Shane O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill

Shane Edward Robert O'Neill, 3rd Baron O'Neill (6 February 1907 – 24 October 1944) was an Anglo-Irish peer and British Army officer. He served during World War II and was killed in action in Italy.

Early life and family O'Neill was born on 6 February 1907 to The Hon, Arthur O'Neill and his wife Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes. His mother was the eldest daughter of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe. He was educated at Eton College, an all-boys public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. He did not attend university.

Career

In 1929, O'Neill joined the Gillett Brothers Discount Company as a director.

With the outbreak of World War II, he was granted an emergency commission on 20 September 1939 as a second lieutenant in the North Irish Horse, Royal Armoured Corps. In October 1939, he was granted the acting rank of captain. In December 1939, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed the officer commanding. He was killed in action in Italy on 24 October 1944, aged 37, and is buried in the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery near Coriano.

Peerage His father, Arthur O'Neill, and grandfather, Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill, were Members of Parliament representing Mid Antrim and Antrim respectively in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As the 2nd Baron O'Neill's eldest surviving son, Shane's father was heir to the title of Baron O'Neill. At his birth, Shane became second in line to the title of Baron O'Neill. However, his father died in action during World War I and he, therefore, became his grandfather's heir. He succeeded to the title after his grandfather's death in 1928, becoming the 3rd Baron O'Neill.

As a hereditary peer with a Peerage of the United Kingdom, he was able to sit in the House of Lords. Though he had inherited the title in 1928, he first took his seat in the Lords on 3 April 1930. In 1937 he attended the Coronation of George VI at Westminster Abbey and paid homage to him with the other Lords Temporal.