Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
Misc. Notes
King of Ireland 379-406. Son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin (Mugmedon).
This Niall succeeded his Uncle Crimthann as King of Ireland. He was a stout, wise, and warlike prince, and fortunate in all his conquests and achievements, and therefore called Niall Mór or "Neill the Great." He was also called Niall Naoi-Ghiallach or "Neill of the Nine Hostages," from the royal hostages taken from nine several countries by him subdued and made tributary: viz., - 1. Munster, 2. Leinster, 3. Conacht, 4. Ulster, 5. Britain, 6. the Picts, 7. the Dalriads, 8. the Saxons, and 9. the Morini - a people of France, towards Calais and Piccardy; whence he marched with his victorious army of Irish, Scots, Picts, and Britons, further into France, in order to aid the Celtic natives in expelling the Roman Eagles, and thus to conquer that portion of the Roman Empire; and, encamping on the river Leor (now called Lianne), was, as he sat by the river side, treacherously assassinated by Eocha, son of Enna Cinsalach, king of Leinster, in revenge of a former "wrong" by him received from the said Niall. The spot on the Lianne River where this Monarch was murdered is still called the "Ford of Niall," near Boulogne-sur-mer.
It was in the ninth year of his reign, 388 A.D., that Succat (later St. Patrick) was first brought into Ireland, at the age of 16 years, among two hundred children brought by the Irish Army out of Gaul and Britain.
Niall Mór was the first that gave the name of Scotia Minor to "Scotland," and ordained it to be ever after so called; until then it went by the name of "Alba."
The first generation of the Uí Néill dynasty were his sons, seven in all:
• Conall Gulban, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill dynasty.
• Endae
• Eogan, ancestor of the Cenél nEógan (Cenel Eogan) dynasty.
• Coirpre, ancestor of the Cenél Cairpre dynasty.
• Lóegaire, ancestor of the Cenél Lóegaire dynasty.
• Conall Cremthainne, ancestor of the Clan Cholmain and Sil nAedo Slaine.
• Fiachu, ancestor of the Cenél Fiachach.
All these men were in their lifetime known as members of The Connachta dynasty, or as "the sons of Niall." The term Uí Néill did not - by its very nature - come into use until the time of Niall's grandsons and great-grandsons.
Dynasties descended from the Uí Néill, such as the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógan, held power in Ulster until their defeat in the Nine Years War in 1603. The heads of the families left for Catholic Europe in 1607, an event known as the Flight of the Earls.
This Niall succeeded his Uncle Crimthann as King of Ireland. He was a stout, wise, and warlike prince, and fortunate in all his conquests and achievements, and therefore called Niall Mór or "Neill the Great." He was also called Niall Naoi-Ghiallach or "Neill of the Nine Hostages," from the royal hostages taken from nine several countries by him subdued and made tributary: viz., - 1. Munster, 2. Leinster, 3. Conacht, 4. Ulster, 5. Britain, 6. the Picts, 7. the Dalriads, 8. the Saxons, and 9. the Morini - a people of France, towards Calais and Piccardy; whence he marched with his victorious army of Irish, Scots, Picts, and Britons, further into France, in order to aid the Celtic natives in expelling the Roman Eagles, and thus to conquer that portion of the Roman Empire; and, encamping on the river Leor (now called Lianne), was, as he sat by the river side, treacherously assassinated by Eocha, son of Enna Cinsalach, king of Leinster, in revenge of a former "wrong" by him received from the said Niall. The spot on the Lianne River where this Monarch was murdered is still called the "Ford of Niall," near Boulogne-sur-mer.
It was in the ninth year of his reign, 388 A.D., that Succat (later St. Patrick) was first brought into Ireland, at the age of 16 years, among two hundred children brought by the Irish Army out of Gaul and Britain.
Niall Mór was the first that gave the name of Scotia Minor to "Scotland," and ordained it to be ever after so called; until then it went by the name of "Alba."
The first generation of the Uí Néill dynasty were his sons, seven in all:
• Conall Gulban, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill dynasty.
• Endae
• Eogan, ancestor of the Cenél nEógan (Cenel Eogan) dynasty.
• Coirpre, ancestor of the Cenél Cairpre dynasty.
• Lóegaire, ancestor of the Cenél Lóegaire dynasty.
• Conall Cremthainne, ancestor of the Clan Cholmain and Sil nAedo Slaine.
• Fiachu, ancestor of the Cenél Fiachach.
All these men were in their lifetime known as members of The Connachta dynasty, or as "the sons of Niall." The term Uí Néill did not - by its very nature - come into use until the time of Niall's grandsons and great-grandsons.
Dynasties descended from the Uí Néill, such as the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógan, held power in Ulster until their defeat in the Nine Years War in 1603. The heads of the families left for Catholic Europe in 1607, an event known as the Flight of the Earls.