Your Irish Ancestry O’Neill 1992 VHS

The O’Neill dynasty (Irish: Ó Néill) are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically one of the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O’Donnell dynasty. Some O’Neills state that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.

Two of their progenitors were High Kings of Ireland: Niall Glúndub (from whom they take their name) and Domnall ua Néill. From 1232 until 1616, the O’Neills were sovereign kings of Tír Eógain, holding territories in the north of Ireland in the province of Ulster, particularly around modern County Tyrone, County Londonderry and County Antrim, in what is now Northern Ireland. After their territory was merged with the Kingdom of Ireland and the land was caught up in the Plantation of Ulster, they were involved in a number of events, such as Tyrone’s Rebellion, the Flight of the Earls, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Irish Confederate Wars.

[Music] [Music] O’Neal is an old name a very old name but nothing in Ireland except maybe the land itself is as old as newrange this ancient tomb was over 3,000 years old at the birth of Christ so for over 5,000 years it saw the arrivals of the varied peoples that came to our Shores and sadly too it witnessed the departure of millions of Irish men and women who left us and today are scattered all over the world so let us go then you and I on an Irish Journey an hour’s Journey Only but endless in the imagination a journey right through this beautiful country of ours along the coasts and into the very lands and territories of your own Irish ancestors these are the Majestic Cliffs of MOA they stand defant holding back the Relentless waves below the broad Atlantic stretches all the way 3,000 Mi Beyond to the new world when you stand on these Cliffs you stand on the edge of Ireland you stand on the edge of Europe Inland from here lies the fair land of Aon Ireland the home of your ancestors this is the story of your great O’Neal Heritage we will trace your name from its earliest Celtic Origins following its journey across the green and varied landscape of Ireland charting the changing fortunes of your Royal and Noble family through ancient castles and aging ruins we will ReDiscover the stories of the O’Neal from their days as mighty chieftans as High Kings and as courageous Rebels we will discover too how your name has changed over the centuries and how your ancestors carried it and its Traditions with them across the seas to the new worlds as we hear these story Stories We Will discover the spirit the essence of the O’Neal Heritage a Spirit of Courage Independence and resolve which has seen the name survive for nearly a thousand [Music] years Irish surnames which began a thousand years ago developed in a number of ways if a family took their father’s name they became known as Ma like McCarthy because Mac means the son of but if they were called after a more remote ancestor they use the O which means descended from as in say O’Brien meanwhile the Normans often used Fitz instead of o or Mac as in Fitzgerald son of Gerald or you could be called after the job you did as in Smith or the place you came from as in Welsh from Wales [Music] [Applause] for the 60 million people throughout the world who share an Irish ancestry St Patrick’s Day is a time for them to come together to celebrate and rejoice in their Irish identity although your own family may have left these Shores and settled in new lands it is still possible to trace your ancestors back to their original homelands Tom Linder one of Ireland’s leading authorities on genealogy has some useful advice well it’s very important that if someone’s interested in doing your genealogy that you get all your background information in your home country first uh don’t just try to jump straight over to Ireland um the first thing is that you get a person that you know the most about from Ireland be an ancestor um their name a date to put them in history be a birth date marriage date or death date and then a locality as as narrow narrow that down as much as possible be it a county or a townland but make sure you have the information together to begin with and then um make the next step over to do research in Ireland once you have located an ancestor and have some idea of where they originally came from in Ireland the records which will allow you to trace your family history are by and large available to you the first place to go to is the National Archives at the Four Courts in Dublin documents kept here such as Griffith’s land valuations of the 19th century and the tie the plot books are invaluable in the search for your ancestors if if we take the case of a particular individual we can illustrate exactly how these documents can help you let’s look for example at the case of James O’Neal we know that James left Ireland in the 1890s for America where he eventually married we also know that the name O’Neal at that time had spread from its ster homelands throughout every County in Ireland but particularly in the north and Northeastern counties at the for courts we search Griffith’s valuations and found James’s family in forart Parish County Lou once we had located James and for we discovered in the Fett Roman Catholic Church that James had been baptized on the 15th of November 1879 the son of James O’Neal and Anne dowall of Carrick Edmund with this knowledge it is possible to trace the history of James’s family so you see all you need is the basic details about an ancestor and the Quest for information on your family Roots can begin [Music] the search for your ancestors is becoming easier all the time thanks to a recent initiative called the Irish geneological project this is the ca Heritage Center in corofin the center is at the very heart of a new and exciting development the official surviving records related to family history and genealogy are being collected throughout the county they’re being brought here and then put on computer but corin’s not alone in this many other Heritage centers have opened up all over Ireland so that no matter where your family comes from you should now be able to get an accurate record of your family history it is possible to trace your ancestors even further back beyond your immediate family but let’s start at the beginning and take a look at the history the culture and the country which shaped your forefathers on the Aon islands off the west coast of Ireland stands the prehistoric Fort of dun Angus enigmatic poised over the ocean its ancient Builders a mystery even to this day over 7,000 years had passed since the first settlers arrived in Ireland hunting in the young forests they slowly ventured up the river valleys building their dwellings from rough wood and animal hide and forming small communities hidden in the forest 2 and a half th000 years before Christ they had developed a society that was stable enough and Wealthy enough to produce these Majestic dolmans this dolman here is the palner Bron dolman situated in North Clair in the buron country just another part of the wonderment that is ancient iseland they built mysterious Circles of Standing Stones these people we call the FB or the fans and the to the Danon the legendary children of Danna goddess of magic perhaps these early peoples were among your forbears people who would have known the names of those who lie under the Great but older than Paul nebron older even than the pyramids is a passage grave at new Grange and County me built over 5,000 years ago and designed so that on the winter solstice each year at the moment of sunrise a shaft of sunlight penetrates to the very heart of the mound Illuminating the intricate spirals carved in stone new grain was where they pay tribute to their now forgotten gods these people were superb Craftsmen in stone but a new material was sweeping across Europe from Asia Minor the Iron Age came to Ireland and the people who introduced the new material around 500 BC were the Kelts who for almost 2,000 years ruled Ireland as kings the Kels were a major influence on the course of Irish history and instrumental and shaping our unique Irish identity let’s listen to what leading archaeologist Barry raftery of University College Dublin has to say about the Kelts in the narrowest sense the term Celtic refers to a language but it is entirely appropriate to use the term in a broad cultural context the earliest reference to the term kelt was made by the Greeks about the 6th Century BC they just referred to a specific cultural grouping in Europe as kelto we do not of course know whether the Kelts themselves use that phrase to describe themselves now in archaeological terms the Celtic culture begins about 700 BC in Europe continues until it was destroyed by the Romans round about the birth of Christ and archaeologists have divided this culture into two broad phases named after two major fine spots in Europe an earlier phase which is called the halat culture and a later phase which is called the laen culture this is the Latin cults who are best exemplified in the archaeological record there are very serious problems of archaeological interpretation but what we can say is that the earliest indications of contact with the Celtic culture abroad appears in Ireland around about 600 BC when there are some indications of halap presence in the country we have some halap material but it’s not very substantial around about 300 BC there’s a greater body of archaological material in the country which we can certainly equate with the Celtic groups in many ways it displays native Irish idiosyncracies which set it apart from the uh material in the Latin areas outside the country we have a vast body of Celtic literature surviving in the country we have the Epic cycle the olster cycle we have the F we have a whole range of Mythology we have a superb collection of early Irish nature poetry and other poetry but probably the principal Legacy of the Celtic the most enduring is our Celtic personality we certainly have a distinctive personality a warmth a friendliness uh the classical commentators describ the belligerent character of the Cs perhaps we have inherited that too to a certain extent but we certainly have a distinctive Celtic personality which sets us apart from all other European [Music] cultures a small island on the edge of Europe the island of your ancestors was divided up between a number of major Celtic Clans in the south in what is now monster were the O and the dkash in kuk to the West were the ebrin in the province of lener were the ehin and to the North in ster were the enale these clans were in time joined by the great Viking and Norman families the O’Neal are direct descendants of the powerful enil Clan the most Royal of the ancient Celtic families I am standing in All That Remains of T hog for in the county of terrone it was here that for centuries the chiefs of the O’Neal Clan were inaugurated standing as I am in the rich rolling pasture lands of count terrone I can tell you that I’m at the very heart and center of power of your great indeed your Royal O’Neal [Music] Clan the kingdom of the OWN NE grew into what are now the counties of terone Derry and danol from a branch of the enale known as the kinol O there came a great Chieftain called Neil GL Neil which means mighty warrior was a powerful King Of irand Who was slain in battle with the Vikings in 1919 two generations later his grandson Donal to honor his heroic ancestor took the name Donal onal or Donal the descendant of the mighty warrior the first to Bear the great name of O’Neal from that day to this the beautiful land of the county terone has always been at the heart of the O’Neal story situated in the heart of oler terone is a green gentle and softly rolling County a land steeped in history and rich in Scenic variety sometimes mysterious but always welcoming land the oal name has of course spread to different areas of the country like today you will find O’Neal in every County in Ireland with the highest concentrations in the counties of CLA Derry and but like most Irish families with strong roots associated with one place the O’Neal are still to be found in greatest numbers in the homeland of their ancestors [Music] hurling Ireland’s national sport is reminiscent of the time when the Great clans of Ireland battled for land power and the high kingship it was the strength of Christianity that forged the first real bonds of unity in Ireland for the Irish took very well to Christianity so well indeed that in a very short time her monks had established some of the most important ecclesiastical centers in the Christian World here in Glend delock in County Wicklow I always think the sense of Ireland’s Christian past is particularly strong there had been small settlements of monks scattered along the Irish Coast for some time but it took St Patrick to bring together the old religion of the Kelts and the new Christianity this new Irish Christianity turned out to be a powerful crusading force with the collapse of the Roman Empire Europe was once more plunged Into the Dark Ages and strangely enough that’s what gave us I think our first immigrants the young Irish monks who left their Irish monasteries and brought the flame of Christianity back into that Pagan continent at home in Ireland the monks built the unique round Towers originally as bell towers and then later used them for keeping safe their priceless chales and manuscripts in their work rooms the monks Channel their passionate Celtic sensitivity into glowing color and intricate artwork and certainly the greatest and most beautiful of the manuscripts is the book of Kels now in the library of Trinity College [Music] Dublin the work of the monasteries however was to be disturbed by the arrival of the Vikings for 200 years they came as pirates to plunder gold from the great Irish monasteries however in 10:14 there were finally defeated in battle by the high king of Ireland Brian baru after which they became fully integrated into Irish Society the Vikings built Ireland’s first towns and cities including Dublin Wexford Cork and limmerick and their commercial ability is reflected today in Dublin’s famous Mo Street Market [Music] the Vikings left an indelible impression on the Irish with their demise as a great power coupled with the death of BR baru meant in fact that the high kingship of Ireland was up for grabs What followed was almost a century of political instability and unrest in which the greater Irish families fought amongst themselves for the tit of High King of Ireland it was an eventful Century for the O’Neal Clan you see they considered themselves to be the rightful successors to the throne of the high kingship of Island and the death of Brian baru started a vicious struggle between them and the ERS and indeed the O’Brien and there was much turmoil as these Mighty Clans fought it out for sheer power but 100 Years of Shifting allegiances and bitter infighting left not only your ancestors but the country as a whole unprepared for the next wave of newcomers to disembark on Irish soil the Normans led by the great warrior Strongbow arrived in 1169 heavily protected by the coats of male they moved like mod tanks through the Irish Countryside they had arrived as mercenaries at the request of the deposed king of ler but a combination of their military might and an attraction to the land of your ancestors induced them to make a more permanent foothold at the time of the Norman arrival your ancestors were led by Hugh O’Neal who was Lord of terrone from 1197 until 12:30 O’Neal proved more than a match for the Normans at a major battle in Lan in 1198 Hugh put a stop to the Norman conquest of oler despite the presence of the Norman threat however feuding between the neighboring Irish families continued in 121 morto O’Neil was involved in a feud with Manus oan MTO beat Manus to death in a bloody sword fight despite this though the Normans were still held at Bay the arrival of the Normans made not the slightest difference to the fortunes of the mighty O’Neal Clan even though the Normans threw up mighty castles like this mag nificent Castle here at car Fergus it made not a wit of difference to the O’Neal because at that time the land around here was deeply wooded and the o’neals were more than a match for any Norman who tried to penetrate AC cross the lands of the mighty O’Neal clam following his victories in battle Str Strongbow took the hand of the king of linder’s daughter Eva in marriage and less than two years later he had taken the crown for himself Stony towers are not always protective for here in Waterford at Reginald’s Tower the marriage of strongo and Eva started a trend that would eventually undermine Norman influence in Ireland you see within a century the Normans and the Irish intermarried and the Normans adopted the Irish language and culture to a degree that made the English king John declare the Normans are more Irish than the Irish themselves following a disagreement over land boundaries in 128 a Savage battle was fought with the neighboring O’Donald’s of Dore casualties were heavy on both sides and Hugh’s power was greatly weakened 3 years later however after this vicious battle the combined Army of O’Neal and odonals declared open Warfare on the Normans they first destroyed the castle of clonus and then the Norman stronghold at KCK Fergus was burned To The Ground by 1221 Hugh’s Army had taken corain they had also ra in Dublin and even confronted the OK conas and conut the campaign came to an end when Hugh died in [Music] 1230 the O’Neal were among the last of the Irish Clans to accept the presence of the Normans in Ireland notwithstanding the many intermarriages that took place between them and even though they recognized them in marriage and indeed learned many of their castle building techniques from the Normans nevertheless they upheld a strict observance of their own borders and their own absolute sovereignty within them from Shane Castle here which is owned by the present Lord O’Neal they held onto their properties and maintained their ancient claim to the kingship of Ireland the death of H O’Neal saw the end of the O’Neal and Odon s in 1397 nyoni LED an army into danal and laid the odonnal Homeland to waste here at bonti Castle the vibrant atmosphere of that period can be experienced in a banquet that is Faithfully recreated using historical records from the [Applause] time my Noble Lords and Ladies my Noble guests the entry of your Host this evening the Earl of Thurman Mr Joe Lynch food and drink of the old style music and song this is how your ancestors entertain their friend this Castle now awaits its ancient Glory stirred the clink of mail and laughter fills its holes and we inherit all its chivalry bonatti be you welcome a toast to all you he slide is let the banquet [Applause] [Applause] Begin by the 15th century the O’Neal had become so numerous that they had separated out into several different and occasionally opposing families the most significant of which would have been the O’Neal of terone and the O’Neal of canabo such was the royalty and power of this great family its Chiefs are welcome at the courts of the great European Kings and were both respected and feared by the rulers of England but at the height of their power they were torn apart by internal [Music] feuding in 1474 a great conflict arose in ster the O’Neal chief of terrone LED an army into St go the reasons are unclear but the intention was vicious the records say that O’Neal’s Army swept through the odonnal lands robbing raping and pillaging vast areas of land were laid waste before O’Neal withdrew with his spoils on his return Journey O’Neal turned northwards and attacked the lands of his cousins the O’Neal of Clon boy they too received no mercy as he marched home he was again to a surprise confronted by an army of odonald blocking the road in front of him he turned to check the rear and saw an army of the O’Neal of Clon boy marching quickly towards him driven by anger and revenge O’Neal of terone realizing that his men were in no condition to deal with the pitch battle nonetheless somehow managed to lead his men home to [Music] safety during the 1500s the power of the Celtic Chieftains began to wne under sustained military pressure from the forces of the English crown this in turn led to a series of rebellions the last great Celtic Revolt ended here at canale in 1601 it had been led by the mighty Hugh O’Neil of terrone in the year 16009 O’Neal and many of the other Irish Chieftains left our Shores this was called the Flight of the ears it heralded the end of the old Celtic ways now it was a new Ireland New Kings new centers of power the Flight of the ARs is a testament to the concept of Ireland as an independent nation the Celtic aristocracy choosing Exile rather than submission to consolidate their power in Ireland the new ruler sent out Clarks to record the names of Ireland unable to speak the Irish language these Clarks did not attempt to properly translate the indigenous names but rather made approximate and phonetic translations as you travel through Ireland today you will notice how the sign posts carry evidence of that name-changing process which began so long ago for example B unor meaning the town of the Murphy’s became B Murphy Kel simply became Castle Connell [Music] [Music] the essential Irish culture however remains strong and vibrant and despite continued assault it has remain so to this day [Applause] the Irish have always been proud of their Heritage and culture and nowhere is this more evident than in the art of heraldry and here to tell you more about that is the former Chief Herald of Ireland gered Slevin um Herald had its origin in the fact that the night in medieval times going into Warfare uh was completely encased in armor including his head so there was no means of knowing who he was so it became the practice to paint on his shield certain emblems or signs or symbols as a means of identification uh hery has always had an extraordinary Fascination for people whatever it is about the shield shape and its contents and in due course uh this personal practice spread to cities universities institutions and is still still very active the primary purpose as I have suggested was identification and I suppose that is still the essential purpose of hery is personal or institutional identification your coat of arms is a window to your heritage each part is full of stories and secrets The Shield displays two red lions in the competent position placed against a silver background the Lions represent great strength and deathless courage between them they support a hand neatly severed at the wrist Legend has it that when the first Celtic settlers were in sight of the ster Coastline they declared that the first person to touch land would rule that portion of land one of those Kelts Neil by name drew his sword sliced through his wrist and threw the sep hand ashore thus winning for himself and his Descendants the land of ster the three at are stars imply is God’s goodness and Grace bestowed upon the family the crest which is placed above the shield shows an ARM Holding in its hand a sword the arm betokens industry and hard work and the sword is the true emblem of military honor and Justice the motto in this case is in Irish and refers to the days of their first arrival on Irish soil it reads l darug aen meaning the red hand of Ireland many Irish people certainly are entitled to you are yes the the registers of the office of arms the genealogical office as it is now the office of the chief heral has registers going back many centuries the 17th century saw England convulsed by two civil wars in which Ireland inevitably became involved the second war was actually fought entirely on Irish soil between 1688 and 1691 and led to disaster consequences for the [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Irish 1691 saw the ending of the williamite wars with the signing of the Treaty of limr signed on this very Stone the wars have fought between two kings William of Orange and James II both of whom laid claim to the throne of England in the event Victory went to King William for the Irish who supported James II Exiles seemed to be the only honorable option known to history as the wild geese these honorable Soldiers of Fortune sailed from limmerick to Europe bringing with them the surnames of Ireland the loss of the great Hil saw deine in the fortunes of the O’Neal Clan exhausted as they were when their struggles with Queen Elizabeth the there were no for the armies of Cromwell and when the williamite war started many O’Neal fought on the side of King James so that when the wild Gees left limeri many O’Neal sailed along with them they served on Far Foreign Fields from dunk to Belgrade they sered with distinction in the armies of Austria of Spain and of France of course many o’neals went to the new world Sile O’Neal of Shane Castle raised a regiment of drons which he led into the battle of the bo the colleage of the drons was acknowledged by all but Sile was mortally wounded and following the Treaty of liick many O’Neal found success in Europe they were among the outstanding officers of the Irish brigades who fought with the armies of France [Music] from the days of the early Christian missionaries to the present day immigration has been an integral part of the history of the Irish people from this small nation millions of Irish people have traveled the world over to Europe Asia the Americas Africa and austral Asia although many left in search of Adventure or to find their fortunes many others didn’t have the choice in the aftermath of the wild geese which had seen the best and brightest of their day depart Ireland was to undergo many changes the most dramatic of which was the massive transfer of land ownership as the land changed so too the the politics in 18001 the Irish parliament in Dublin was dissolved and as the last vestages of power dwindled so too the the wealth of the country and the land sank into poverty in 1845 a blight arrived the potato the staple diet of the Irish people was totally destroyed so began the great Irish famine and so too began the greatest migration of the Irish people plentiful supplies of food stuffs were exported to Britain while the Irish people were faced with immigration in order to survive a letter written in 1847 captures the sense of Devastation it is early morning as I write this last note before departing we now join a huge Army forced to leave their native land the heavy morning m is a fitting curtain for the final scene the climax of all our strivings against impossible odds I cannot help but glance back through the pages of our history to the years when Ireland was a beacon of learning and Faith whose light spread to all parts of Europe God grant that those days of Glory May someday return Irish people immigrated in their hundreds of thousands they set sail from Cove Liverpool and Bel fast cramped together on overcrowded ships riped with hunger and disease they arrived in Montreal New York and Boston in Australia famine refugees followed those who had been transported there as convicts many of these convicts had been expelled from their home country on charges such as stealing bread others for belonging to revolutionary organizations despite their impoverished Beginnings the contribution made by those immigrants to their new countries was enormous in the building of the modern world from the late 17th century right up to the present day the Irish have played a vital part in whatever Society or culture they have settled in today people of Irish descent number in excess of 70 million worldwide in the anals of Irish history the name O’Neal has always held a distinguished place a great successful 19 Century playright John O’Neal the brilliant Irish American playright Eugene O’Neal and of course Eugene’s father the great stage actor James O’Neal the list of distinguished o’neals is constantly growing [Music] [Music] many years have passed since donel grandson of the great Celtic King Nile GL first took the illustrious name of O’Neal as an O’Neal when you come to irland there are many places of course you will want to visit but above all you must come here to ster to the beautiful mountains of mourn because here is truly the gateway to your illustrious O’Neal Heritage from the earliest days of Irish history the great name of O’Neal has been at the Forefront of Irish life those O’Neal who chose Exile and immigration rather than defeat brought their traditions of courage and wisdom to their new homes across the world the name O’Neal is still born with pride [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 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