Boyle, Boyle, Trouble and Toil

Niall Nóigiallach - Niall of the Nine Hostages

http://www.larkinclan.eu/niall.htm

Niall of the Nine Hostages was the greatest king that Ireland ever knew. His reign was epochal, and was the Irish equivalent of Alexander the Great in Macedonia. He not only ruled Ireland greatly and strongly, but carried the name and the fame, and the power and the fear, of Ireland into all neighbouring nations. He was, moreover, founder of the longest, most important, and most powerful Irish royal dynasty. Almost without interruption his descendants were the High Kings of Ireland for 600 years. Under him the spirit of pagan Ireland leaped up in its last great flame of military glory. In later generations, this was to be superseded by another great flame, less fierce but just as powerful; which spread to the bounds of neighbouring nations to the uttermost ends of Europe. That was the flame kindled by Patrick, which was to expand and grow for centuries. Niall of the Nine Hostages, or Níall Nóigiallach, was the youngest son of Eochaidh Mugmedon (King of Connacht), by his second wife. He succeeded Criomthainn as king. He became the 126th High King of Ireland. His brothers were Fíachra and Brian. Niall became High King in 445 A.D., and reigned until his death in 453 A.D. Niall was said to have ruled over Tara, but modern historians think it more likely that Niall’s descendants founded Tara, and that Niall himself actually set up his kingdom at Uisnech, another "royal hill" in Meath.

In Niall's time, Ireland was governed in a loose federal arrangement of four large provinces (Ulster, Munster, Leinster & Connacht). A fifth province, known as Meath (the centre) bordering all four of the other provinces, and joining the sea to the Shannon river, was set aside as the central governing area ruled from Uisneach at first, and later from Tara. The four provinces each had their own King, and central control fell to the most powerful of these, who would become High King. The four provincial Kings would, at least nominally, be subservient to the High King. One of the first verifiable historical Irish leaders, Niall Noígillach, died still High King King in 453; His brother Fiachra's children were Amalgaid macFiachrach, Dathaí macFiachrach, and a third son whose name is unknown. Dathaí went on to also become King of Ireland. Niall was grandson of Muiredeach Tireach. This grandfather Muiredeach Tireach was the 123rd Gaelic monarch of Ireland. His father, Eochaid Muig Medon, son of Muiredeach, became High King mid way of the fourth century, becoming the 124th Gaelic monarch. By his second wife, Carthann or Carinna, daughter of a British king, Eochaid had the son Niall, his youngest offspring, who thereby inherited royal blood on both his paternal & maternal lines. By his first wife, Mong Fionn, daughter of the King of Munster, Eochaid had four sons, Brian, Fiachra, Ailill, and Fergus. It was no lowly pedigree - Niall's father, and his grandfathers back to those other legendary figures Cormac MacAirt and Conn of the 100 Battles represented an unbroken line of royal Irish kings. Niall went on to become the 126th king of all Ireland, and had 12 sons by his two wives, Inné and Roighneach.

It is said that Niall was responsible for having captured the young boy, later to be St. Patrick, along with his 2 sisters during a raid along the coast of Britain. In 405, Niall led an expedition against Britain, where it is thought that he may have captured the young Romano-British boy named Succat but becoming known as Patricus,son of Calpurnius, a local magistrate, from somewhere in the region of the modern Milford Haven. A son of Niall, who later followed his father as High-King at Tara circa 427-430, welcomed St. Patrick to his court in 432. Patricus later came to be known as St.Patrick. And in the 27th year of his reign, this Patrick was first brought into Ireland at the age of 16 years, among 200 children brought by the army out of Britain. He carried back hostages, many captives, and great booty from these expeditions and from his excursions into Britain, Armorica & Gaul. Yet how often out of evil cometh good. It was in one of these marauding expeditions that the lad Succat, destined under his later name of Patrick to be the greatest and noblest figure Ireland ever knew, was taken in a sweep of captives, carried to Ireland and to Antrim, there to herd the swine of the chieftain, Milcho, on Slieve Mish.

From Ireland & Britain, Niall marched with his victorious army of Irish Scots, Picts and Britons further into Gaul (France) in order to the conquest thereof; and he was the first that gave the name of Scotia Minor to Scotland and ordained it to be called so ever after, till then (and still by the Irish) called Albion. Niall must have made many incursions into Britain and indeed several into Gaul. Many and many a time, in Alba, in Britain, and in Gaul, must Niall have measured his leadership against the best leadership of Rome, and pitted the courage and wild daring of his Gaelic hosts against the skill of the Imperial Legions. And the Nine Hostages? In his time, it was usual to for victorious conquerors to take captives, usually of exalted rank, as hostages for the good (i.e. subservient) subsequent behaviour of the vanquished. Niall is said to have taken princely hostages from the nine great kingly regions he subdued. These were the Irish in Ulster, Munster, Leinster & Connacht; the Saxons of Britain, the Picts of Scotland; the Morini of Gaul and of Picardy.

Niall was famed and feared for his raids on Britain along with his brothers and sons. He eventually came to control most of the Northern half of Ireland. He conquered the Uliad aristocracy, which ruled in Ulster, and by this victory and subsequent consolidation of power was able to found a dynasty, the Uí Neill, which gave rise to the O'Neill clan. Three of his sons founded kingdoms in Ulster (collectively the Northern Uí Neill), other sons founded kingdom in the Irish midlands (the Southern Uí Neill). His children included Conall macNéill, after whom Donegal was names Tír Conaill; Eóghan (Owen) macNéill, after whom the Inishowen peninsula is named; Coirpre macNéill, who went on to also become King of Ireland; Laoghaire (Leary) macNéill, another to succeed as King of Ireland; and Conall Cremthainne macNéill. His own brother Brian established the dynasty which provided the kingship, nobility and the aristocracy of Connacht for 600 years, and through that kingship, the frequent high-kingship of Ireland right up to the 12th century.

As he was encamped at the River Loire in Gaul, Niall was treacherously slain by Eochaidh, who was a son of Eanna Ceannselaigh, the King of Leinster, as he sat by the riverside; in revenge of a former wrong by him received from the said Niall, A.D. 405. Yet his fall in a foreign land was to be brought about, not by the strategy or might of the foreign enemy, but by the treachery of one of his own. Niall was killed by Eochaidh, Prince of Leinster while in Gaul (France) in a ford of the river Leon (now called Lianne) that spot is now called the Ford of Niall near Boulogue-sur-mer. He fell by the hand of Eochaidh; who, from ambush, with an arrow, shot dead the great king in revengefor some ancient wrong. Niall was the first to refer to Alba (Scotland) as "Scotia Minor" and Inis Ealga (Ireland) as "Scotia Major". Niall had no children with his first wife Inné, but had 12 sons with his second wife Roighneach. These sons were called Eoghan, Laoghaire, Conall Gulban, Aliall, Fiachadha, Máine, Cairpire, Fergus, Aonghus, Ailthearg and Fergus Ailtleathan.

The importance of Niall for succeeding generations, apart from the heroic exploits which give him legendary status, has been in the way his conquests are reflected not only in place-names across all of Ireland, but also in the clann names which preceded the present-day surnames or family names of so many Irish families of Gaelic origin, as well as a great many of the proper-names/first-names too. Literally hundreds of Gaelic forenames & surnames derive directly from this extraordinary king and his immediate family, siblings, successors and descendants. Although the names are far too numerous to list fully, they do include not only the O'Neills dynasty all over Ireland, but more locally, they include the Kellys, the MacEgans, the Donellans, the Maddens, Larkins, Finnertys, Cosgraves and Mooneys - and that's just in the territory of Hy Many (Uí Máine, named for Niall's son, Máine Mór, who conquered this territory from the pre-Celtic Fir Bolgs in 457 A.D.). In the neighbouring territory of Uí Fíachrach, (Named for Niall's brother, Fiachra) one can add the distinguished clans of the O'Hynes and O'Shaughnessys; as well as the Kilkellys, Fahertys, Kineaveys, Phelans, Keans & Coynes. The Uí Brían region (named for Niall's oldest brother Brían) gave us the nobilities of Síl Murray, and the great clans of the O'Connors, McDermots, O'Flaherty, O'Rourke, O'Reilly and McManus. The territory of Cinéal Fiacha (named for Niall's grand-nephew, son of Dathí the High-King) gave us the great Gaelic clans of the Geoghegans, Molloys and Donoghers. And so it goes, in each of the great regions of Gaelic Ireland where Níall Mór left his lasting imprint, now spread all over the world; and recalled wherever the exiles' children raise a glass.

Niall Nóigiallach is a very famous man (Nóigiallach is Gaelic for "having Nine Hostages"). He was an Irish King who lived from about 350 to 405 AD. The "nine hostages" refers to hostages that he kept from each of the places that owed him allegiance.

Niall was fond of raiding the coast of Roman Britain and on one of those raids he captured a man named Maewyn Succat, who became a slave in Ireland. Succat eventually escaped, returned to Britain, and became a Christian missionary. He then went back to Ireland to convert the Irish heathens to Christianity. We know Maewyn Succat by his Christian name, Patrick, or Saint Patrick.

The reason Niall Nóigiallach is famous is because he is associated with the List of High Kings of Ireland, one of the oldest well-established genealogies in all of Europe. Anybody who connects to the lineage can trace ancestors back to about 100 AD.

Niall is also famous for another reason. DNA studies indicate that one in twelve Irish men carry a Y chromosome haplotype that traces back to Niall. The haplotype is also common in Scotland and England, and on the continent. This makes Niall one of only a handful of men who have millions of direct male descendants. (Genghis Khan was another [Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies].)

Families that trace their ancestry back to Niall of the Nine Hostages include: (O')Neill, (O')Gallagher, (O')Boyle, (O')Doherty, O'Donnell, Connor, Cannon, Bradley, O'Reilly, Flynn, (Mc)Kee, Campbell, Devlin, Donnelly, Egan, Gormley, Hynes, McCaul, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, McMenamin, Molloy, O'Kane, O'Rourke and Quinn.

My mother's maiden name is Doherty. We are descendants of the O'Dochartaigh's of Donegal in the north-west part Ireland. Donegal is in the Republic of Ireland not in the part of Ulster that became what is now called "Northern Ireland", which is part of the United Kingdom. Donegal is near where the most intense spot on the DNA map is located.

My mother was hoping to establish the direct connection between her ancestors and the ancient lineage leading to Niall but it hasn't been possible. That was a big disappointment because I thought it would be fun to have a known ancestor from 400 AD.

Recently I discovered that my ancestors connect to the Niall lineage through English and through Scottish lines that are completely unrelated to the Doherty's. This shows, once again, that most people in England, Scotland, and Ireland are related if you go back far enough. The fact that so many lineages connect to the Niall lineage is not as significant as you might think. It's mostly because that ancient lineage is so well known.

In my case, the connections come through Isabel de Clare, grandmother of Robert the Bruce of Scotland, and through Isabel Mar, the wife of Robert the Bruce. Niall Nóigiallach is one of my ancestors.

If your ancestors are from the British Isles, chances are pretty high that we are related if we go back 60 generations. We all have about a trillion potential ancestors back then but that's five orders of magnitude more than all the people who lived in the British Isles at that time.

33 comments:

John HynesFriday, October 24, 2008 1:53:00 AM

Hey, cuz! 60th cousin, that is. My surname is one of those listed, but according to the genealogies (assuming they are accurate) my Y chromosome come from his brother, so the most recent common ancestor for these names actually was Niall's father. Of course, since I have not paid for the DNA test, I do not know if I actually possess the Niall chromosome. Those with certain surnames are more likely to share a Y chromosome, but there is no guarantee of genetic relationship.

Of course we are all related to each other if we go back far enough, as well as various historical figures, but Y chromosomes are passed only from father to son, like surnames, so you can test any male Doherty relative to see if they have the Niall chromosome. There are sites online where you can buy the test.

The original study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Reply
AnonymousFriday, October 24, 2008 9:15:00 AM

Ancestor worship may be among the earliest forms of religion.

Ancestor worship is the cultural expression of kinship ties and band affiliation. By various means (including, it seems, proclamation on blogs) this form of piety turns shared ancestors into band totems, promoting both extended kinship and band solidarity.

For more on this perspective, see Jonathan H. Turner and Alexandra Maryanski, On the Origin of Societies by Natural Selection, Paradigm Publishers, 2008.
Reply
AnonymousFriday, October 24, 2008 10:14:00 AM

Here's a much more sensible (non-religious) approach to one's genes:

http://www.personalgenomes.org/
Reply
Larry MoranFriday, October 24, 2008 10:23:00 AM

anonymous says,

Ancestor worship is the cultural expression of kinship ties and band affiliation. By various means (including, it seems, proclamation on blogs) this form of piety turns shared ancestors into band totems, promoting both extended kinship and band solidarity.

You seem to have missed the point. I don't know if it's because of ignorance or stupidity.

The point is that almost everyone with European ancestors is related to everyone else within the last 2000 years. In other words, ancestor worship is pointless, we are all kin.

In a few hours I'll be pointing out how easily this kinship spreads to the Middle East and Africa.
Reply
AnonymousFriday, October 24, 2008 11:07:00 AM

I agree. Ancestor worship is pointless. But seeking high status ancestors is a (perhaps the) major motivation for genealogical research.

"God" is "the father".
Reply
Allen MacNeillFriday, October 24, 2008 11:14:00 AM

Two more of the branches of the Ui Neil are the McNeills of Ireland and the MacNeils of Barra, Colonsay, and Gigha (in the outer Hebrides of Scotland). My family is therefore apparently in the direct line of succession for the (currently non-existent) kingship of Ireland and Scotland. The current chief of the Clan Neil (Ian Roderick MacNeil, a distant cousin) is the 46th of that ilk. When his father, Robert Lister MacNeil (yes, that Lister, of carbolic acid fame) matriculated arms as the 45th chief back in the early 20th century, my grandfather was sent a letter by the Lord Lyon in Scotland, asking if he wished to dispute the claim. As doing so would have also made my granddad liable for over a century of back taxes on the ancestral estate on the isle of Barra, he declined. So it goes...

Father Drinkin’

Part One….

Being Irish, there seems to be a stigma of alcoholism in the blood, and once at a funeral, I heard the priest refer to it as “The Irish Disease…” I think I was deeply offended, but then, my drinking problem wasn’t a problem for me, just for everybody else.

I never really took to firewater, the hard liquor though I tried all of them, but I do remember my first year in college and we had a tequila shot drinking contest - my roommate was an alcoholic by age 18, I was just starting my career, and I was seeing TRIPLE. I sat down at the piano and played the same song over and over again. It was either 96 Tears or Heart and Soul since those are the only two songs I know.

From there, I got ‘polluted to the eyeballs,’ “three sheets to the winds,” f*&^%ked up, probably every weekend, like good American teenagers in college. We specialized in hangover cures of aspirin and Slurpees and burritos and understanding what DEATH feels like.

However, being Irish, and knowing where this behavior ends, usually with a funeral at somebody’s premature death, I knew I would have to overcome this with ‘self mastery,’ and yet, self mastery eluded me.

Here’s how I started trying to stop drinking. An alcoholic counselor told me it takes a full 90 days to detoxify the blood. Alcoholism is actually a blood disease. The blood is like a tape recorder, and once fed this high sugar intoxicant, it craves it more and more until you have a full blown alcoholic who just can’t stop drinking.

As my mother always said, “One drop and you are an alcoholic!”

To which of course, her children had to go and test that theory. My mother, Rose Francis Veronica Gallagher Boyle, never drank a drop of alcohol in her life. Maybe she took a sip somewhere, but I never saw it. She was the classic teetotaler.

Her father drank and when he drank, my grandmother, Catherine Feeley Gallagher, had the priest come to the house and make him take the Pledge. Apparently this was akin to an exorcism, but catholic priests in Jersey City in the early 1900s made home visits to make alcoholic dads take the Pledge. I suppose it involved saying the Rosary two hundred times in a row.

So, James Gallagher generally abstained from drinking or face the wrath of Catherine, his wife, and all was well, until one day he decided to visit the Auld Sod, from whence he came, and took an airplane to County Lietrem, Ireland to visit his kin.

When he returned, it was apparent he had been on a bender, since they served drinks on the plane, and of course, in the pubs of Ireland, where they drink Jameson’s Irish Whiskey like water. I think my grandmother called the priest again for another round of Rosary and psychological warfare until he was again, sober.

But the specter of alcohol did not end there. The spirits haunted my mother when she married my dad, Matty Boyle, who likewise came from a hard drinking Irish Catholic family and when they married, ‘Nana’ or Catherine Gallagher took all the booze they bought for the wedding reception and poured it down the toilet.

Eyes rolled as the Boyle family welcomed the new bride, the new teetotalling, snobby, prudish, Rose Frankie Gallagher into the family, a family she would keep at arms length since she disdained their drinking.

But, the spirits haunted Matty Boyle and after his Navy accident and head trauma, he liked his beer. Being a diabetic and suffering headaches, beer was his medicine, and his downfall, and he died of heart attack at age 62.

So, I knew I didn’t want to be an alcoholic when I grew up. And, when I found myself unable to ‘stop’ I was pretty worried, and tried to detox and abstain for 90 days.

Day One….

Day Two…

Day One….

Day Two…

Day Three!

Day One…

And this how it went. Until I got myself on Prozac and that was the turning point. I weaned myself off of alcohol, and no longer crave the spirits. I still drink, but only wine, and an occasional beer. No firewater. I drink a lot of water. I meditate and do yoga. I steer clear of drinkers and drunken culture. My life became incredibly boring as reality is fairly boring unless you light up like a Christmas tree all the time.

And, yet, I found a new satisfaction: Inner Peace. Good Health. Intellectual Pursuits. Success…Money….Love, all those things that drunks avoid. They avoid them because they are hard to get. Drinking is easy…dying is easy, living is hard.

Another 12 steps to stop drinking (alcohol)

Make a determination to stop or slow down your drinking
Get a date book or calendar and mark day one for the day you want to start and stop drinking…
try cold turkey and see how long you go, marking the days.
Start again with Day One.
Get a prescription for antidepressants.
You may also need tranquilizers
take a yoga class or study meditation
If you don’t know how to meditate, close your eyes, take deep breaths and count backwards from 100.
drink only beer and wine if pressured by friends and family
do not mix wine and beer, one or the other.
day one, start again, practice makes perfect
day two, day three, day one, start again

It takes 90 days to detoxify from alcohol. It is a blood disease.

Boyle, Boyle, Trouble and Toil

BOYLE, BOYLE,

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Professional Leprecahn

Sunday, March 13, 2016

BOYLE BOYLE

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

THE NAIL

Niall Nóigiallach - Niall of the Nine Hostages

http://www.larkinclan.eu/niall.htm

33 comments:

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Father Drinkin'

Saturday, May 2, 2015

PRO 14:16 A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Jim Boyle, Iron Age Warrior

Whitney's Reunion - minus Whitney