The O'Neills and McConnells came together in the small town of Newark, Ohio about 1905 when
Albert O'Neill and Jennie McConnell were married. But their families were linked together long
before that event ... more than two thousand years before.
Conn of the Hundred Battles
Conn Cétchathach ("of the Hundred Battles"), son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was, according to medieval
Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland, and the ancestor of the Connachta,
and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties.
The Connachta were a group of dynasties who claimed descent from Conn Cétchathach. Their most
famous members were the five sons of Eochaid Mugmedon: Brion, Ailill Fiachrae, Niall and
Fergus Caech. They took their collective name from their descent from Conn Cetchathach
(Conn of the Hundred Battles). All five were ancestors of new Irish dynasties; those of
Brion and Niall in particular dominated Irish political, religious and cultural life for
the next twelve hundred years and beyond.
Legendary High Kings of Ireland (Finn or Fionn is Irish for "white", "bright" or "fair"):
Eber Finn, 1700 BC (AFM), 1287-1286 BC (FFE)
Cearmna Finn, 1533-1493 BC (AFM), 1155-1115 BC (FFE)
Finn mac Blatha, 952-930 BC (AFM), 725-705 BC (FFE)
Duach Finn, 904-894 BC (AFM), 679-674 BC (FFE)
Ailill Finn, 795-786 BC (AFM), 586-577 BC (FFE)
Fiatach Finn, 36-39 AD (AFM), 25-28 AD (FFE)
Eochu or Eochaid Feidlech ("the enduring"),[1] son of Finn, was, according to medieval Irish
legends and historical traditions, a High King of Ireland. He is best known as the father of
the legendary queen Medb of Connacht.
Lugaid Riab nDerg ("the red-striped"), son of the three findemna, triplet sons of Eochu Feidlech,
was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland.
He was conceived of incest. The night before the three findemna, Bres, Nár and Lothar, made war
for the High Kingship against their father in the Battle of Druimm Criaich, their sister Clothru,
concerned that her brothers could die without heirs, seduced all three of them, and a son, Lugaid,
was conceived.[1] His epithet came from two red stripes around his neck and waist, dividing him
into three: above the neck he resembled Nár; from the neck to the waist he resembled Bres; and
from the waist down he resembled Lothar.[2] Incest features further in Lugaid's story: he slept
with Clothru himself, conceiving Crimthann Nia Náir.
Crimthann Nia Náir (nephew of Nár), son of Lugaid Riab nDerg, was, according to medieval Irish
legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. Lugaid is said to have fathered him on
his own mother, Clothru, daughter of Eochu Feidlech.
Feradach Finnfechtnach ("fair-blessed"),[1] son of Crimthann Nia Náir, was, according to medieval
Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. There is some disagreement in the
sources over his position in the traditional sequence of High Kings.
Fiacha Finnolach,[1] son of Feradach Finnfechtnach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and
historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing his predecessor,
Fíatach Finn. He ruled for fifteen, seventeen, or twenty-seven years, depending on the source
consulted, after which he, and the freemen of Ireland, were killed in an uprising of
aithech-tuatha or "subject peoples", led, according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Annals of
the Four Masters, by Elim mac Conrach, or by Cairbre Cinnchait according to Geoffrey Keating.
His wife Eithne, daughter of the king of Alba (Scotland), who was pregnant, fled home to Alba,
where she gave birth to Fíachu's son, Tuathal Techtmar, who would ultimately return to Ireland
to claim the throne. The Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronises his reign with that of the Roman emperor
Nerva (AD 96-98).[2] The chronology of Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign
to AD 28-55,[3] that of the Annals of the Four Masters to AD 39-56.[4]
Túathal Techtmar ("the legitimate"), son of Fíachu Finnolach, was, according to medieval Irish
legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He was said to have been the ancestor,
through his grandson Conn of the Hundred Battles, of the Uí Néill and Connachta dynasties.
Fedlimid Rechtmar ("the lawful, legitimate" or "the passionate, furious") or Rechtaid ("the judge,
lawgiver")[1] son of Tuathal Techtmar, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical
tradition, a High King of Ireland. His mother was Báine, daughter of Scál. He took power after
killing his predecessor, and his father's killer, Mal mac Rochride.[2] He is said to have
instituted the principle of an eye for an eye into Irish law, after which the behaviour of the
Irish improved.[3] The completion of the road construction around Tara is attributed to him.
He ruled for nine or ten years before dying in his bed, and was succeeded by Cathair Mór.
One of his sons, Conn Cétchathach, would succeed Cathair. Two other sons, Fiacha Suigde,
ancestor of the Dal Fiachrach Suighe, and Eochaid Finn, are named in medieval sources.
The Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronises his reign with that of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
(161-180). The chronology of Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates his reign to 104-113,
that of the Annals of the Four Masters to 110-119.
Conn Cétchathach ("of the Hundred Battles"), son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was, according to medieval
Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland, and the ancestor of the Connachta,
and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties.
[ above from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
Clan Donald is descended from the derbfine of several of the Ard Righ of Eire back to
Conn Ceudcathach (hundred battles) who was Ard Righ of Eire until 125 AD.
Our tie to the derbfine of the High Kings of Ireland may be symbolized by the red hand on the
Macdonald coat of arms once displayed in the Somerled window of Armadale castle (now in the
Museum of the Isles). The Red Hand is the symbol of Ulster Ireland and stems from an ancient
Irish legend of the first Celt to land on the shore of Ireland.
[above from http://www.clandonald-heritage.com]
Depending on how much of the Irish historical record is real or mythical, Both the O'Neills
and the McConnells are descended fron Conn and his predecessors. A Google® search on topics
related to ancient Irish kings and Celtic Peoples yields far more hits than can be read. The Brithish
Isles have history and prehistory going back thousands of years before the Romans.
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The Celts [called Keltoid by ancient Greks] are fair and fair-haired people who migrated westward from the
Caucassus, a mountain range in Eurasia above modern Turkey. They had spread to the Bitish Isles by 300 BC.
The Vikings began invading the British Isles as earl at 790 AD. People were present in Scandinavia since
the Stone Age about 8,000 BC. By 3,000 BC they were invaded by southern tribes. The descendants of these
mixed peoples must be the progenitors of the Nordic peoples and subsequently the Vikings.
A lengthy article by Stepeh Oppenheimer in Prospect Magazine seeks to debunk Celtic origin myths. It can
be read at http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7817. The teaser reads ...
October 2006 | 127 » Special report » Myths of British ancestry
"Everything you know about British and Irish ancestry is wrong. Our ancestors were Basques, not Celts.
The Celts were not wiped out by the Anglo-Saxons, in fact neither had much impact on the genetic stock of
these islands ."
Map left shows origin markers: blue in Antrim, County Down for John McConnell and red in
Kilkenny for Thomas O'Neill and brothers who emigrated.
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Regardless of who they were and from whence they came, they were ancestors of the O'Neills and McConnells who
emigrated from Ireland, separately from disparate locations, in 1850, and ended up living in the same small
Ohio town of Newark.
The map below, adapted from Yahoo! driving maps, inidcates where O'Neill & McConnell direct ancestors lived
in Newark, Ohio from 1860 through 1930. Locations are based on census sheet addresses.
The black square in the lower left area represents the Licking County
courthouse and center of town. The dashed black line running north to south approximates the line
of the Licking River which separates what newspaper stories dub the "East End". The yellow roadway
is modern expressway which did not exist in the time period in question. Back then Hiway 16 was a
route through town on surface streets.
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A |
Thomas & Anna O'Neill lived at 81 N Buena Vista in 1900
shortly after their move from Huron County to Newark.
Albert lived there with them except for his
stint in the Spanish American War of 1898. |
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B |
In 1905 Albert O'Neill married
Jennie McConnell and they set up housekeeping
at 56 North Avenue where they were in 1910 census with son Bernard. |
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C |
By 1920 Albert & Jennie had moved to
194 Elmwood Ave near his brother Frank and sister Mary who lived at 175.
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D |
In 1930 Albert & Jennie had moved to
274 Hudson Avenue where they remained after son Bernard married Florabelle Fundaberg and moved to Detroit.
Hudsin Avenue was Albert's last home. After 1938 Jennie went to Detroit to live with Bernard and Florabelle
until she died there.
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1 |
John & Jane McConnell lived on East Main Street from 1860 from their arrival until deaths. |
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2 |
James McConnell married Mary Byrnes in 1875 and they moved nearby on East Main Street.
Daughter Jennie
was born there in 1876. |
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3 |
James & Mary McConnell and daughter
Jennie lived at 40 Dewey Ave in 1900.
Jennie was living here when she married Albert O'Neill in 1905. |
In a strange little quirk of coincidence, Thomas O'Neill's brother John married a woman named
Mary Byrne who was born in Ireland about 1838. John McConnell's son James married a woman named
Mary Byrnes who was born in Missouri about 1855 and whose father was born in Ireland.
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