Niall Mor Noígíallach of the Nine Hostages (380 – 454) King of Tara, 126th High King of Ireland, Captor of St Patrick of Ireland, Primogenitor of Uí Néill Dynasty

Niall stood on equal footing with the likes of Alexander the Great of Macedonia (356 – 323 BC) and William The Conqueror (1028 – 1087) 1st Norman King of England as both a feared ruler and empire builder. As the first true ruler of all of Ireland, his success as an invader put fear in the hearts of rulers of all nations within his reach. Niall made many incursions into Britain and Gaul, particularly in those areas formerly ruled by the Roman Empire.

As an agnatic descendant of Galamh mac Bile “Míl Espáine” (853 – 856 BC), Niall was the primogenitor of the Uí Néill dynasty.

The entire succession of Irish kings finds its initial roots in Niul (Nel) Nemnach mac Farsaid ( – 2401 BC) of Egypt, Prince of Scythia (birth ca. 1350 BC). His father Foenius Farsaid was a Scythian king who helped Nimrod build the Tower of Babylon during the 16th century B.C. Foenius is credited with creating the Gaelic language (modern scholars also credit him as the founder of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin).

Niul’s father banished him from Crete for killing his brother during a row they had with one another. He made his way to Egypt where he soon befriended Pharaoh Semenkhkare. Niul spoke 72 languages. He utilized his linguistic expertise to gain a ministerial position as a trusted and valued interpreter and advisor. He was so favored the pharaoh later gave him his daughter’s hand in marriage (Irish legend has it that Niul is the eponym of the Nile River). Their son Gaodhal Glas was the namesake of the Gaelic people.

During one of his raiding expeditions in Wales, Niall’s men captured a young lad who would later in life radically change Irish culture. St Patrick‘s (389 – 461) parents were killed right in front of him before being taken into captivity. His father, a descendant of Joseph of Arimathia, who served as the Roman Governor of Cornwall, was a Roman official who was also a Hebrew-Christian (Japhethite) minister. His father was born in Armorica, France (ca. 300)

At that time, his Judaic lineage residing in Wales and Cornwall had already suffered egregious religious persecution, mainly at the behest of Celtic druid priests, by Munster rulers of the land for more than two centuries. Previously, Conan Meriadoc, King of Dumnonia (305 – 367), who was also a maternal descendant of Joseph of Arimathia, led the migration of his people to resettle in Brittany, France, to escape the initial onslaught.

In the tradition of his father, Niall had the habit of enslaving common folk and his relatives alike. Niall brought Patrick back to Ireland, most likely selling the teenager to a druid priest who put him to work as a shepherd. After six years of enslavement, he fled to Britain following the urging of an angel who came to him one night in his sleep.

He returned to Ireland as a cleric who as a bishop baptized Conall Gulban – one of Niall’s sons who was the first Irish nobleman to receive the sacrament. Conall was the primogenitor of the Dunkeld dynasty of Scotland.

Niall may have been one of the most fecund males in Irish history. Before a recent DNA study conducted in Ireland, academics had more than some doubt that he existed as more than a mythical Irish figure. However, as the study found that over 84% of Irish males possess his YDNA (R-M269), there’s little doubt now that Niall indeed lived and loved during the 4th century A.D. as his legend would have it. Moreover, both Conn of the 100 Battles (died about 464), Niall’s 6th great-grandfather, and Galamh mac Bile (1853 BC – 1805 BC), the ancient primogenitor Irish High Kings dynasty as well the Uí Néill sept, are of the same YDNA haplogroup.

Some interesting scientific facts about the R-269 haplogroup lend credence to ancient Irish lore concerning the advent of the Irish King dynasty almost three millennia ago:

-After 230 generations, the R1b-P297 haplogroup mutated to R1b-M269 between 7,000 and 11,000 years ago in the Pontic-Caspian steppe region (present-day Ukraine).

-The Scythian Empire flourished from the 8th to the 3rd century BC and occupied most of that geographic territory before expanding out into Eastern Europe and Eurasia, including Greece and Turkey (Partha).

–Niul Nemnach mac Farsaid of Egypt, Prince of Scythia, was born about 1401 BC in Nenual, Scythia (now Ukraine). He’s believed to have been the earliest renowned primogenitor of the Irish High King dynasty.

–Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (died ca. 1336 BC), in a few pedigrees, possibly Niul’s maternal great-grandfather, was of the M-R269 haplogroup.

Led by Richard “Strongbow” de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (1130 – 1176) Justiciar of Ireland, the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 was the beginning of the end of the Uí Néill claim on the dynastic hegemony as sovereigns of Ireland or significant parts thereof, that had lasted for over 2,500 years. Previously, Brian Boru (941 – 1014) Founder of the O’Brien Dynasty of Irish High Kings successfully challenged that hegemony by asserting his claim. The O’Brien clan would continue to vie with them for monarchal control of Ireland until they and High King Rory O’Connor sued for peace with Henry II Plantagenet (1133 – 1189) 1st Plantagenet King of England and Ireland in 1175, which effectively ended the High King dynasty forever.

The last pure-play pretender to the throne was Hugh O’Neill (1550 – 1616), Earl of Tyrone. He led the resistance of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I agenda to bring all of Ireland under Crown control. He even managed to consolidate enough support amongst Irish nobility to act as the High King for a while. However, after his defeat at the Battle of Kinsale, he went into self-imposed exile five years later and never returned to Ireland thereafter. He died and was buried in Rome in 1616.

My Norse ancestors immigrated to Donegal, Ireland from Orkney, Scotland during the early 12th century. They were to become Anglo-Saxons in nature rather than Irishmen in nature, however, when they immigrated to Danelaw, England during the early 14th century, first to Herefordshire and then to Suffolk a generation later.

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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