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Niall ''Noígíallach'' ((:ˈniːəl noɪˈɣiːələx), Old Irish "having nine hostages"),〔''noí'', nine; ''gíall'', a human pledge or hostage; the possessive suffix ''-ach'' (''Dictionary of the Irish Language'', Compact Edition, 1990, pp. 360, 479–480; Rudolf Thurneysen, ''A Grammar of Old Irish'', 1946, p. 220). Also spelled ''Noí nGiallach'', ''Naígiallach'', ''Naoighiallach'' etc〕 or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a prehistoric Irish king, the ancestor of the Uí Néill family that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th century. The rise of the Uí Néill dynasties and their conquests in Ulster and Leinster are not reliably recorded and have been the subject of considerable study and attempts to reconstruct them. Irish annalistic and chronicle sources place his reign in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, although modern scholars, through critical study of the annals, date him about half a century later. He is presumed to have been a real person, but most of the information about him that has come down to us is legendary. ==Historicity and dates== Niall is presumed, on the basis of the importance of his sons and grandsons, to have been a historical person,〔Francis J. Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High-Kings'', Second Edition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001, ISBN 9781851821969〕 but the early Irish annals say little about him. The ''Annals of Inisfallen'' date his death before 382, and the ''Chronicon Scotorum'' to 411.〔Kathleen Hughes, "The church in Irish society, 400-800, in Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (ed.), ''A New History of Ireland Vol I: Prehistoric and Early Ireland'', Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 306-308〕 The later ''Annals of the Four Masters'' dates his reign to 379-405,〔''Annals of the Four Masters'' (M378-405 )〕 and the chronology of Geoffrey Keating's ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' to 368–395.〔Geoffrey Keating, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' (1.48 ), (1.49 ), (1.50 ), (51 ), (52 )〕 However, the early annals record the activities of his sons between 429 and 516, an implausibly long time-span for a single generation, leading scholars like Kathleen Hughes〔 and Francis J. Byrne〔 to conclude that the events of the later half of the 5th century have been extended backwards to accommodate as early a date as possible for the arrival of Saint Patrick, with the effect of pushing Niall back up to half a century. Hughes says "Niall himself must have died not before the middle of the fifth century".〔 Byrne, following James Carney, is a little more precise, dating his death to c. 452.〔 T. F. O'Rahilly argues that Niall and his sons were responsible for the breakup of the ancient kingdom of Ulster and the creation of the kingdoms of Tír Chonaill and Tír Eógan, and the satellite kingdom of the Airgíalla.〔T. F. O'Rahilly, ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946〕 O'Rahilly and Byrne argue that the literary sources, though late and garbled, preserve genuine traditions that Niall led raids on Britain, and perhaps died on one.〔〔 Niall is placed in the traditional list of High Kings of Ireland. However, the traditional roll of kings and its chronology is now recognised as artificial. The High Kingship did not become a reality until the 9th century, and Niall's status has been inflated in line with the political importance of the dynasty he founded.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Niall of the Nine Hostages」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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