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From: "Autumn L. Kruer" <>
Subject: [GREGORY-ISAAC-WV] LOL - our haplogroup suggests we descend fromNiall of the Nine Hostages
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:48:33 -0400
In-Reply-To: <E1HhQUi-000775-9K@iglou.com>


DNA in the news: a very successful Irishman

You may remember reading that genetic research has revealed that 16 million
men in Central Asia appear to be descended from Genghis Khan.

Researchers at Trinity College, Dublin, have now identified an Irishman who
has enjoyed similar dynastic success. A particular Y chromosome pattern was
found among 8% of the general population with a strong cluster in the north
west, where 21% of the population carried it. They calculated that the most
recent common ancestor was likely to have lived about 1700 years ago. This,
combined with the cluster in the north west, pointed to the Uí Néill
dynasty. They checked the results against participants’ surnames and found a
high proportion were also traditionally linked to the Uí Néill clan.

They calculated that the common ancestor was likely to be the founder of the
Uí Néill dynasty: Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King at Tara from 379 to
405. He was a successful warlord who led raids into Britain and France
(capturing St Patrick on one such visit) and his sons also became powerful
kings. His family retained power for many generations. It will come as no
surprise to learn that rich and powerful men have no difficulty in
attracting girls. One descendant, Lord Turlough O’Donnell (d. 1423), had 18
sons with 10 different women and 59 grandsons.

The researchers checked their results against international databases. Here
they had to use a truncated result for purposes of comparison. They found a
match among about 2% of European-American New Yorkers, which could be easily
explained by large-scale emigration from Ireland. They used another
truncated result to compare matches in Britain. They found this pattern was
virtually absent from much of Britain but that it reached frequencies of up
to 7.3% (16.7% including likely one-step variations) in western and central
Scotland. They concluded that this could be explained by Scotland’s
substantial historical and pre-historical links with the northern part of
Ireland.

They estimated that worldwide there could be perhaps two to three million
males descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages.



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