PHELIM O'NEILL
(Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard)
This was a rebellion of the Irish natives of Ulster against the English Protestants land owners and the English settlers. In addition to the desire for liberty as this proclamation formally states, the rebels were mostly Roman Catholics whose religion had been almost destroyed the thought by the English component of the Protestant Reformation. 12 years after this proclamation, he was executed.
Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard (Irish: Féilim Rua Ó Néill na Ceann Ard), was an Irish nobleman who led the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in Ulster, which began on 23 October 1641. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederation during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, in which he fought under his kinsman and second cousin, Owen Roe O'Neill in the Confederate Ulster Army. In 1653 Phelim O’Neill had sought refuge from the British on an old crannog in Roughan Lough while staying at Roughan Castle but was captured after his hideout was betrayed.
