree chart| | | |Trlgh|y|Cthrn|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; |Trlgh=[[Turlough MacShane O'Neill|'''Turlough<br />O'Neill''']]<br />d. 1608|boxstyle_Trlgh=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;background: lavender; |Cthrn='''Catherine''' |RbtH1='''Robert<br />Hovenden'''}} {{Tree chart| | | | | | |`|-|-|.| }} {{Tree chart|CldS2|y|JenGn|y|Felim|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; |CldS2=[[Claud Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane|Claud'''<br />2nd Baron''']]<br />d. 1638|boxstyle_CldS2=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: wheat; |JenGn='''Jean<br />Gordon''' |Felim=[[Phelim O'Neill|'''Phelim<br />O'Neill''']]<br />1604–1653|boxstyle_Felim=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;}} {{Tree chart| | | |!| | | |!}} {{Tree chart| | |JmsS3| |Sbjct|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; |JmsS3=James<br />'''3rd Baron'''<br />1633–1655|boxstyle_JmsS3=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: wheat; |Sbjct='''Gordon<br />O'Neill'''|boxstyle_Sbjct=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;}} {{Tree chart/end}} {{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both;}} {{Tree chart|Leg|Leg='''Legend'''|boxstyle_Leg=border: 0 solid white;}} {{Tree chart/end}} {{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both;}} {{Tree chart|SbjBx|SbjTx| |Bk1Bx|Bk1Tx| |Bk2Bx|Bk2Tx |SbjBx=XXX|boxstyle_SbjBx=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; color: white; |SbjTx=Subject of<br />the article|boxstyle_SbjTx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left; |Bk1Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk1Bx=background: lavender; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: lavender; |Bk1Tx=[[O'Neill Dynasty|O'Neills of<br />Kinard]]|boxstyle_Bk1Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left; |Bk2Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk2Bx=background: wheat; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: wheat; |Bk2Tx=[[Baron Hamilton of Strabane|Barons<br />Strabane]]|boxstyle_Bk2Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}} {{Tree chart/end}} {{Tree chart/start|style="border: 0 solid white; clear: both; font-size: 85%; text-align: left; width: 37em";}} {{Tree chart/end}} {{Chart_bottom}}
== Early life == He was a young child during the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] (1641–1653). His father was executed in 1653 after the defeat.{{Sfn|Dunlop|1895|p=[https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfNationalBiographyVolume42_630/page/n219/ 207, left column, line 50]|ps=: "... he was executed as a traitor on 10 March 1652-3."}}
== Williamite War == Gordon O'Neill raised a regiment for King [[James II of England|James II]] in 1689 and became a colonel in the Irish army. He was the [[Member of Parliament]] for [[County Tyrone (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|County Tyrone]] in the brief [[Patriot Parliament]] called by James II in 1689.<ref>O'Hart, John, [https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees2/irish-parliament-king-james.php The Irish Parliament of King James the Second in 1689], ''Irish Pedigrees: or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation'' (5th Ed., 1892), Volume 2. Retrieved 15 February 2023.</ref> During the [[Williamite war in Ireland]], he saw action at the [[Siege of Derry]], at the [[Battle of the Boyne]], and the [[Battle of Aughrim]],{{Sfn|Graham|1841|p=[https://archive.org/details/irelandpreserve00ashtgoog/page/n300 277]|ps=:"... distinguished himself with his nephew, Captain Manus O'Kane, at the Siege of Derry and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Aughrim."}}{{Sfn|Boyle |1879 |p=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.aa0003940582&seq=293 287, line 6] |ps=. "... that Major-Generals Dorrington, H. M. J. O'Neil, Brigadier Gordon O'Neil, Colonels Felix O'Neil and Anthony Hamilton held the centre;"}} where he was left for dead but was picked up by some Scottish Williamite officers who recognised him.
== French exile == He recovered from his wounds, and took his regiment to France after the [[Treaty of Limerick]] in 1692. There, it was known as the Régiment de [[Charlemont, County Armagh|Charlemont]].{{Sfn|D'Alton|1855|p=[https://archive.org/details/illustrationshi00dalgoog/page/n493 473]|ps=: "In the brigades commissioned for the French service, of that style 'Regiment of Charlemont', commanded by Gordon O'Neil at its first formation ..."}} He died in 1705 in France.
== Poem == The 17th-century Irish poet [[Diarmuid Mac Muireadhaigh|Dermot McMurray]] is believed to be the author of a Gaelic poem about him.{{Sfn|Walsh|1933|p=[https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromiri00wals/page/92/ 92]|ps=. "Diarmaid Mac Muireadhaigh sang this."}} The poem has a Latin endorsement that reads: Versus hibernici Gordono Ó Neill pro lingua hibernica (Irish verses to Gordon O Neill for the Irish language). The first four verses, translated into English, read:
# Go, ye handful of verses — stay not long with me — to Néill of the fine cheeks, to him everything good is due. # Say to his soft hair, from me, that ye are a nut from the tree which I plucked — its side was towards the ground — from the branch with fresh beautiful appearance. # Tell him, to excite mirth, Conn's and Cormac's heir, that in my store with ye there is a cofferful. # [[Sir Phelim O'Neill|Sir Felim]]'s son, [[Emain Ablach|Navan]]'s prince, though he speaks not Irish, shall bestow on ye a clear-bright laugh, no shame for him it is to look upon ye.
== Notes and references == === Notes === {{Notelist}}
=== Citations === {{Reflist}}
=== Sources === {{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{Cite book|last=D'Alton |first=John |date=1855 |title=Illustrations, historical and genealogical, of King James's Irish army list, 1689 |publisher=Published by the author |location=Dublin |oclc=838655763 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustrationshi00dalgoog}} * {{Cite book|last=Boyle |first=John |date=1879 |orig-date=1st pub. 1867 |title=The Battle-fields of Ireland, from 1688 to 1691 |edition=Fourth |publisher=Robert Coddington |location=New York |oclc=1041060867 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.aa0003940582}} * {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Casway |first=Jerrold I. |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-link=Colin Matthew |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Harrison (historian) |date=2004 |title=O'Neill, Sir Phelim Roe [Felim Ruadh] (1603–1653) |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |volume=41 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |pages=856–860 |isbn=0-19-861391-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613911/page/856/ |url-access=registration}} * {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Dunlop |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Dunlop (historian) |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Sidney |editor-link=Sidney Lee |date=1895 |title=O'Neill, Phelim 1604?–1653 |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of National Biography]] |volume=XLII |publisher=[[MacMillan and Co.]] |location=New York |pages=204–208 |oclc=8544105 |url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfNationalBiographyVolume42_630/page/n216/}} * {{Cite book|last=Farrell |first=Gerard |date=2017 |title=The 'Mere Irish' and the Colonisation of Ulster, 1570–1641 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=978-3-319-59362-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHg5DwAAQBAJ}} – (Preview) * {{Cite book|last=Graham |first=Rev. John |date=1841 |title=Ireland Preserved; or the Siege of Londonderry and the Battle of Aughrim with Lyrical Poetry and Biographical Notes |edition=2nd |publisher=Hardy and Walker |location=Dublin |oclc=00992682 |url=https://archive.org/details/irelandpreserve00ashtgoog/}} – Short biographies in the biographical notes * {{Cite book|last=Walsh |first=Rev. Paul |date=1933 |title=Gleanings from Irish Manuscripts |edition=2nd |publisher=At the Sign of the Three Candles |location=Dublin |oclc=1045619135 |url=https://archive.org/details/gleaningsfromiri00wals/}} * {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Webb |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Webb |date=1878 |title=O'Neill, Sir Felim |encyclopedia=Compendium of Irish Biography |publisher=[[M. H. Gill & Son]] |location=Dublin |pages=416–418 |oclc=122693688 |url=https://archive.org/details/acompendiumiris00webbgoog/page/n424/}} {{Refend}} <!-- == External links == * [http://www.thepeerage.com/p46288.htm#i462874 Genealogy of Gordon O'Neill on The Peerage website] -->
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{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Gordon}} [[Category:17th-century Irish people]] [[Category:18th-century Irish people]] [[Category:Irish Jacobites]] [[Category:Irish MPs 1689]] [[Category:Irish soldiers in the army of James II of England]] [[Category:Irish soldiers in the French Army]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tyrone constituencies]] [[Category:Military personnel from County Armagh]] [[Category:1705 deaths]]