Baron O'Neill
Baron O'Neill, of Shanes Castle in the County of Antrim, is a title in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in
1868 for Reverend
William O'Neill. Born William Chichester, he succeeded to the estates of his cousin
William O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O'Neill (on whose death the Viscountcy and Barony of O'Neill became extinct) in
1855 and assumed by Royal license the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Chichester. Lord O'Neill was the great-great-great-grandson of John Chichester, younger brother of
Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall. The latter two were both nephews of
Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall and grandsons of
Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester. As a descendant of the first Viscount Chichester the present Baron O'Neill is in remainder to the Barony and Viscountcy of Chichester and, according to a special patent in the letters patent, the Earldom of Donegall, titles held by his kinsman the
Marquess of Donegall.
Two other members of the O'Neill family have been elevated to the peerage.
Robert William Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baron Rathcavan was the youngest son of the second Baron O'Neill, while
Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, was the youngest brother of the third Baron.
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William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill (
1813-
1883)
*
Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill (
1839-
1928)
*
Shane Edward Robert O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill (
1907-
1944)
*
Raymond Arthur Clanaboy O'Neill, 4th Baron O'Neill (b.
1933)
*
Marquess of Donegall*
Earl O'Neill*
Baron Rathcavan*
Baron O'Neill of the Maine
