Uí Néill descendants
This article lists and discusses supposed descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages and the medieval Uí Néill kindred as they have existed after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 and the disintegration of the Old Gaelic order.
Irish nobility
It is of great importance to distinguish between surviving Irish nobility with internationally recognized pedigrees on the one hand, and people of humbler birth trying to discover their ancestry through genealogical services and genetic testing on the other. This cannot be overemphasized. No matter the results from testing such material does not take precedence over peer recognition, especially when the science is still in its infancy and the placement of Niall in history continues to be debated. Below is a sample list of historical persons recognized to be descendants of the medieval Uí Néill kindred.
- Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan
- Count of Tyrone
- Patrick O'Neill, 1st Count of Tyrone
- Henrique O'Neill, 1st Viscount of Santa Mónica
- Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Modern descendants among the Irish nobility include Hugo Ricciardi O'Neill of the Clandeboye dynasty, Don Carlos O'Neill the 12th Marquis of Granja, the O'Neills of Puerto Rico, Hugo O'Donnell, Duke of Tetuan of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, and the Doherty family. See also Flight of the Wild Geese.
Traditional genealogy
Genealogy, Pedigree, Patrilineality, Kinship, Nobility
Population genetics
Genetic genealogy, Genealogical DNA test, Population genetics, Non-paternity event, Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
In January 2006, geneticists suggested that Niall may have been the most fecund male in Irish history, and second only to Genghis Khan worldwide. In northwest Ireland as many as 21.5% of men (8.3% in Ireland in total) have common Y chromosome haplotypes that lay within the haplogroup R1b, with a common male line ancestor roughly 1500 years ago.
Y-DNA haplogroup R-M222 (also known as R1b1c7 and R1b1a1a2f2) was shown to be especially common among family names which claim a descent from Niall. The sample population consisted of the following surnames (and sample number): (O')Gallagher (12); (O')Boyle (9); (O')Doherty (5); O'Donnell (4); O'Connor (3); Cannon (3), Bradley (2); O'Reilly (2); Flynn (2); (Mc)Kee (2); Campbell (1); Devlin (1); Donnelly (1); Egan (1); Gormley (1); Hynes (1); McCaul (1); McGovern (1); McLoughlin (1); McManus (1); McMenamin (1); Molloy (1); O'Kane (1); O'Rourke (1); and Quinn (1).
The profile listed in numerical order (conversions as per Ybase and DNA Heritage) (also see Genetic Results List):
DYS19 |
DYS385a |
DYS385b |
DYS388 |
DYS389i |
DYS389ii |
DYS390 |
DYS391 |
DYS392 |
DYS393 |
DYS426 |
DYS437 |
DYS438 |
DYS439 |
DYS441 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 |
11 |
13 |
12 |
13 |
29 |
25 |
11 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
DYS442 |
DYS444 |
DYS445 |
DYS446 |
DYS447 |
DYS448 |
DYS449 |
DYS452 |
DYS454 |
DYS455 |
DYS456 |
DYS458 |
DYS459a |
DYS459b |
DYS460 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
25 |
18 |
30 |
30 |
11 |
11 |
17 |
17 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
DYS461 |
DYS462 |
DYS463 |
DYS464a |
DYS464b |
DYS464c |
DYS464d |
DYS635 |
GATAA10 |
GATAH4.1 |
GGAAT1B07 |
YCAIIa |
YCAIIb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 |
11 |
22 |
15 |
16 |
16 |
17 |
23 |
15 |
22 |
10 |
19 |
23 |
In the miniseries African American Lives, host Henry Louis Gates reveals that he is descended from an Irishman on the male line and matches the Uí Néill genetic profile.
References
- Bernard Burke and Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Irish Family Records, or Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 5th edition, 1976.
- Francis John Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd revised edition, 2001.
- Ambassador Walter Curley, Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004.
- FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100-1600: A Cultural Landscape Study. Boydell Press. 2004.
- Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh and Nollaig O'Muralie (ed.), The Great Book of Irish Genealogies. Dublin. 2005.
- Edward MacLysaght, Irish Families: Their Names, Arms and Origins. Irish Academic Press. 4th edition, 1998.
- Moore, Laoise T., Brian McEvoy, Eleanor Cape, Katharine Simms, Daniel G. Bradley, "A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland", in The American Journal of Human Genetics 78 (February 2006): 334-8.
- Ó Cochlain, Rupert S., "The O'Donnells of Mayo", in North Mayo Historical Society Journal Vol. 11, No. 4 (1990): 67-81.
- John O'Hart, Irish Pedigrees. Dublin. 5th edition, 1892.
- O'Neill, Edwin B. and John D. McLaughlin, "Insights Into the O’Neills of Ireland from DNA Testing", in Journal of Genetic Genealogy Vol. II, No. II. Fall 2006.
- Fintan O'Toole, White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. ISBN 0-374-28128-9.