The O'Neills were the most powerful Gaelic Irish clan of their time, but by the mid-to-late sixteenth century, they had fallen into internal conflict due to a succession dispute.

[13] Historian Hiram Morgan presumes that Rose came from Tyrone's annulled first marriage[14] to a daughter of Brian McPhelim O'Neill[15][16] (possibly named Katherine[17][18] or Feodora).

[20] Historian Darren McGettigan agrees that Rose was a full-sibling of Conn, Tyrone's son by the daughter of Brian McPhelim.

However, Rose's status as the daughter of a powerful and ascendant Irish lord might have led Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Gaelic society to overlook any issues relating to her legitimacy.

[30][13] To this end, Tyrone had married Siobhan O'Donnell, Hugh Roe's elder half-sister,[31] in June 1574,[32] with The Description of Ireland (1598) making reference to this alliance.

[13]To prevent the impending alliance of the two powerful Ulster clans, Hugh Roe O'Donnell was kidnapped on the orders of Lord Deputy John Perrot in September 1587.

[33][5] In December, the Earl's seneschal O'Hagan and brehon William McCrodan escorted Rose to O'Donnell's house in Tyrconnell for the marriage ceremony.

[39] Later in 1600, O'Donnell schemed to marry Joan, sister of royal ally James FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond.

[4] Subsequently English forces destroyed crops and livestock across Ulster,[42] particularly in O'Cahan's lands, leading to near-famine conditions.

O'Cahan was possibly fearful of maintaining an association with Tyrone, and thus Rose was sent to meet her father on behalf of her husband.

The government sided with O'Cahan and provided funds for his lawsuit,[47] intentionally using his hostility towards Tyrone to orchestrate the latter's undoing.

[41] According to G. F. Dalton, Rose O'Neill's "misfortunes and her high birth attracted the attention of ballad-makers" who saw her as a symbol for collapsing Gaelic Irish society.

[49] It is addressed in Hugh Roe's voice to Rose, and is believed to have its origins in the rebel encampments during the Nine Years' War.

[1] Music scholar Donal O'Sullivan believes there is no evidence to suggest the original song was composed in the Elizabethan era.

Sir Aubrey de Vere wrote two poems about her: "Little Black Rose" and "Róisín Dubh or the Bleeding Heart".