Uí Néill

Uí Néill. Powerful dynasty, named for the assumed progenitor Niall Noígiallach [of the Nine Hostages], whose several divisions and many members dominated Ireland for six centuries, from the middle of the 5th, coeval with the arrival of Christianity, until the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Although Niall may have had as many as fifteen sons, eight established small kingdoms-four in the Northern Uí Néill [Uí Néill in Tuaiscirt] and four in the Southern Uí Néill [Uí Néill in Deiscirt]. Those in the north gained ground at the expense of the Ulaid, who were driven eastward. Three of the sons, Eógan(1)Conall Gulban, and Énna (3) (or Énda) are identical, T. F. O'Rahilly (1946) has argued, with the Three Collas who reportedly destroyed the Ulidian capital of Emain Macha. Two of the Northern Uí Néill kingdoms, Tír Eógain [Ir., land of Eógan; Tyrone] and Tír Chonaill [land of Conall; Donegal] deeply affected Irish history. The southern branch of the dynasty, established by Diarmait mac Cerbaill, occupied the Irish midlands closer to Tara, what is today counties Meath, Westmeath, and Longford. Both branches of the dynasty federation remained antagonistic to the power even further south, the Eóganacht. Meanwhile the two branches of the Uí Néill passed the high kingship [ard rí] between themselves for the better part of six centuries. The Uí Néill influenced the writing of history and the development of Christian institutions. Not surprisingly, the great saint Colum Cille was a member of the dynasty and allegedly a descendant of Niall himself.

The Uí Néill became increasingly identified with the province of Ulster, even though it was named for the much-diminished Ulaid. The heraldic symbol of the Uí Néill, the raised, severed red right hand, has been known locally from at least the time of De Burgo, Earl of Ulster during the Norman invasion, 12th-13th centuries. The red hand [ModIr. lámh dearg] became a symbol for all of Ulster at the beginning of the 17th century when James I created the Order of Baronets for the plantation of Ulster, selling each title for £1,000. Accommodating the colonizers, the O'Neill crest became attached to the Order, and thence to the province, and then more specifically to the Protestant and Unionist population of the province. Variations of the symbol, dexter hand appaumé gules in heraldic terms, can be found in the ancient civilizations of Assyria, Egypt, and Rome; it also occurs in the arms of Scottish Gaelic families. Stories purporting to identify the person whose hand is severed are aetiological fictions dating from later than the 17th century. Two versions remain popular:

(1). A band of marauding Vikings, bent on plunder, are approaching the coast of northern Ireland when their leader promises that the first man to touch the strand with his hand or foot will take possession of it. A fierce sailor named O'Neill beats all rivals by cutting off his hand with one blow of his sword and throwing it forward to the sands. He is given possession of that part of Ireland and takes the ‘Bloody Hand’ as his crest.

(2). Two rival Scottish clans race from Scotland to Ireland; whoever reaches Ireland first will possess the land. When the leader of the MacDonnells sees that he cannot get there in time, he cuts off his hand and throws it on the shore, thus claiming the land for himself. The Red Hand is also the crest of the MacDonnells of Antrim.

Despite the common misconception, the name O'Neill is not an anglicization of Uí Néill. Instead, many a family derives from the Uí Néill, including O'Doherty, O'Donnell, O'Hagan, and others. The O'Neill family, a subdivision of Cenél Eógain in Tír Eógain, takes its name from Niall Glúndub (d. 919).

Bibliography

See Donncha Ó Corráin , Ireland Before the Normans (Dublin, 1972);
F. J. Byrne , Irish Kings and High Kings (London, 1973).