Niall Frossach macFergal King of Tara High King of Ireland

• Preferred Name: Niall Frossach macFergal King of Tara High King of Ireland^{[1] [2]}
  
• Gender: M
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: High King of IrelandBET 763 AND 770
  
• FSID: G3ZZ-247
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: King of AileachBET 759 AND 765
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: House of Cenél nÉogain
  
• Birth: 718 in Aielich, Ulster, Ireland at LATI: N4.6112 LONG: E6.9317
  
• Burial: in Saint Columb Monastery, Hye, Scotland at LATI: N6.8167 LONG: E4.184
  
• Death: 778 in St Columba's Abbey, Iona, Argyll, Scotland at LATI: N6.3167 LONG: E6.4167
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: High King with note: Standardizing names
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Dictionary of Irish Biography
  
  Niall Frossach (718–78), son of Fergal and king of Tara, belonged to the Uí Néill dynasty of Cenél nÉogain. His father, Fergal (qv) son of Máel-dúin, was slain in 722 and his half-brother Áed Allán (qv) in 743. Both preceded Niall in the kingship of Tara. He had two other half-brothers, Conchobar and Colcu. His mother was Aithechda, daughter of Cian, whose lineage is not recorded. According to a retrospective entry in the Annals of Ulster, Niall was born in 718. He was married to Dúnlaith (d. 799), daughter of the Cenél Conaill king Flaithbertach (qv) son of Loingsech (qv), who was the mother of his son Áed Oirdnide (qv). He also had four other sons by some unrecorded mother (or mothers): Ferchar, Muirchertach, Gormgal (d. 814), and Colmán (slain 815).
  
  There is no evidence to show that he was ever married to Eithne daughter of Bressal Breg, who is styled ‘queen of the kings of Tara’ in her obit at 768.
  
  A range of sources purport to explain Niall's sobriquet Frossach (showery), with claims that at his birth showers of wheat and/or silver fell on the fortifications of the Uí Néill, while a shower of honey (or blood) fell on the ramparts of the Laigin. Such traditions probably reflect memories of his reign as a time of prosperity, or of recovery from famine. Other stories represent Niall as peaceful in character and with religious inclinations, in sharp contrast to his warlike brother Áed Allán. He is also the subject of a poem by Gilla Mo-Dutu Ua Casaide (qv), preserved in the Book of Ballymote.
  
  Niall may well have controlled Cenél nÉogain from 743, when Áed Allán was slain. His dominance of the Uí Néill of the north was recognised four years later, following the death of the Cenél Conaill dynast Áed Muinderg son of Flaithbertach. It seems that Niall posed a threat to the powerful Clann Cholmáin king of Tara, Domnall Midi (qv); in 756 the latter led a hosting against him to Mag Muirtheimne in Co. Louth, but without conclusive results. For his part, Niall was not in a position to assert his claims to the kingship of Tara till 763, when Domnall died. Although he achieved no significant military victories, Niall did exact tributes from Connacht, Munster, and Leinster. By the end of the decade, however, his position was being undermined with the rise of Donnchad Midi (qv) son of Domnall. Whether Niall's reign came to an effective end in 770 (the regnal lists credit him with only seven years as king of Tara) or two years later, when Donnchad hosted into Tír nÉogain, is not clear, but he was forced to abdicate and died in religious retirement on Iona in 778.
  
  It appears that Cenél nÉogain fortunes declined in the later years of Niall's reign, facilitating a temporary revival of Cenél Conaill power. His nephew Máel-dúin, who had followed him as ruler of Cenél nÉogain, eventually managed to assert his claims as king of Ailech; in 788 Niall's son Áed Oirdnide succeeded to that dignity and later became king of Tara; his other sons, including Gormgal (d. 814), were ancestors of relatively unimportant lines.
  
  === Ard-Ri, 763-770. Died a monk at Iona. ===
  Ard-Ri, 763-770. Died a monk at Iona.
  
  === THE PLANTAGENET ANCESTRY (GS NUMBER Q940 ===
  THE PLANTAGENET ANCESTRY (GS NUMBER Q940 D2T) P.86;
  
  === Nial The Second surnamed Frossagh or the ===
  Nial The Second surnamed Frossagh or the Showery, King of Ardrigh and
  Ardrigh.
  
  === My Lines #14414 ===
  My Lines #14414
  
  === 162nd Monarch of Ireland. Ruled 763 - 7 ===
  162nd Monarch of Ireland. Ruled 763 - 770, abdicated.
  
  === Niall (715-778), king of Ireland, surnam ===
  Niall (715-778), king of Ireland, surnamed Frassach, born in 715, was son of Ferghal mac Maelduin, king of Ireland, (711-22), and younger brother of Aodh Ollan, king of Ireland (734-43), was directly descended from Muircheartach (d 533) and from Niall (d 405). He became king of Ireland on the death of Domhnall mac Murchadha in 763. Niall's reign was a period of famine and pestilence; he fought no great battles, but exacted tributes from Connaught, Munster, and Leinster. In 770 he resigned his throne and entered the religious community of Icolmcille, where he died in 778 and was buried. There is a copy of a poem of four lines on his reign by Gilla Modubhda in the 'Book of Ballymote,' a fifteenth-century manuscript, another poem of twelve lines in the 'Annals of Ulster,' and a shorter one in the 'Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland.' The two last refer only to his cognomen, Frassach. Fras is the Irish for a shower, and frassach or frossach means 'of showers,' and is translated 'nimbosus' by O'Flaherty. The 'Annals of Ulster' explain the work by a story of the king with seven bishops praying in a season of famine and drought for rain, and three showers of silver, of honey, and of wheat following, but the 'Book of Ballymote' says 'tri frassa le gein,' three showers at his birth. The translation of the 'Annals of Clonmacnois' gives another version of the tale, and the 'Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland' a fourth. The lateness of this fable is shown by the mention of money, which was not in general use in Ireland in the eighth century, but it is perhaps worth note that a deep snow of three months duration is mentioned in the annals as occurring in the first year of his reign.
  
  He married Ethne, daughter of Breasal Breagh; she died in 768, leaving a son Aedh Oirnidhe, who became king of Ireland in 798, and whose son Niall (791-845) succeeded him. [Dictionary of National Biography XIV:407-408]
  
  ________________________________
  
  U718.7
  
  A shower of honey rained upon Othan Bec, a shower of blood upon the foss of Laigin, Hence Niall Frosach who was born at that time, is so named. [Annals of Ulster p173]
  
  U764.15
  
  Three showers fell in Crich Muiredaig in Inis Eogain, i.e. a shower of pure silver, a shower of wheat, and a shower of honey.
  
  The three showers of Ard Uilinne
  Fell from heaven for love of Niall:
  A shower of silver, a shower of wheat,
  And a shower of honey.
  Fergal's manly son
  Was dubbed for this among warriors:
  Since everyone came to follow them
  Niall of the Showers is his name.
  A hundred hostages from each province
  Was what Niall exacted,
  Daring was the noble pledge he gave
  To exact them three times.
  [Annals of Ulster p219]
  
  === Book of McKee states, pg 405, that Niall ===
  Book of McKee states, pg 405, that Niall abdicated the throne after serving as king for 7 years from 763-770 and went to Iona and took orders in the monastery of Saint Columb Cille in Scotland in 770. His remains were interred there in 778 http://www.geocities.com/craigs_kahunas/report_duncan.htm Niall Mor Noighiallach 126th Monarch of Ireland states Niall was 162nd Monarch of Ireland, was called "frassach" from certain miraculous showers that fell in his time (a shower of honey, a shower of money, a shower of blood); married Bridget, dau. of Orca; and, after seven years' reign, retired to St Columb's Monastery at Hye, In Scotland, A.D. 765, where he died 773.
  
  NIALL Frossach Frasach MacFergal ONeill Monarch Ireland was born in 719 in Ireland, the child of Fergal Mael Duin MacMaele Fithrich of Northern. He died in 778 in Scotland, at the age of 59.
  
  === Abdicated 770, and retired as a monk ===
  Abdicated 770, and retired as a monk
  
  === ancestral line of the current chief of Clan Maclaclan ===
  Prince of Ulster 706 - 709 AD 156th High King of Ireland 709-718 Killed in Battle
  
  !INFO: The current chief of Clan Maclachlan is Euan John Maclachlan of Maclachlan, Chief of
  Clan Maclachlan, 25th of Maclachlan and Baron of Strathlachlan.[21] The chief's seat is
  new Castle Lachlan.[28]]

• m. 768

1. Aed Oirdnide MacNiall King Of Ireland, b. 750 in Ulster, Ireland     d. 819 in Battle of Fearta, Magh Conaille, County Meath, Ireland

1. Title: Wikipedia - Niall Frossach mac Fergal
   Author: References[edit] Annals of Ulster at [1] at University College Cork Annals of Tigernach at [2] at University College Cork Byrne, Francis John (2001), Irish Kings and High-Kings, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 978-1-85182-196-9 Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000), Early Christian Ireland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-36395-0 Mac Niocaill, Gearoid (1972), Ireland before the Vikings, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Frossach;
   Note: Niall Frossach (or Niall mac Fergaile) (718–778) was an 8th-century Irish king of Ailech, sometimes considered to have been High King of Ireland. Brother of high king Áed Allán (died 743), Niall was the son of high king Fergal mac Máele Dúin (died 722) and a member of the Cenél nEógain, a branch of the Northern Uí Néill.[1] The epithet Frossach (showery) is said to come from showers of silver, honey and wheat which fell on his home at Fahan in Inishowen at his birth.[2] Upon the death of his brother he became King of Ailech. He ruled as King of Ailech from 743 to 770. However the new high king Domnall Midi (died 763) of the Clann Cholmáin branch of the southern Ui Neill appointed Áed Muinderg (died 747) of the rival Cenél Conaill as his representative in the North (Rí in Tuaiscert). In 756 conflict with Domnall broke out and Domnall led a force of Laigin with him as far as Mag Muirtheimne in modern County Louth.[3] This region had been recently brought under overlordship by Niall's brother Áed Allán in 735. Niall followed Domnall Midi as High King in 763.[4] His reign was considered notably peaceful. The law of Saint Patrick was again proclaimed in force in 767.[5] The Clann Cholmáin high kings had supported the Law of Columba of Iona. Domnall Midi's son Donnchad Midi (died 797) began to claim the throne of Tara in 770 when he campaigned against Leinster. Donnchad led a hosting to the north in 771 and 772.[6] It is presumed that Niall abdicated sometime between 772 and 777 though possibly as early as 770.[7] He died on Iona in 778.[8] He was followed as King of Ailech by his nephew, Máel Dúin mac Áedo Alláin (died 788) son of Áed Allán. The Kingship of Tara and supposed High Kingship passed back to Clann Cholmáin in the person of Donnchad Midi. Niall married Dunlaith ingen Flaithbertaich (died 798) of the Cenél Conaill, daughter of the high king Flaithbertach mac Loingsig (died 765) and their son Áed Oirdnide (died 819) was a high king. His judgements are referenced in a poem by Tuileagna Ó Maoil Chonaire, Labhram ar iongnaibh Éireann, written some eight hundred years later.
   
2. Title: Dictionary of Irish Biography
   Author: Sources AU; Ann. Inisf.; AFM; Ann. Clon.; Frag. Ann.; Bk Leinster, i, 97; vi, 1485; O'Brien, Corpus geneal. Hib., 134; M. C. Dobbs, ‘The Ban-Shenchus’, Rev. Celt., xlviii (1931), 186, 224; Keating, Forus feasa, ii, 79–80; DNB; Byrne, Ir. kings, 156–7; NHI, ix, 127, 128; B. Jaski, ‘Additional notes to the Annals of Ulster’, Ériu, xlviii (1997), 121; A. Mac Shamhráin, ‘The making of Tír nÉogain: Cenél nÉogain and the Airgialla sixth to eleventh centuries’, C. Dillon and H. A. Jefferies (ed.), Tyrone: history and society (2000), 70, 71, 74–5; K. Murray, Baile in Scáil (2004), §45; Charles-Edwards, Early Christ. Ire., 573, 576, 577; ODNB
   Note: Niall Frossach (718–78), son of Fergal and king of Tara, belonged to the Uí Néill dynasty of Cenél nÉogain. His father, Fergal (qv) son of Máel-dúin, was slain in 722 and his half-brother Áed Allán (qv) in 743. Both preceded Niall in the kingship of Tara. He had two other half-brothers, Conchobar and Colcu. His mother was Aithechda, daughter of Cian, whose lineage is not recorded. According to a retrospective entry in the Annals of Ulster, Niall was born in 718. He was married to Dúnlaith (d. 799), daughter of the Cenél Conaill king Flaithbertach (qv) son of Loingsech (qv), who was the mother of his son Áed Oirdnide (qv). He also had four other sons by some unrecorded mother (or mothers): Ferchar, Muirchertach, Gormgal (d. 814), and Colmán (slain 815). There is no evidence to show that he was ever married to Eithne daughter of Bressal Breg, who is styled ‘queen of the kings of Tara’ in her obit at 768. A range of sources purport to explain Niall's sobriquet Frossach (showery), with claims that at his birth showers of wheat and/or silver fell on the fortifications of the Uí Néill, while a shower of honey (or blood) fell on the ramparts of the Laigin. Such traditions probably reflect memories of his reign as a time of prosperity, or of recovery from famine. Other stories represent Niall as peaceful in character and with religious inclinations, in sharp contrast to his warlike brother Áed Allán. He is also the subject of a poem by Gilla Mo-Dutu Ua Casaide (qv), preserved in the Book of Ballymote. Niall may well have controlled Cenél nÉogain from 743, when Áed Allán was slain. His dominance of the Uí Néill of the north was recognised four years later, following the death of the Cenél Conaill dynast Áed Muinderg son of Flaithbertach. It seems that Niall posed a threat to the powerful Clann Cholmáin king of Tara, Domnall Midi (qv); in 756 the latter led a hosting against him to Mag Muirtheimne in Co. Louth, but without conclusive results. For his part, Niall was not in a position to assert his claims to the kingship of Tara till 763, when Domnall died. Although he achieved no significant military victories, Niall did exact tributes from Connacht, Munster, and Leinster. By the end of the decade, however, his position was being undermined with the rise of Donnchad Midi (qv) son of Domnall. Whether Niall's reign came to an effective end in 770 (the regnal lists credit him with only seven years as king of Tara) or two years later, when Donnchad hosted into Tír nÉogain, is not clear, but he was forced to abdicate and died in religious retirement on Iona in 778. It appears that Cenél nÉogain fortunes declined in the later years of Niall's reign, facilitating a temporary revival of Cenél Conaill power. His nephew Máel-dúin, who had followed him as ruler of Cenél nÉogain, eventually managed to assert his claims as king of Ailech; in 788 Niall's son Áed Oirdnide succeeded to that dignity and later became king of Tara; his other sons, including Gormgal (d. 814), were ancestors of relatively unimportant lines. Contributed by Mac Shamhráin, Ailbhe