Baron O'Neill

2025-08-28T10:48:56Z

2A01:4B00:9E1F:3900:210B:48DC:9F35:7334: Spelling error

{{short description|Barony in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox hereditary title
| name = Baron O'Neill
| image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|130px|centre]][[File:Arms of O'Neill, Baron O'Neill.svg|150px]]
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = {{Collapsible list
|framestyle=border:none; padding:0; 
|title= Blazon
|1= '''Arms:''' Quarterly: ''1st and 4th, per fess wavy the chief Argent and the base representing Waves of the Sea in chief a Dexter Hand couped at the wrist Gules in base a Salmon naiant proper ''(O'Neill);'' 2nd and 3rd, checky Or and Gules a Chief Vair ''(Chichester).
|2= '''Crests:''' ''1st: an Arm embowed in Armour the Hand grasping a Sword all proper; 2nd: a Stork rising with a Snake in its beak all proper''.
|3='''Supporters:''' ''On either side a Lion Gules gorged with an Antique Crown Argent pendant therefrom an Escutcheon the dexter charged with the Arms of O'Neill and the sinister with those of Chichester''
|4='''Coronet:''' ''That of a Baron.''
}}
| creation_date = 18 April 1868
| creation =
| monarch = [[Queen Victoria]]
| peerage = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
| baronetage =
| first_holder = [[William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill]]
| last_holder =
| present_holder = [[Raymond O'Neill, 4th Baron O'Neill]]
| heir_apparent = Shane Sebastian Clanaboy O'Neill
| heir_presumptive =
| remainder_to =
| subsidiary_titles =
| status = Extant
| extinction_date =
| family_seat = [[Shane's Castle]]
| former_seat =
| motto = Above the Crests:<br/>'''INVITUM SEQUITUR HONOS''' ''(Honours follow us without seeking)'' <br/>Below the shield:<br/> '''LAMH DEARG EIRIN''' ''(The Red Hand of Ireland)''
| footnotes =
}}
'''Baron O'Neill''', of [[Shane's Castle]] in the County of Antrim, is a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=23370 |date=14 April 1868 |page=2220}}</ref> It was created in 1868 for the musical composer [[The Reverend]] [[William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill|William O'Neill]]. Born William Chichester, he succeeded to the estates of his cousin John Bruce Richard O'Neill, 3rd [[Viscount O'Neill]], in 1855 (on whose death the viscountcy and first barony of O'Neill became extinct) and assumed by royal licence the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Chichester in order to inherit the lands of his cousin, despite not being descended in the male line from an O'Neill.<ref>Holohan, Renagh. The Irish Châteaux – In search of Descendants of the Wild Geese, with illustrations by Jeremy Williams, published by The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-901866-34-6}} (p. 133).</ref> The Chichesters trace their lineage to the name O'Neill through Mary Chichester, daughter of Henry O'Neill of Shane's Castle. Lord O'Neill was the patrilineal great-great-great-grandson of John Chichester, younger brother of [[Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall]].<ref>Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 1995, edited by Charles Kidd and David Williamson, published by Debrett’s Peerage Limited, and Macmillan Reference Books, London, 1995, [{{ISBN|0-333-62956-6}} & 0-312-12557-7], (p.P969).</ref> The latter two were both nephews of [[Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall]], and grandsons of [[Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester]] (see the [[Marquess of Donegall]] for more information). Lord O'Neill was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He sat as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)|Antrim]].

His eldest son and heir apparent, the Hon. [[Arthur O'Neill]], represented [[Antrim Mid (UK Parliament constituency)|Antrim Mid]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] as a Conservative from 1910 until 1914, when he was killed in action during the [[First World War]], the first MP to die in the conflict. The second Baron was therefore succeeded by his grandson, [[Shane O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill]] (the son of the Hon. Arthur O'Neill). He was killed in action in [[Italy]] during the [[Second World War]]. The title is currently held by his son, the fourth Baron, who succeeded in 1944. He was [[Lord Lieutenant of Antrim]] from 1994 to 2008.

Two other members of the O'Neill family have been elevated to the peerage. [[Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan]], was the youngest son of the second Baron O'Neill, while [[Terence O'Neill|Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine]], [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]], was the youngest brother of the third Baron.

The holders of the O'Neill and Rathcavan baronies are in the remainder of the titles Earl of Donegall, Viscount Chichester and Baron Chichester, though the chances of that happening are very slim.

The family seat is [[Shane's Castle]], near [[Randalstown]], [[County Antrim]].

==Baron O'Neill (1868)==
*[[William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill]] (1813–1883)
*[[Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill]] (1839–1928)
*[[Shane O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill|Shane Edward Robert O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill]] (1907–1944)
*[[Raymond O'Neill, 4th Baron O'Neill|Raymond Arthur Clanaboy O'Neill, 4th Baron O'Neill]] (born 1933)

The [[heir apparent]] is the present holder's son, the Hon. Shane Sebastian Clanaboy O'Neill (born 1965).

===Title succession chart===
{{Chichester and O'Neill family tree}}

==See also==
*[[Marquess of Donegall]]
*[[Earl O'Neill]]
*[[Baron Rathcavan]]
*[[Terence O'Neill|Baron O'Neill of the Maine]]
*[[Robert Torrens O'Neill]]
*[[O'Neill dynasty]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

*{{cite book |title=Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage |editor-first=Charles |editor-last=Kidd |url=https://archive.org/details/b24883797/mode/2up?ref=ol |page=682 |date=1903 |location=London |publisher=[[Dean & Son]]}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}

{{Extant baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill}}
[[Category:Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1868]]
[[Category:Extinct baronies in the Peerage of Ireland]]
[[Category:Chichester family]]

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Baron O'Neill