In his private character Shane O'Neill was a brutal, uneducated savage.
Antrim, was named Shane's Castle.
Thus the English government was committed to the cause of one who was at best an adulterine bastard, while Shane appeared as champion of hereditary right (See O'Neill).
Elizabeth was less concerned with the respective claims of Brian and Shane, the one resting on an English patent and the other on the Celtic custom, than with the question of policy involved in supporting or rejecting the demands of her proud suppliant.
There were at this time three powerful contemporary members of the O'Neill family in Ireland - Shane, Turlough and Hugh, 2nd earl of Tyrone.
