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Meet Ireland's most prolific high king - you may be descended from him

Published Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 1:37 PM
Updated Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 10:04 PM
Read more: Barack Obama, Culture and Lifestyle, History, Irish Ancestry, Irish History, World History

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Crest of the O'Neill clan - the family's patriarch, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was renowned for his exploits on the battlefield - and the bedroom
Crest of the O'Neill clan - the family's patriarch, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was renowned for his exploits on the battlefield - and the bedroom

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Millions of Irish Americans, especially those in New York , may be directly descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, the most prolific warrior in Irish history.

A team of geneticists at Trinity College Dublin led by Professor Dan Bradley have discovered that as many as 3 million men worldwide may be descendents of the Irish warlord, who was who was the Irish “High King” at Tara, the ancient center of Ireland from A.D. 379 to A.D. 405.

Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., who made headlines when he was arrested by an Irish police officer while trying to break into his own locked home, is also a descendent of Niall of the Nine Hostages — and is related to the cop who booked him!

The story of Niall of the Nine Hostages is already the stuff of legend, which has been passed on to countless Irish schoolchildren over the years.

The supposedly fearless leader battled the English, the Scots, the French and even the Romans, and struck fear into the heart of his enemies. His dynasty lasted for centuries, continuing up until the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland at the end of the 16th century.

Legend has it that it was Niall of the Nine Hostages who on a raid in Wales, captured a young slave, and brought him to Ireland. That slave would later escape, and go to become Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick.

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Meet Ireland's most prolific high king - you may be descended from him | IrishCentral


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