Origins
The sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages, seven in all, were Conall Gulban, ancestor of the Cenél Conaill dynasty, Éndae, progenitor of the Cenél nÉndai, Eógan mac Néill, ancestor of the Cenél nEógain dynasty, Conall Cremthainne, ancestor of both the Clann Cholmáin and Síl nÁedo Sláine dynasties, Coirpre, ancestor of the Cenél Coirpri, Lóegaire, progenitor of the Cenél Lóegaire, and Fiachu, progenitor the Cenél Fiachach.
Together these dynasties are known to historians as the Uí Néill. They are then divided into the Northern Uí Néill, comprising the first three mentioned above, and the Southern Uí Néill, comprising the remainder. The Cenél nEógain established themselves in western Ulster with their capital at Ailech which centers around what is today known as Innishowen in County Donegal. The Kings of Ailech were often the Northern Uí Néill overkings, who for several centuries rotated as Kings of Tara with the Southern Uí Néill overkings. For most of that period the Tara kingship was rotated exclusively between the dominant Southern Uí Néill Clann Cholmáin and the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain. The system finally broke down in the 10th century.
The O'Neill dynasty is a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél nEógain dynasty, descendants of the 5th century Eógan mac Néill, through the 10th century Niall Glúndub.
A son of Niall Glúndub was Muirchertach mac Néill, father of Domnall ua Néill, who was the first king to be named High King of Ireland in his obituary. Through Domnall's grandson Flaithbertach Ua Néill descend the Kings of Tír Eógain, or Tyrone, and the O'Neill dynasty. Most closely related to the O'Neills are the Mac Lochlainns, also of the Cenél nEógain, who in addition to providing two High Kings, Domnall Ua Lochlainn and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, also contested the kingship of Tyrone with the O'Neills until the mid-13th century.
In the 12th century, the O'Neill's began to challenge their cousins, the MacLoughlins. After more than a century of warfare between the two clans, the O'Neills along with to the O'Donnells defeated & nearly wiped out the MacLoughlins and went on to dominate central Ulster. Over time the greater O'Neill sphere of influence self divided into three major O'Neill lordships. Later, both the chief rivals and allies of the O'Neills in Ulster were the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell, a continuation of the Northern Uí Néill Cenél Conaill.
Read more about this topic: O'Neill Dynasty
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)