Mary Stuart O'Donnell Máire Stiúbhart Ní Dhomhnaill | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary O'Donnell c. 1607 England |
| Died | During or after 1639 Possibly Rome, Italy |
| Noble family | O'Donnell dynasty |
| Spouse(s) | Dualtach (Dudley) O'Gallagher (1630–1635) |
| Father | Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell |
| Mother | Bridget FitzGerald |
Lady Mary Stuart O'Donnell (Irish: Máire Stíobhartach Ní Dhomhnaill; c. 1607 - in or after 1639)[1] was an English-born Irish noblewoman. Her father, the 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, left her pregnant mother behind in Ireland during the Flight of the Earls. Born in England, Mary and her mother survived on a pension from James VI and I and she grew up in Ireland as a Catholic.
Due to her strong-willed nature and devout Catholicism, she became estranged from her mother's Protestant family, and after breaking into a London prison to free Irish fugitives, she fled to Brussels with her boyfriend Dualtach O'Gallagher. She faced further issues when her brother and his allies sought to use her as a marital tool to unite their noble families.
Mary and O'Gallagher escaped to Italy, where they married and had at least one child. The circumstances of her death are unknown - she was last recorded living in Rome in 1639.