dians and killed the heir of the chief of the Ui Eathach, their allies. In 1005 he plundered Conaille Murtheimhne, a level district of Louth, but was attacked and defeated with great loss by Maelseachlainn II [q. v.], king of Ireland; but next year he again invaded Ulidia, and slew another lord of Lethchathail, Cuuladh Mac Aenghasa, taking home seven hostages. In 1008 he plundered the rich idain called Magh Breagh in the south of Sleath, and in 1010 in alliance with Munstermen under Murchadh, son of Brian (926-1014) [q. v.], king of Ireland, and with some of the southern O'Neills from Meath, he attacked Cinel Luighdheach, now the barony of Kilmacrenan, co. Donegal, then the patrimony of the O'Donnells, and carried off three hundred cows. Later in the year he demolished Dun Eathach, a fortress in Ulidia. lie invaded the Cinel Conaill as far as Moy, co. Donegal, in 1012, and later marched right through it to Drumcliff, co. Sligo. In his absence, Maelseachlainn invaded Tyrone, but retired, and Flaithbheartach attacked the Ards, co. Down, and again obtained a great spoil from the Ulidians. In 1013 he attacked Meath by way of Maighin attaed, a place not hitherto identified, but which is clearly Moynalty, Co. Meath, since the chronicle adds, 'i ttaobh Ceanannsa' (near Kells), a phrase which, by a misprint in O'Donovan's translation of the 'Annals of the Four Masters,' is rendered 'by the son of Cenanus.' The pass by which the Ulstermen came down may still be traced in the hills on the right bank of the river Borora, which here divides Cavan from Meath. He slew Muireadhach Ua Duibheoin, chief of Ui Micuaisbreagh in Meath, in 1017, and in 1018 was at war with Maelseachlainn, the king of Ireland. Next Year he again ravaged O'Donnell's country. He was defeated by the people of Magh Breagh in 1025, but again invaded Meath in 1025. In 1030 he went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and came back in 1031. It was a year of plenty, and he was able to lead a force into Inishowen. In 1036 he died, iar ndeighbheathaidh agus iar bpennain' ('after a good life and penance'), says the chronicle. He had two sons: Domhnall, who died in 1027; and Muireadhach, who was slain by the Ui Labhradha, a sept of the Ulidians, in 1039.
[Annala Riogbuchta Eireann, ed. O'Donovan, vol. ii.; Annals of Ulster (Rolls Ser.), ed. Hennessy and MacCarthy; Annals of Loch Cé (Rolls Ser.), ed. Hennessy.]
O'NEILL, HENRY (d. 1392), Irish chief, called by Irish writers Enrí aimhreidh or the Contentious, was son of Niall mór O'Neill, chief of the Cinel Eoghain, son of Aedh reamhar or the Fat, also chief, who died in 1364, and was descended from Brian O'Neill, who was slain at the battle of Down in 1260, and was twelfth in descent from Muircheartach (d. 943) [q. v.], son of Niall (870?-919) [q. v.] These points of descent explain several references to him in poetry. Some verses by Brian ruadh Mac Conmidhe [q. v.] in the poem 'Temair gach baile i mbi ri' ('Any demesne whatever in which there is a king may justly be held to be Tara'), addressed to Henry O'Neill (d. 1489) [q. v.], great-nephew of Enrí aimhreidh, suggest that the Irish Enrí is not Henricus, but énri, sole king. Enrí aimhreidh is the earliest O'Neill of the name. The 'Annals of Loch Cé' state that he was called the Contentious by antiphrasis because he was so peace-loving. His descendants were among the most turbulent of the Ulstermen. He lived at Ardsratha, now called Ardstraw, co. Tyrone, not far from Strabane, where a gateway, flanked by towers and other fragments of his castle, is still to be seen, at the foot of Slieve Truim, a mountain often marked on maps as Bessy Bell. He never became chief of Cinel Eoghain, as he died in 1392, before his elder brother, Niall óg, whose son, Owen Eoghan, is noticed separately. Enrí married his cousin Aiffric, daughter of Aedh O'Neill. She died in 1389, having borne him six sons: Domhnall, Brian, Niall, Huaidhri, Seaan, and Enrí. The six sons, their followers, and descendants formed a sept known as Clann Enrí, and afterwards as Sliocht Enrí aimhreidh, most of whose lands at the plantation of Ulster became the property of the Earl of Abercorn. Domhnall was taken by the English in 1399, and sent a prisoner to England, but was ransomed in 1401, and in 1403 became chief of Cinel Eoghain. He was slain at Keenaght, Co. Derry, by Domhnall and Aibhne O'Cahan in 1432. Brian made an expedition into Donegal in 1401. He was met by the Cinel Conaill under Toirdhealbhach, son of Niall garbh O'Donnell, and hard pressed while driving off his spoil of cattle. At last he was surrounded, and after killing Enrí O'Gairmleaghaidh with one stroke of his sword, was himself killed by Toirdhealbhach O'Donnell.
[Annala Ricghachta Ui Eireann, ed. O'Donovan, vols. iii. and iv.; Bishop William Reeves's Acts of Archbishop Colton, Dublin, 1850; Annals of Loch Cé, ed. Hennessy, vol. ii. (Rolls Ser.); Fitzgerald's Statistical Account of Ardstraw; Lewis's Topographical Dict. of Ireland, vol. i.; Egerton MS. 111 (Brit. Mus.),fol. 38 b.]
O'NEILL, HENRY (d. 1489), chief of Cinel Eoghain, called in Irish Enrí Mac Eoghain Ua Neill, was son of Owen or Eoghan
