By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Fiachrae and Ailill then make war against Crimthann's son Eochaid, king of Munster. Mongfind, purporting to make peace between her brother and her sons, holds a feast, at which she serves Crimthann a poisoned drink. "Niall's ships brought many captives back to Ireland. [7], This "loathly lady" motif appears in myth and folklore throughout the world. Granted my great great great great paternal ancestor was unknown, and his son took his mothers name (which is my last name). ", According to 23andMe.com, "The spread of haplogroup R-M269 in northern Ireland and Scotland was likely aided by men like Niall of the Nine Hostages. Niall of the Nine Hostages. He makes war and destroys the poet's stronghold, killing his son Leat[11] (Keating has it that Laidchenn was a druid, and that Eochaid killed his son after he used defamatory language towards him). In the saga "The Death of Niall of the Nine Hostages", Eochaid's enmity with Niall begins when he is refused hospitality by Niall's poet, Laidcenn mac Bairchid. Crimthann refuses to drink it unless she does too; they both drink, and both die. Niall established a royal dynasty which dominated the island for six centuries. [13], In January 2006, geneticists at Trinity College, Dublin suggested that Niall may have been the most fecund male in Irish history. and our expedition) and conquered much of Ulster. [6] Laidchenn responds by satirising Leinster so that no corn, grass or leaves grow there for a year. Niall of the Nine Hostages Irish leader Learn about this topic in these articles: association with Conn In Conn Ctchathach to be the ancestor of Niall of the Nine Hostages (reigned 379-405), who founded the U Nill, the greatest dynasty in Irish history. The Spread of DNA From "Niall of the Nine Hostages" - DNA in the News McManus, Molloy, Reilly, Rourke and Quinn. Hughes says "Niall himself must have died not before the middle of the fifth century". Niall Of The Nine Hostages DNA Match Men of Irish descent who have taken their Y-DNA or higher test with FamilyTreeDNA may discover that you have an exact DNA match to Niall, King of Connachta. Yet his fall in a foreign land was to be compassed, not by the strategy or might of the foreign enemy, but by the treachery of one of his own. predominant, while the M222 pattern is found in 8.2% or one man in twelve. I may be wrong though. The rise of the U Nill dynasties and their conquests in Ulster and Leinster are not reliably recorded and have been the subject of considerable study and attempts to reconstruct them. After the death of Niall of the Nine Hostages, one of his sons, Laedhaire, [19][20] According to the PBS documentary series Finding Your Roots, Bill O'Reilly, Stephen Colbert, Colin Quinn, Bill Maher, and the show's host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. all display STR markers consistent with the Irish Modal Haplotype. Niall Nogillach "of the Nine Hostages" may have lived in the previous century, and the dates given for St. Patrick depend on identifying him with a "Palladius," who is mentioned by a contemporary chronicler as having been sent by the Pope as the first bishop of the Irish. gene. hunting with his four brothers. The Eochaidh who shot the fatal arrow had been King of Leinster, was banished to Alba by Niall, and accompanied Gabhran, Scots Kings #5, chief of the Dal Riada, when Gabhran took troops to France to support an expedition of Niall. Niall and the Nine Hostages : 23andme - reddit.com Joined then by the Irish in Alba, he marched against the Picts, overcame them, took hostages from them and had Argyle and Cantire settled upon the Albanach Irish. Macneil clan shocked as DNA checks force rewrite of history Another, Fiachra, has Niall of the Nine Hostages was so named because in his early reign he consolidated his power by taking hostages from opposing royal families. His name comes from a tale of nine hostages that he held from the regions he ruled over. While Cairenn is pregnant with Niall, the jealous Mongfind forces her to do heavy work, hoping to make her miscarry. According to legend, Niall was a warrior [5], This "loathly lady" motif appears in myth and folklore throughout the world. reveals herself as Flaithus, the sovereignty of Ireland, and grants Niall not Fiachrae gives her a quick peck, but not enough to satisfy her. [5] O'Rahilly suggests that the nine hostages were from the kingdom of the Airgialla (literally "hostage-givers"), a satellite state founded by the Ui Nill's conquests in Ulster, noting that the early Irish legal text Lebor na gCeart ("The Book of Rights") says that the only duty of the Airgialla to the King of Ireland was to give him nine hostages. The M222 pattern is a lot rarer in the south of the island. He is presumed to have been a real person, but most of the information about him that has come down to us is legendary. These sources date from long after Niall's time and they have little to no value as history. DNA news -- an estimate of about 3 million men that carry DNA descended from Niall (of his equivalent): http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/niall-of-the-nine-hostages.html, See Niall of the Nine Hostages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_of_the_Nine_Hostages). Variations of this story are told of the earlier Irish high king Lugaid Logde, in Arthurian legend one of the most famous versions appears in both Geoffrey Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale and the related Gawain romance, The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell and in John Gower's Middle English poem Confessio Amantis. The story then becomes confused. [8], In another story, the succession is not settled when Eochaid dies, and Mongfind's brother Crimthann takes the high kingship. [3] However, the traditional roll of kings and its chronology is now recognised as artificial. However, the traditional roll of kings and its chronology is now recognised as artificial. [6]:216-217 Keating describes her not as a Saxon but as the "daughter of the king of Britain". In Niall of the Nine Hostages (Celtic Twilight) - Goodreads The geneticists estimated that about 23 million men bear this marker, and concluded that these men are patrilineal descendants of Niall. When Niall grows up he returns to Tara and rescues his mother from her labour. The High Kingship did not become a reality until the 9th century, and Niall's legendary status has been inflated in line with the political importance of the dynasty he founded. Niall of the Nine Hostages | Legendary Irish High Kings About this group. As the number of hostages was nine, Niall earned the epithet 'of the Nine Hostages'. Muireann herself occurs in the annals, as in a poem quoted in AT s.a. 649, and her great-grandfather.Aed is mentioned again in a separate entry in the Ban Shenchus.. 3) [S10139] "Irish Pedigrees by John O'Hart , part 1, chapter IV". For more information, please see our Fiachrae and Ailill then make war against Crimthann's son Eochaid, king of Munster. See related article at Florida Irish Heritage Center. "One of the greatest high kings was Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose reign began in AD 379. ), I can investigate my paternal line, which is traced through DNA on the Y chromosome and passed from father to son. In 405 he led an expedition against Britain, where it is rumored that he may have captured a young Romano-British boy named Patricus, son of Calpurnius, a local magistrate. Niall of the Nine Hostages, One of the Most Fruitful Kings in History Yet how often out of evil cometh good. 390-461). It is his (Niall's) family.". (Princess Of Britain ROIGHNEACH was born about 380. The descendants of Niall Nioghialloch (Neil of the nine hostages) King of Tara ca 405 (some scholars suggest he was still alive a generation later c435, some even suggested he lived to 462. The Annals of the Four Masters dates his accession to 378 and death to 405. He carried back hostages, many captives, and great booty from these expeditions. Published by at June 22, 2022. By another wife, Mon Fionn, daughter of the King of Munster, Eochaid had four sons, Brian, Fiachar, Ailill, and Fergus. [3] However, the traditional roll of kings and its chronology is now recognised as artificial. Ruling from Tara, Niall's modus operandi for gaining dominance was taking [27], There are various versions of how Niall gained his epithet Nogallach. Though the legendary stories of his life may have been invented hundreds of years after he died, genetic evidence suggests that the U Nill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall," did in fact trace back to just one man who bore a branch of haplogroup R-M269. Niall makes war in Europe as far as the Alps, and the Romans send an ambassador to parlay with him. [14] However, more recently some reservations have been expressed, as the subclade, which is defined by the presence of the marker R-M222, is found in a belt from Northern Ireland across southern Scotland and is not exclusively associated with the U Nill. Niall of the Nine Hostages | Irish leader | Britannica became High King. The saga "The Death of Niall of the Nine Hostages" says that he received five hostages from the five provinces of Ireland (Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Meath), and one each from Scotland, the Saxons, the Britons and the Franks. The maternal DNA results showed greater genetic diversity than the paternal, including lineages that dated back to some of the islands earliest settlers, and some others that arrived more recently, ie: the Vikings. Several testing companies can do this test: Of note to Family Tree DNA customers, this signature is found in .6 of one percent of the entire family Tree DNA database. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Moore, Laoise T., Brian McEvoy, Eleanor Cape, Katharine Simms and Daniel G. Bradley, O'Grady, Standish H. (ed. His father, Eochaid Muig Medon, son of Muiredeach, became Ard Rich mid way of the fourth century. Niall of the Nine Hostages , or Niall Nigiallach, was the youngest son of Eochaidh Mugmedon (King of Connacht). According to legend, Niall led one of the most powerful and enduring Irish kingdoms and it has been suggested that because of high rates of Irish emigration to North America and other parts of the world, up to two or three million men descend from Niall! Over the generations, a genetic Another test was provided by the Stone of Fl, which screamed when it was touched by the rightful heir. The story then becomes confused. certainty, even if its founder is not. Are McKenna's descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages? Katharine Simms, and Daniel G. Bradley, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, volume 78, number 2, February 2006 (electronically published December 8, 2005. Niall is presumed, on the basis of the importance of his sons and grandsons, to have been a historical person, [2] :70 but the early Irish annals say little about him. The earliest version of the Lebor Gabla says Eochaid killed him on the English Channel, later versions adding that Niall was invading Brittany when this happened. have sex with her. Niall, the son of Ivocatus Magumedonus ('Eochaidh the Slave-ruler'), came to lead the Connachta in the fifth century AD.[8]. Niall exiles him to Scotland. [4]:81 T. F. O'Rahilly argues that Niall and his sons were responsible for the breakup of the ancient kingdom of Ulster and the creation of the kingdoms of Tr Chonaill and Tr Egan, and the satellite kingdom of the Airgalla. In time, the status of King of Tara came to denote High King of Ireland, the , 'The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide' is full of advice, tips and strategies to ease what can be a challenging journey. In the study scientists found an area in northwest Ireland where they claim 21.5% carry Nialls genetic fingerprint, says Brian McVoy, one of the team at Trinity. Niall of the Nine Hostages received his name from the taking of hostages as a strategy for playing mental havoc upon his opponent's chieftains. two stories to identify Niall's nine hostages. Joined then by the Irish in Alba, he marched against the Picts, overcame them, took hostages from them and had Argyle and Cantire settled upon the Albanach Irish. For more information, please see our The earliest version of the Lebor Gabla says Eochaid killed him on the English Channel, later versions adding that Niall was invading Brittany when this happened. "Tara is a prehistoric burial site in County Meath, famed as the legendary capital of the high kings of Ireland, and a holy site for thousands of years. Adventure of the sons of Eochaid Mugmedon, a young Niall Nogiallach is out absence of a DNA sample direct from the man himself, Trinity's team of [5] These sons are the eponymous ancestors of the various U Nill dynasties: Egan of the Cenl nEgain and Conall Gulban of the Cenl Conaill, making up the northern U Nill; Fiachu of the Cenl Fiachach dynasty, Legaire (the king who Saint Patrick is said to have converted) of the Cenl Legaire, Maine of the U Maine, Egan of the Cenl nEgain, Conall Cremthainne of the Clann Cholmin and the Sl nedo Sline, and Coirpre of the Cenl Coirpri, making up the southern U Nill. [21] However, geneticists today do not believe that the haplotype presented in the Moore paper represents descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages as Niall, being possibly mythical, does not have verifiable remains that can be tested. The Royal History of Ireland. Talk about your genes and their possible implications! The Annals of the Four Masters place Niall's death at Muir nIcht, i.e. Thats over eight times the number of people living in Ireland today. Irish High King Niall Of The Nine Hostages (Niall Nogallach) - DNA Irish annalistic and chronicle sources place his reign in the late . part of France). in hand with natural suitability for kinship) dates back to at least the 11th 1 Reply Ziff-A-Dee-Dew-Law 4 yr. ago The King,. Across the island as a whole, a different sub-clade the M269 pattern is Although brought to Ireland against his will, the . If 23andMe says you're M222+, that part is not BS. His men carry his body home, fighting seven battles on the way, and his foster-father Torna dies of grief. [6] O'Rahilly suggests that the nine hostages were from the kingdom of the Airgialla (literally "hostage-givers"), a satellite state founded by the Ui Nill's conquests in Ulster, noting that the early Irish legal text Lebor na gCeart ("The Book of Rights") says that the only duty of the Airgialla to the King of Ireland was to give him nine hostages.[7]. provide water, but she wants a kiss in return. Niall, who emerges carrying an anvil, is deemed greater than Brin, with a sledgehammer, Fiachrae with bellows and a pail of beer, Ailill with a chest of weapons, and Fergus with a bundle of wood. Donnelly, Egan, Flynn, Gallagher, Gormley, Hynes, Kane, McGovern, McLoughlin, It is now more commonly referred to as the Northwest Irish/Lowland Scots variety.[15]. [9] He is succeeded by his nephew Nath . Byrne suggests that Niall's death took place during a raid on Roman Britain. the brothers decide they're not that hungry or thirsty. H6a is is an offshoot of the broader H maternal line and is found at low levels 4% or less in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Sweden and Ireland! Paternal lines are inherited through the Y chromosome, which only men have. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Sometime after 379 (when he became king of Ulster), he forced the other kings of Ireland to accept him as overlord when his sons Eoghan and Conal (possibly others as well) overthrew the Ulidian kingdom in the north. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Niall Nogallach (Irish pronunciation: [%CB%88ni%CB%90%C9%99l noilx], Old Irish "having nine hostages"),[1] or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a prehistoric Irish king, the ancestor of the U Nill family that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th century. [4 ] A poem by the 11th century poet Cined Ua Hartacin in the Book of Leinster credits Niall with seven raids on Britain, on the last of which he was killed by Eochaid "above the surf of the Ictian Sea";[4 ][1 2] a poem attributed to the same poet in Lebor na hUidre credits him with going to the Alps seven times. [8], Niall is presumed, on the basis of the importance of his sons and grandsons, to have been a historical person,[4]:70 but the early Irish annals say little about him. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. ", Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Kathleen Hughes, "The church in Irish society, 400800, in Dibh Crinn (ed.). [8] Death, The Lebor Gabla renn says there was war between Niall and nnae Cennsalach, king of Leinster, over the brama or cow-tribute first imposed on Leinster by Tuathal Techtmar. Crimthann returns to Ireland intending to give battle. Niall of the Nine Hostages : r/23andme - reddit [3] The later Annals of the Four Masters dates his reign to 379-405, [4] and the chronology . [9], This "loathly lady" motif appears in myth and folklore throughout the world. r/23andme - Anyone else related to Niall of the Nine Hostages? Was he His reign was epochal. There was also an Irish Regiment in Sicily in the early 1700s. Niall releases Fiachrae, who becomes king of Connacht and Niall's right hand man. [3 ] O'Rahilly suggests that the nine hostages were from the kingdom of the Airgialla (literally "hostage-givers"), a satellite state founded by the Ui Nill's conquests in Ulster, noting that the early Irish legal text Lebor na gCeart("The Book of Rights") says that the only duty of the Airgialla to the King of Ireland was to give him nine hostages. Niall Nogallach (Irish pronunciation: [%CB%88ni%CB%90%C9%99l noilx], Old Irish "having nine hostages") [1], or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedn, was an Irish king, theeponymous ancestor of the U Nill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century. signature is created. or central areas of Scotland have the so-called Niall of the Nine Hostages the guts to give her a small kiss, for which she grants him sight of Tara and Eochaidh had been banished as the King of Leinster and had plans to be the High King of Ireland. The Picts tired of Nialls' ways and attacked the small Lirsh colony of Dalriada, which is now Scotland. ), (Niall Noigiallach MacEchach, aka Nial Mor Naoighiallach of the Nine Hostages', conquered nine countries (incl. powerful people who controlled an area loosely centred on present-day Armagh [14], There are various versions of how Niall gained his epithet Nogallach. The Gathering, a successful community based year-long project to invite the Diaspora to return to their ancestral homeland was held in 2013, helped first time and frequent visitors rediscover and take pride in their heritage. He then kills Laidchenn by throwing a stone which lodges in his forehead. Especially considering the fact that my paternal line can only be traced back to 1830? The Annals of Inisfallen date his death before 382, and the Chronicon Scotorum to 411. He makes war and destroys the poet's stronghold, killing his son Leat[11] (Keating has it that Laidchenn was a druid, and that Eochaid killed his son after he used defamatory language towards him). Distant view of Round Tower at Glendalough [3] The O'Higgins family claims descent from the Southern branch of U Nill. Keating associates these raids with those mentioned by Gildas and Bede, and deduces that, since some Irish sources say Patrick was abducted from Brittany, that Niall's raids must have extended to continental Europe as well.[5]. Keating, quoting a Latin Life of Saint Patrick, says that Niall led Irish raids on Roman Britain, and in one of those raids Patrick and his sisters were abducted. Brin defeats Fiachrae and hands him over as a prisoner to Niall, but Fiachrae's son Nath continues the war and eventually kills Brin. Oh, got it. Each brother in turn goes looking for water, and finds a well guarded by a hideous hag who demands a kiss in return for water. [3]:7678[7]:220. Hughes says "Niall himself must have died not before the middle of the fifth century". So Ireland was a perfect place to host a community Geno 2.0 event.'. Mongfind, purporting to make peace between her brother and her sons, holds a feast, at which she serves Crimthann a poisoned drink. Journal reference: American Journal of Human Genetics (February issue). By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. In The No, if he's M222, his paternal line almost certainly came to Italy from Ireland and/or Britain. The High Kingship did not become a reality until the 9th century, and Niall's status has been inflated in line with the political importance of the dynasty he founded. Seeing Niall's popularity among the nobles, Mongfind demands that Eochaid name a successor, hoping it will be one of her sons. I got that same badge in my 23andme YDNA report. stories say that the future St Patrick was among hostages taken from one such The common ancestor that you and Niall have wasn't necessarily from Ireland. historical stronghold of the Ui Neill, where the study found the genetic Brin defeats Fiachrae and hands him over as a prisoner to Niall, but Fiachrae's son Nath continues the war and eventually kills Brin. Irish tradition had forgotten that the Romans once ruled Britain, and relocated his remembered confrontations with the Empire to continental Europe, with Alba, the ancient name for Britain, being confused with Elpa, the Alps, or being understood with its later meaning of Scotland. He fell on the banks of the River Loire, in France, by the hand of Eochaid, the son of Enna Ceannselaigh, King of Leinster, who, from ambush, with an arrow, shot dead the great king. In it, Eochaid Mugmedn, the High King of Ireland, had five sons: Four, Brin, Ailill, Fiachrae and Fergus, by his first wife Mongfind, sister of the king of Munster, Crimthann mac Fidaig; and a fifth, Niall, by his second wife Cairenn Chasdub, daughter of Sachell Balb, king of the Saxons. [7], The Lebor Gabla renn says there was war between Niall and nnae Cennsalach, king of Leinster, over the brama or cow-tribute first imposed on Leinster by Tuathal Techtmar. There is a large community of M222 men and a very interesting "family tree" of sorts is emerging as these men get into Y-DNA testing. A biography of Niall can be constructed from sources such as the "Roll of Kings" section of the 11th-century Lebor Gabla renn, the Annals of the Four Masters, compiled in the 17th-century, chronicles such as Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar irinn (1634), and legendary tales like the 11th-century "The Adventure of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon" and "The Death of Niall of the Nine Hostages". Sithchenn takes the brothers to the smith, who makes them weapons, and sends them out hunting. ), told me that Im a sub-type of a lineage called H6a (specifically H6a1b). And ocean trembled stuck by hostile oars". Almost without interruption his descendants were Ard Righs of Ireland for 600 years.