Red Wing sentinel., 1861-03-20
RED WING G0oDHUE COUNTY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH TO- 1861
the o'NElIs, Kings OF IRELAND.

THE o'NEIIs, KINGS OF IRELAND.
The dccadcncc of the O'Ncills
kings of Ireland, ran through many
centuries. 1t commenced in the year
os7. Murtoch O'Ncill, who closed his
reign and life in llGS, was the last
monarch of the race whose sposterity
had thus exclusively, according to tho
Irish records and Mr.. Moore's his
tory occupied the throne of Ireland to,
upwards of six hundred years. These
|O'Neills arc conspicuous from the
beginning III the Irish wars, particu.
larly those wagcd i'll the time Eliza
beth and Cromwell. Tho following
passage gives a touching picture OF
the state of pcnury to which the last
but one Of tho Clanaboy branch of
this family became reduced, before it
became finally extinct:
'tRetiring into the village of Slanc,
Sir Francis O'Neill, sixth baronct,
the dcscendcnt Of race Of the kings.
representative of the dashing dragoon
Of Ed dgc Hill, and the cousin ofthrcc
peers, N[ornington, Dunsany, and
Meath, rents cabin of four apart.
mcnts, and keeps in it a small huck-
ster's shop and dairy, the produce of
two COWS, while his two horses and
carts, last remnant of his stock, at
tended by his second son, John o.
|Neill, cart flour for hire from the mills,
of SIanc to Dublin. In that humble
cabin the aged and rty-stricken
baronct was visited in the month of
May, 1893, by John, the first Viscount
|O'Neill, and his two sons Charles and
John, the late carly and the last Wis
count, OH their way to Shanc's Castle;
for John, the Lord O'Ncill, princcly in
mind as he was exalted in station
never turned his face from 4 poor
relation. On that occasion Sir Fran
els O'Ncill took melancholy pleasure
in showing to his lordship tho last
remnant of his family plate, silver
cream ever and table spoon, engraved
with his crest, the hand and dagger,
also the patent of baronetcy, with it's
large old-tashionod wax seal, and his
parchment pedigree, tracing his des-
cent from the prince schoolmaster,
Niul Of Scythia and Egypt. And in q
little outhouse or shed, he also pointed
out his broken carriage, cmblazoned
with his arms, the red hand of O'Neill,
which was almost cffaccd and illegiblc
from exposure to wind and rain. Fit
emblem it was of the broken fortunes
of his house. The noble viscount did
not leave to fulfill the promise he then
made to better the condition Of this
reduced gentleman of his house, for in
a short month afterwards he was in
the grave-barbarously and treacher-
ously murdered at Antrim by the rcb
els of Killcad. Sir Francis O'Neill
himself, shocked by the event, and by
the feeling that the last reed on the
which he depended was broken, soon
followed, and in the year 1890 was
placed beside his father, Sir Henry,
in the grave inside the ruins of the
old church of Mount Newton. In a
year and q half after, his wife, the
Lady O'Ncal, was laid by his side"
The son Of this Sir Francis O'Ncill
is yet living. lie has had an cycntful
life. He Unlisted at eighteen years Of
age in the Englisls~.-aa1,y, has seen
much service in Portugal, Spain, and
France, and was discharged rs ser
geant major of the Eighty-cight rcgi-
ment, with pension Of two shillings
and two pence day, in 1880. In
that year che was appointed by the
corporation of tho city Of Dublin chief
officer. of tho Newgato guard-a qniant
looking corps, dressed up in costume
not unlike the Royal Artillery, who re-
quircd 4 strict dicip''narian like SER
Sergeant Major O'Neill to preside
over them. lie was discontinued in
this office at the break up of the
guard, in 1886, when he took two
houses in Cook street, Dublin, i'll one
of which, No. SIS, he now resides, with
his eldest son, Francis O'Ncill, a cof-
Itin maker.