page_title: Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645 creation)
section_title: First marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645 creation) / First marriage
caption_attribution_description: Katherine or Catherine Mannners, Baroness de Ros and Duchess of Buckingham, as a widow, wearing a portrait miniature of her murdered husband George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
context_page_description: Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim was a Roman Catholic landed magnate in Scotland and Ireland, son of the 1st Earl of Antrim. He was also chief of Clan MacDonnell of Antrim. He is best known for his involvement, mostly on the Royalist side, in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
context_section_description: After abandoning his long-standing fiancée Lucy Hamilton, Dunluce was linked with several other prospective marriages. In 1635 he married Katherine Manners, the widow of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who had been England's Chief Minister under both James I and Charles before his assassination in 1628. The Duchess was a devout Catholic and wealthy. She was close to Queen Henrietta Maria, and further enhanced Dunluce's status at court. He became friends with leading British politicians including the Earl of Nithsdale, the Duke of Lennox and the Duke of Hamilton.
  Dunluce planned to acquire large amounts of land in the Londonderry Plantation, but this was blocked by Thomas Wentworth, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, who mistrusted Dunluce and was to become a major opponent of his. Dunluce also made a failed attempt to recover some of the family's traditional lands in the West of the Scotland by purchasing them, but this also fell through.
  Dunluce was emotionally very close to his wife, and became stepfather to her children including George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. The couple lived a lavish lifestyle, and Dunluce ran up large debts in England which troubled him for the rest of his life.
  In 1636 Dunluce's father died and he succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Antrim. He inherited most of his father's lands although some went to his younger brother Alexander MacDonnell as specified in his father's will. In an effort to cut down on expenses he and his wife relocated to Ireland in 1638. Antrim, as he was now, set up home in his family's traditional seat of Dunluce Castle as one of the wealthiest men in Ireland. He oversaw nearly 340,000 acres of land, which was mostly sublet to tenant farmers. Along with the family's traditional Scottish followers in the Western Isles, Antrim's tenants provided him with an important power base during the coming wars.
caption: Antim's first wife Katherine Villiers, the widow of the royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
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