A DNA test can show if a man is related to Niall: A recent study conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, found that a striking percentage of men in Ireland (and quite a few in Scotland) share the same Y chromosome, suggesting that the 5th-century warlord known as "Niall of the Nine Hostages" may be the ancestor of one in 12 Irishmen. He makes war and destroys the poet's stronghold, killing his son Leat[15] (Keating has it that Laidchenn was a druid, and that Eochaid killed his son after he used defamatory language towards him). A dated phylogenetic tree of M222 SNP haplotypes: exploring the DNA of Irish and Scottish surnames and possible ties to Niall and the U Nill kindred, Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 06:56, Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, "Was Niall of the Nine Hostages a real person? certainty, even if its founder is not. Is this accurate at all? Slain by an arrow shot by Eochaidh, son of Enna Ceinnseallach [Eochaid mc nna Ceinselaig 711], on the brink of the River Loire in France. [9] He is succeeded by his nephew Nath . Byrne suggests that Niall's death took place during a raid on Roman Britain. Under him the spirit of pagan Ireland upleaped in its last great red flame of military glory, a flame that, in another generation, was to be superseded by a great white flame, far less fierce but far more powerful and the bounds of neighboring nations to the uttermost bounds of Europe. McEvoy states: "As in other polygynous societies, the siring of offspring was related to power and prestige." Sithchenn takes the brothers to the smith, who makes them weapons, and sends them out hunting. Sithchenn takes the brothers to the smith, who makes them weapons, and sends them out hunting. Although its remarkable that nearly 1 in 10 Americans might say Kiss Me Im Irish! on St. Patricks day, its not clear if all these people actually have Irish ancestors or if they simply feel an affinity for corned beef and green beer. Hi, i've posted my results recently, being of predominantly Italian (paternal) and Polish origin. have been High King of Ireland. [3]:7678[7]:220. [9], In another story, the succession is not settled when Eochaid dies, and Mongfind's brother Crimthann takes the high kingship. Niall of the Nine Hostages leapt from the legends of Ireland straight into the modern world when scientists at Trinity College Dublin revealed that as many as three million men living today may carry his y-DNA signature. [22][23] 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. fingerprint of Niall of the Nine Hostages in the y-DNA of one in five men All sources agree he died outside Ireland. [6] Mongfind appears to have been a supernatural personage: the saga "The Death of Crimthann mac Fidaig" says the festival of Samhain was commonly called the "Festival of Mongfind", and prayers were offered to her on Samhain eve.[11]. prefix): Neill, The Munstermen renew the battle, capture Ailill and cut him to pieces, and war continues between Munster and Connacht for many years. September 10, 2020. Genealogical pedigrees dating back to the 5th century, when Laedhaire's children and grandchildren were around, are considered accurate. Keating credits Niall with two wives: Inne, daughter of Lugaid, who bore him one son, Fiachu; and Rignach, who bore him seven sons, Legaire, ndae, Maine, Egan, Conall Gulban, Conall Cremthainne and Coirpre. People move. 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. Niall does not have verifiable remains that can be tested. Crimthann refuses to drink it unless she does too; they both drink, and both die. Receive the latest from your DNA community. The King,. [14] nna's son Eochaid is named as Niall's killer in all sources, although the circumstances vary. Keating has Eochaid shoot Niall from the opposite bank of the river Loire during his European campaign. But while he is away on a tour of his lands in Scotland, Mongfind's sons seize Ireland. They defeat him and win great spoil, but Fiachrae is wounded in the battle and dies of his wounds shortly afterwards. 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. This was expected of someone of his status in a polygamous society where all 23andme specifies it as R-M269 and says "You share a paternal-line ancestor with Niall of the Nine Hostages". Meath) and also captured a Briton, a Gaul, a Saxon and a Scot. Boyle, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Coleman, Connor, Devlin, Doherty, Donnell, Niall releases Fiachrae, who becomes king of Connacht and Niall's right-hand man. and Tyrone. Although these studies are not coordinated with each other and are ongoing, it is already apparent that not all of these lineages are related to each other within Niall's timeframe. 3 days ago. concluded that these men descend from "a single early-medieval progenitor" and proposed that this could be Niall. 4.00. While Cairenn is pregnant with Niall, the jealous Mongfind forces her to do heavy work, hoping to make her miscarry. 452. [8], In another story, the succession is not settled when Eochaid dies, and Mongfind's brother Crimthann takes the high kingship. repulsive, with green teeth and nails, matted unkempt hair, a decidedly crooked He was one of the greatest of the High Kings of Ireland in prehistoric days, but one of the least known to modern historians. The Spread of DNA From "Niall of the Nine Hostages". [19], Following a 2006 hypothesis by Moore et al. No, if he's M222, his paternal line almost certainly came to Italy from Ireland and/or Britain. Eochaid gives the task to a druid, Sithchenn, who devises a contest between the brothers, shutting them in a burning forge, telling them to save what they can, and judging them based on which objects they choose to save. Are McKenna's descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages? After this, Tara's importance appears to have declined.". only water for refreshment but also kingship and a great dynasty. After the death of Niall of the Nine Hostages, one of his sons, Laedhaire, stories say that the future St Patrick was among hostages taken from one such Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, Tir Eogain (now Tyron) , Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), Forgotten Monarchy, Scotland (United Kingdom), Conall Gulban mac Nill, King of Tirconal, Eochaid mac Muiredach mac Muiredach, Ard-r na h'ireann {Legendary, Lebor Gabla renn}, http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/niall-of-the-nine-hostages.html. 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". While Moore et al. Business, Economics, and Finance. Supposedly slain in the English Channel or in Scotland, his descendants were the most powerful rulers of Ireland until the 11th century. Niall moved across the Shannon where he founded the dynasty of Uisnech in Westmeath. Of their Irish sample, the geneticists found that 21 percent of men from north-western Ireland, 8 percent from all of Ireland, a substantial percentage of men from western and central Scotland, and about 2 percent of men from New York bore the same Y-chromosome haplotype. 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. 279. r/23andme. [7 ] Another version has Mongfind try to poison Niall, but she takes the poison herself by mistake. His body is said to have been buried at Ochann, now known as Faughan Hill at Jordanstown, a few miles west of Navan in County Meath. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. 15 ratings6 reviews. Niall of the Nine Hostages was so named because in his early reign he consolidated his power by taking hostages from opposing royal families. Only Niall kisses her properly, and she is revealed as a beautiful maiden, the Sovereignty of Ireland. [4] Byrne, following James Carney, is a little more precise, dating his death to c. People wanting to join this group must be managing a Ydna test from a male relative who has tested at FTdna for a Ydna test and got the little symbol that says they descend from Niall and The Nine Hostages. My guess is celtic migtation from Ireland to Northern Spain. [2] He was himself the grandson of King Conn of the Hundred Battles. The U Nill ruled to various degrees as kings of Ireland from the 7th to the 11th century C.E. [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]. In it, Eochaid Mugmedn, the High King of Ireland, has 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. [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. When Niall grows up he returns to Tara and rescues his mother from her labour. In 2) 1. [3] However, the traditional roll of kings and its chronology is now recognised as artificial. Mongfind, purporting to make peace between her brother and her sons, holds a feast, at which she serves Crimthann a poisoned drink. I am not sure if his father Eochy Moyvone is the same person as shown im other sources namely Echu Mugmedn, so I have shown both. Niall exiles him to Scotland. Across the island as a whole, a different sub-clade the M269 pattern is Niall of the Nine Hostages received his name from the taking of hostages as a strategy for playing mental havoc upon his opponent chieftains. Oliver Hayes. [2] He was himself the grandson of King Conn of the Hundred Battles. Niall fitted out a large fleet and sailed to the assistance of his people. Editors note: This post has been edited to reflect changes to the 23andMe ancestry product. If instead, I want to see if I have Irish ancestry on my fathers side (even though my father has never claimed to be Irish! , 'The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide' is full of advice, tips and strategies to ease what can be a challenging journey. [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. The rise of the U Nill dynasties and their conquests in Ulster and Leinsterare not reliably recorded but have been the subject of considerable study and attempts to reconstruct them. ", 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. "One of the greatest high kings was Niall of the Nine Hostages, whose reign began in AD 379. We're British/Irish soldiers stationed in Sicily? Some of The Trinity College study also found that about one in ten men in the west Niall Nogallach (pronounced[nil noilx]; Old Irish "having nine hostages"),[1] or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the U Nill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. Similarly, the Genographic Project is a virtual gathering of humanity connected by myriad migration routes around the world over the last 60,000 years. But while he is away on a tour of his lands in Scotland, Mongfind's sons seize Ireland. reveals herself as Flaithus, the sovereignty of Ireland, and grants Niall not The boy eventually escaped, but returned to Ireland as St. Patrick. part of France). [9 ], While Niall is high king, his brothers establish themselves as local kings. mutations (changes) occur infrequently but, when they do, they help to 452. Niall Nogallach (Old Irish "having nine hostages") (pronounced [ni%CB%90%CB%88%C9%99l nojilax])[1], or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedn, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the U Nill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century. Crimthann returns to Ireland intending to give battle. Cookie Notice ), (Niall Noigiallach MacEchach, aka Nial Mor Naoighiallach of the Nine Hostages', conquered nine countries (incl. His men carry his body home, fighting seven battles on the way, and his foster-father Torna dies of grief. Fiachrae gives her a quick peck, but not enough to satisfy her. Birth of Conall Gulban mac Nill, King of Tirconal, Birth of Cairbre mac Nill, High King of Ireland, 126th HIgh KIng of Ireland, Greatest High King of Ireland, aka Nial Mor NAOIGHIALLACH `of the Nine Hostages'; 1st King (but reckoned 126th MONARCH) of IRELAND; conquered nine countries (incl. Niall chains Eochaid to a standing stone, and sends nine warriors to execute him, but Eochaid breaks his chain and kills all nine of them with it. What the badge appears to indicates by "You share a paternal-line ancestor with Niall of the Nine Hostages" is that the MRCA . 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). Known as Niall of the Nine Hostages from the nine counties of Ireland that he subued and made tributary to him. [26], Perhaps even more problematic is the dearth of M222 lineages in Midlands samples. [10] nna's son Eochaid is named as Niall's killer in all sources, although the circumstances vary.