The Aodh Athlaman and the O'Neill Core Theory.

Why was Aodh Athlaman d. 1033 stated to be the last of his race? this leads to a theory of a " O'Neill core group" of a selected male lineage of the Royal O'Neill's and the House of Tyrone. If Aodh was the the last of his race? Was he not of the Ui Neill, or not of the native Ulster population? Let's say Aodh was the last of his race this would mean that his bloodline was reduced to a selected gene pool, where generations later the descendants of Aodh Athlaman, would have a Hapotype, unique only among a few selected O'Neill's males. Then the only way for the O'Neill Royal clan to survived was to absorb others into the clan to remain in power. Only way the "O'Neill Core Theory" can be proven is by finding a unique Haplotype shared by the O'Neill's and MacLaughlin's their closest kindred.

From the Gleanings of Ulster History , Seamus O Ceallaigh 1952

" For six generations in sequence the family depends upon a single individual to maintain the succession; no brothers or uncles are mentioned ,and the L.E. expressly states that Aodh was the last of his race. Now it was altogether exceptional for these ruling families to be reduced in the reginal succession of single heirs. "

" Following the ordinary law in the community, there must have been as many daughters as sons. If this achievement provokes any sense of mystery, I leave the probing of it to the student of genetics or those curious about the trend of social proprieties , but obviously this factor was turned into a source of strength in war and administration."

"It's is conceivable that O'Neill lineage may have been spun out to a single filament in 1160, but the matter in which the facts are represented to us is not convincing."



L.E. (Lebor Eoganach)

There are various SNP's that define the O'Neill's currently tested R1b1b2a1b5, the majority of the O'Neill's tested are R1b1b2a1b, R1b1b2a1b5b, I2b1a ,and the O'Neill's of Puerto Rico R1b1b2a1a4. It's not known to what extent the Danes, Norse, and Normans influnced the O'Neill's of Tyrone, and this could be the reason why we have various SNP's among the O'Neill's tested. There could be also been MacNeill's and McEvies who were gallowglass who adopted the surname O'Neill in Ulster , yet there is the adoption of John Geoghegan of Castle Bunowen in Co. Galway , that in 1807 adopted the surname O'Neill and his descendants from then on are known as O'Neill's . There are plenty of O'Neill's who are Geoghegan's at the moment ,and do not realize this fact. Again, Let's look at various clans who are not of the house of Tyrone , but do have the O'Neill surname in current modern times due to various reasons.

The Neylon's of Co. Clare of the Niallain sept, the Neilan surname can easily be changed to O'Neill or O'Neil with the droping of the ' an' suffix at the end of the surname. Then we have the Nihill's of Co.Clare origins of the O'Neighill sept located in the Barony of Bunratty of Thomond. These clans or septs are not of the O'Neill's of Ulster , or of the O'Neill Royal House of Tyrone.



If we eliminated and totaly ignore that Niall Glundubh was born in Norway circa 850 a.d., and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that describe Niall, as the brother of Sigtrygg Caech of the Ui Imar. Then it's very likely that Niall Glundubh MacAedo was of the SNP R1b1b2a1b5b and of the Ui Neill clan. This would explain the small amount of currently tested O'Neill's who are R1b1b2a1b5b, since Aodh Athlaman was stated to be the "last of his race" in the Lebor Eoganach. The question is about the R1b1b2a1b2 O'Neill's! Who are these men? my theory is that they are originally men of the Airghialla and Oriel kingdoms , that were reducec to subkingdoms under the Cenel Eoghain during the 7th and 8th centuries.