Reverend William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill (4 March 1813-18 April 1883), born William Chichester, he changed his surname to O'Neill in 1855; O'Neill was an Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 hereditary peer

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

, clergyman and musical composer.

Background and education

The eldest son of Reverend Edward Chichester, he was a member of the prominent Irish Chichester family headed by the Marquess of Donegall

Marquess of Donegall

Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Sir Arthur Chichester, was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1604...

. He was the great-great-great-grandson of John Chichester, grandson of Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester

Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester

Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester was the younger brother of Arthur Chichester, Baron Chichester. He was knighted in 1616, and after his brother's death in 1625 was in his memory ennobled as Viscount Chichester, of Carrickfergus in the County of Antrim, and Baron Chichester, of Belfast in...

, and younger brother of Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall

Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall

Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall was an Anglo-Irish politician.Chichester was the son of Lieutenant Colonel John Chichester, of Dungannon, County Tyrone, the latter being the younger brother of Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall...

. O'Neill was educated at Foyle College, Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...

 and Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, and was ordained in 1837.

Career

He was a prominent church organist and composer of church music

Church music

Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...

, glees

Glee (music)

A glee is an English type of part song spanning the late baroque, classical and early romantic periods. It is usually scored for at least three voices, and generally intended to be sung unaccompanied. Glees often consist of a number of short, musically contrasted movements and their texts can be...

 and songs. In 1855 he succeeded to the substantial O'Neill estates on the death of his relative John O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O'Neill (on whose death the viscountcy became extinct) and assumed by Royal license the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Chichester the same year. In 1868 the O'Neill title was revived when he was raised to the peerage as Baron O'Neill, of Shane's Castle

Shane's Castle

Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the O'Neill dynasty, it was originally called Eden-duff-carrick...

 in County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

.

Family

Lord O'Neill married, firstly, Henrietta, daughter of Robert Torrens, in 1839. After her death in 1857 he married, secondly, Elizabeth Grace, daughter of the Venerable John Torrens, Archdeacon

Archdeacon

An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...

 of Dublin, in 1858. His third son from his first marriage, Robert Torrens O'Neill

Robert Torrens O'Neill

Hon. Robert Torrens O'Neill , was an Irish Conservative, and later Irish Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1910....

, represented Antrim Mid in Parliament for many years. He died in April 1883, aged 70, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son from his first marriage, Edward

Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill

Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill , known as Edward Chichester until 1855, was an Irish peer and Conservative politician....

. Two of Lord O'Neill's descendants gained particular distinction. His grandson Robert William Hugh O'Neill was Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons and created Baron Rathcavan

Baron Rathcavan

Baron Rathcavan, of The Braid in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1953 for the Unionist politician Sir Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Cleggan in the County of Antrim, in 1929...

 in 1953 while his great-grandson Terence O'Neill was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...

and given a life peerage as Baron O'Neill of the Maine in 1970. Elizabeth Grace, Lady O'Neill, died in 1905.