Uí Néill
Encyclopedia
The Uí Néill are Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), an historical King of Tara who died about 405.

The first generation of the Uí Néill were his sons, seven in all:
  • Conall Gulban
    Conall Gulban
    Conall Gulban was an Irish king who founded the kingdom of Tír Conaill in the 5th century, comprising much of what is now County Donegal. He was the son of Niall Noígiallach....

    , ancestor of the Cenél Conaill
    Cenél Conaill
    The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....

     dynasty.
  • Éndae, ancestor of the Cenél nÉndai
  • Eógan, ancestor of the Cenél nEógain
    Cenél nEógain
    Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...

     dynasty.
  • Coirpre
    Coirpre mac Néill
    Coirpre mac Néill . , also Cairbre or Cairpre, was said to be a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Coirpre was perhaps the leader of the conquests that established the southern Uí Néill in the midlands of Ireland. The record of the Irish annals suggests that Coirpre's successes were reattributed to...

    , ancestor of the Cenél Coirpri dynasty.
  • Lóegaire
    Lóegaire mac Néill
    Lóegaire , also Lóeguire, is said to have been a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. The Irish annals and king lists include him as a King of Tara or High King of Ireland. He appears as an adversary of Saint Patrick in several hagiographies...

    , ancestor of the Cenél Lóegaire dynasty.
  • Conall Cremthainne
    Conall Cremthainne
    Conall Cremthainne , also called Conall Err Breg, was an Irish king. He was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and one of the progenitors of the Uí Néill dynasty....

    , ancestor of the Clann Cholmáin
    Clann Cholmáin
    Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...

     and Síl nÁedo Sláine
    Síl nÁedo Sláine
    Síl nÁedo Sláine is the name of the descendants of Áed Sláine , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne....

    .
  • Fiachu
    Fiachu mac Néill
    Fiachu mac Néill was a king of Uisnech in Mide of the Ui Neill dynasty. He was the son of the high king Niall Noígíallach. According to the king list in the Book of Leinster, he succeeded his brother Conall Cremthainne as king of Uisnech.According to the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, Saint...

    , 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
Cenél Conaill
The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....

  and Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...

, held power in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

 until their defeat in the Nine Years War in 1603. The heads of the families left for Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 Europe in 1607, an event known as the Flight of the Earls
Flight of the Earls
The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...

.

Uí Néill family tree

Bold indicates a High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

.

Further reading

  • The Hui Neill and the Leinstermen in the Annals of Ulster
    Annals of Ulster
    The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...

    , 431
    431
    Year 431 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Antiochus...

    -516
    516
    Year 516 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Petrus without colleague...

    A.D.
    , Alfred P. Smyth, Etudes Celtic, 1974, pp. 121–143.
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