Rory O'Donnell (; 1575 – 30 July 1608), younger brother of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, was the last King of Tyrconnell and 1st Earl of Tyrconnell. Early life O'Donnell was one of nine known children of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, who reigned from 1566 until he abdicated in favour of his eldest son by his second wife, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in 1592. By this point the sons of his first wife had been disabled or killed, mostly by his Scottish-born second wife, the Inion Dubh. After the defeat at Kinsale in December 1601, Rory became acting chief when his older brother left to seek help from Spain. He led the clan back to Connaught and maintained guerilla warfare until December 1602, when he submitted to Lord Deputy Mountjoy at Athlone. Head of the clan O'Donnell In 1602, O'Donnell succeeded his recently deceased brother Hugh as King of Tyrconnell and head of the clan O'Donnell. Having submitted in London to the new King, James I, he was created Earl of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 4 September 1603, with the subsidiary title Baron of Donegal reserved for his heir apparent. He was further granted the territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell per letters patent of 10 February 1604. Flight of the Earls There was much fury in Ireland and England that he and Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone had been treated so gingerly after allegedly committing treason (this became known as the Sham Plot), but time was on the side of the English authorities. On 14 September 1607, both Earls set sail from Lough Swilly with their families and followers for eventual exile in Spanish Flanders and Rome. Tyrconnell died in Rome in 1608. Family O'Donnell married Bridget, daughter of Henry FitzGerald, 12th Earl of Kildare, by whom he had two children: Hugh and Mary. After his death, Bridget married Nicholas Barnewall, 1st Viscount Barnewall (1592–1663) with whom she had five sons and four daughters that survived him. O'Donnell's only son, Hugh, was three weeks shy of his first birthday when the Earls sailed from Lough Swilly, and was raised in Louvain, Spanish Flanders. In time he joined the service of the King of Spain, and was killed in action when his ship engaged a French vessel in August or September 1642 and caught fire. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, but left no offspring; the title of Earl would have