The Uí Briúin Aí Problem Revisited
Posted: Thu, 2021-Dec-23 1:56 pm
Today's update to the public FTDNA Y-Haplotree raises the issue of the origin of the Uí Briúin Aí once again. As noted, R1b-A259 is more and more showing evidence of consisting of only TWO clades: R1b-Y166841 and R1b-A260.
This split is in direct contradiction to the genealogy of the 3 sons of Fergus: Dau Tengae Umae, Fergnóe, and Eóchád Tírmchárna. However, there is growing evidence that the Uí Briúin Aí were never descended from Eóchád Tírmchárna, whose descendants MAY be the R1b-FGC5939 direct subclade of R1b-A260, that we have been calling the Uí Briúin Seóla Vassals Plus clade. IF this is indeed the case, the most likely progenitor for the Uí Briúin Aí is Eógan Sríab's poorly documented second son, Cruitine. If R1b-FGC5939 is indeed the clade for the descendants of Eóchád Tírmchárna, it would explain some of the more puzzling annals entries where Eóchád Tírmchárna's descendants were gifting properties to the church around and living in Mag Seóla up to the mid to late 700s AD.
This is purely speculative and a whole lot more data and research are needed, but this is one plausible explanation for the discrepancy between the Y-DNA and the traditional records. It does not explain how the Uí Briúin Aí Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail became attributed as descendants of Eóchád Tírmchárna; nor does it explain how the Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail, who are both supposed to be descended from Muiredach Muillethan ~650 AD are showing strong evidence of having split much earlier, maybe as early as ~400 AD. So the early Uí Briúin Aí genealogies are very problematic.
There is another possible explanation in some records, Hubert Thomas Knox's The History Of The County Of Mayo To The Close Of The Sixteenth Century p. 382 and Peter O’Connell's List Of Christian Kings Of Connaught as found in James Hardiman's edition of Roderic O’Flaherty's H-Iar Connaught p. 128, and that is that Muiredach Máel, son of Eógan Sríab, had TWO sons: Fergus and Cathal. So the split between the Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail may have occurred after Cathal son of Muiredach Máel and there was conflation between Muiredach Máel and Muiredach Muillethan and Cathal son of Muiredach Máel and Cathal son of Muiredach Muillethan. Again, this is all highly speculative and needs a lot more data and research to find definitive proof.
However, the move of the new R1b-FT385118 clade under R1b-Y166841 does increase the the likelihood that the one Moore gentleman under this clade may indeed be a descendant of the Cland Cathail Ó Maíl Mórda. We still need more data, but that seems to be accruing slowly but steadily. This is a complex and difficult issue but hopefully we will be able to resolve it someday soon.
This split is in direct contradiction to the genealogy of the 3 sons of Fergus: Dau Tengae Umae, Fergnóe, and Eóchád Tírmchárna. However, there is growing evidence that the Uí Briúin Aí were never descended from Eóchád Tírmchárna, whose descendants MAY be the R1b-FGC5939 direct subclade of R1b-A260, that we have been calling the Uí Briúin Seóla Vassals Plus clade. IF this is indeed the case, the most likely progenitor for the Uí Briúin Aí is Eógan Sríab's poorly documented second son, Cruitine. If R1b-FGC5939 is indeed the clade for the descendants of Eóchád Tírmchárna, it would explain some of the more puzzling annals entries where Eóchád Tírmchárna's descendants were gifting properties to the church around and living in Mag Seóla up to the mid to late 700s AD.
This is purely speculative and a whole lot more data and research are needed, but this is one plausible explanation for the discrepancy between the Y-DNA and the traditional records. It does not explain how the Uí Briúin Aí Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail became attributed as descendants of Eóchád Tírmchárna; nor does it explain how the Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail, who are both supposed to be descended from Muiredach Muillethan ~650 AD are showing strong evidence of having split much earlier, maybe as early as ~400 AD. So the early Uí Briúin Aí genealogies are very problematic.
There is another possible explanation in some records, Hubert Thomas Knox's The History Of The County Of Mayo To The Close Of The Sixteenth Century p. 382 and Peter O’Connell's List Of Christian Kings Of Connaught as found in James Hardiman's edition of Roderic O’Flaherty's H-Iar Connaught p. 128, and that is that Muiredach Máel, son of Eógan Sríab, had TWO sons: Fergus and Cathal. So the split between the Síl Muiredaig and Cland Cathail may have occurred after Cathal son of Muiredach Máel and there was conflation between Muiredach Máel and Muiredach Muillethan and Cathal son of Muiredach Máel and Cathal son of Muiredach Muillethan. Again, this is all highly speculative and needs a lot more data and research to find definitive proof.
However, the move of the new R1b-FT385118 clade under R1b-Y166841 does increase the the likelihood that the one Moore gentleman under this clade may indeed be a descendant of the Cland Cathail Ó Maíl Mórda. We still need more data, but that seems to be accruing slowly but steadily. This is a complex and difficult issue but hopefully we will be able to resolve it someday soon.