Historical Background on Niall of the Nine Hostages

A Short Biography Of Niall of the Nine Hostages - Niall Naoighíallach - with some account of his ancestry

Niall of the Nine Hostages (Irish: Niall Naoighíallach) was one of Ireland's most famous High King's. He is said to have been active in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. Niall is said to have reigned for 27 years - and died according to some recorded estimates - around 405 a.d.* The following is the entires about Niall from the Annals of the Four Masters.

Annals:
379.1 The first year of Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, in the sovereignty of Ireland.

405.1 After Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, had been twenty seven years in the sovereignty of Ireland, he was slain by Eochaidh, son of Enna Ceinnseallach, at Muir nIcht, i.e. the sea between France and England.

This period is described by Geoffrey Keating writing in 1636 from ancient manuscripts:

Niall is said to have made many raids on the coastlines of Britain and Brittany: according to hagiographical sources, he is said to have kidnapped Saint Patrick and brought him to Ireland as a boy during his raids*.

After the Scots from Ireland, together with their king Niall Naoighíallach, had plundered many territories in opposition to the Roman sovereignty, they severely pillaged Britain—the northern portion of it at first; and when they had banished the old tribes from it, they themselves dwelt in it. {Cum Scoti de Hibernia sub rege suo Niall Naoighíallach diversas provincias Britanniae contra Romanum imperium multum devastabant, contendere incipientes aquilonalem Britanniae plagam tandem, ejectis veteribus colonis, ipsi Hibernenses eam occupaverunt et habitaverunt.}’’

The same author says in the same place that it followed from this that there were three kingdoms in Great Britain, namely, Scotia, Anglia, and Britannia. The same author states that it was at this time, when Niall Naoighíallach was on this expedition planting the Dal Riada in Alba, an Irish fleet went to the place where Patrick dwelt. These are the author's words: An Irish fleet, (he says,) went at this time to the place where St. Patrick was, to pillage the country, and, as was the custom with the Irish, they brought a large number of captives with them, together with St. Patrick, then aged sixteen years, and his two sisters, namely Lupida and Darerca; and St. Patrick was brought as a captive to Ireland in the ninth year of the reign of Niall, king of Ireland, who held strenuously the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-seven years,

The Nine Hostages are the subject of much speculation. They are possibly held from the various Kingdoms of Britain, Ireland and Gaul. Historian Francis Byrne has suggested the Nine Hostages refers to the subjugated Ulster kingdom of Airghallia, which had nine ruling tribal dynasties. While Geoffrey Keating the 17th Century Irish historian and Chronicler claims:

Ard Rí Niall Naoighíallach, High King Niall of the Nine Hostages, Néill regis Hiberniae, comes from his having received nine hostages or nine captives, five of them from the provinces of Ireland, and four from Alba; and it was on this subject that the ancient bards composed the following stanzas:

Son of the noble Eochaidh of honour
Was Niall, modest in each high distinction;
He held the sovereignty of successions
In Erin and in Alba.
He got a hostage from each province
In Erin through high valour;
He brought under his sway, without blemish,
Four hostages from Alba.
Hence he was called
In the mansions of the great,
Through the gold of the prosperous kings,
Niall of the nine hostages, the heroic.

Niall was the fourth and youngest son of Eochaid Mugmheadhoin, an Irish High King, and his mother Cairenn, the enslaved daughter of a Breton King. Niall was the founding ancestor of all the various Uí Néill dynasties. This through his many sons, Conall Gulban, Endae, Eogan, Coirpre, Lóegaire, Maine of Tethba, Conall Cremthainne and Fiachu Fiachrach, of all the various Uí Néill dynasties. He reigned for 27 years and died on one of his famous forays to Gaul. The dynasty he founded fractured a few generations later into the Northern Uí Néill and the Southern Uí Néill.

*Niall is connected in many ways with the area of France known as Brittany, first Saint Patrick is said to have been from there, Niall's mother, Cairenn was from the area. Patrick was maybe not quite a slave, but a hostage, meaning he probably came from a noble family. Niall was undoubtedly tireless, he had many sub-kingdoms in Scotland and all along the west coast of Britain and into Brittany.

DNA

Much is made of the Northwest Ireland IMH and linking it specifically to Niall Naoighíallach - some caution is advised. It is not even clear when he existed, there are contradictions in the various recorded histories. Part of the problem is Niall is directly linked to the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. So if the time frame for Saint Patrick's presence in Ireland is unclear it also makes unclear Niall's time frame as Niall is directly attributable with bringing Patrick to Ireland. Aside from the unclear date, Niall Naoighíallach, while founder of the Uí Néill Dynasty, this does not necessarily mean he is the founder of the haplotype as he came from a long established strong dynasty with a clear lineage.

Niall's Lineage:

Sources

*"Irish Kings and High Kings", John Francis Byrne, Dublin, 1973. - Byrne prefers a much earlier date, he also suggests the "Three Collas" may not have existed amongst his other examination of the ancient genealogies.

Lebor Gabála Érenn

Annals of the Four Masters, Annals of Ulster, Annals of Connaught, Annals of Tigernach, Annals of Lough Ce.

Foras Feasa ar Eirenn, Geoffrey Keating, 1636.

Laoise T. Moore et al, A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland Am. J. Hum. Genet., 78:334-338, 2006

Issued by Ireland yDNA - Austin Rock