Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Irish: Rudhraighe Ó Domhnaill; 1575 – 18 July [ N.S. 28 July] 1608), was an Irish earl and soldier.

A member of the O'Donnell clan of Tyrconnell, he fought alongside his older brother Hugh Roe O'Donnell during the Nine Years' War against the Tudor government. Following Hugh Roe's death, Rory surrendered to royal forces and in September 1603 was created 1st Earl of Tyrconnell. Rory was his brother's tanist but his claim to the chieftainship was disputed by his cousin Niall Garbh O'Donnell. (Rory was Hugh Roe's tanist (designated heir).) Per the terms of his surrender, Rory was required to give up his Gaelic titles and thus was never traditionally inaugurated as the O'Donnell clan chief. Rory O'Donnell was the second son of Irish lord Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell and his second wife Iníon Dubh. Iníon Dubh was a Scottish aristocrat of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.

Rory's full-siblings included Hugh Roe, Mary, and Caffar.

On 9 October 1600, Rory's distant cousin and brother-in-law, loyalist Niall Garve O'Donnell, seized Lifford from him with the help of English forces. Despite attempts from Rory and Hugh Roe to retake Lifford, they were unsuccessful. This culminated in a battle on 24 October, in which Niall fatally wounded Rory's younger brother Manus. Rory and Niall engaged in single combat, though both were lucky to leave the battle with their lives. In December, Rory O'Donnell submitted to Lord Deputy Mountjoy at Athlone.

Rory was created 1st Earl of Tyrconnell on 29 September 1603.

The journey was difficult and harsh, and conditions on their boat were extremely poor. The Earls arrived in France, not Spain as expected, then made their way north to the Spanish Netherlands. They eventually arrived in Rome His funeral, which took place on the feast of St Martha, was described as "large and splendid... in grand procession... ordered by his Holiness the Pope, and on either side of the body there were large numbers of lighted waxen torches and sweet, sad, sorrowful singing." His funeral "may have passed south from the Borgo district where he had lived, along Via della Lungara on the west bank of the Tiber to San Pietro in Montorio." Tadhg O'Cianan may have taken artistic liberties in describing the funeral.

Family Around 1604, or Christmas 1606,

Lord Tyrconnell's only son, Hugh Albert, was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly,

Many historians believe that the figure next to Tyrone is actually a Spanish ambassador - either Francisco de Moncada or his father Gastón. The historian Francis Martin O'Donnell argues that the figure lacks Francisco's distinctive facial hair and portly appearance, and looks too young to depict Gastón, who was in his mid-50s at the time. The figure also lacks the ornate clothing an ambassador would be required to wear during such a ceremony. Therefore, it is most likely that the figure standing next to Tyrone is fellow Irish earl Rory O'Donnell.