As long as I've known my grandfather, he has kept a jug of Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey; bottled for Vincent Michael McWade in co. Offaly. The other night I noticed at the bottom of my own bottle of Tullamore Dew that the bottles are actually made for the Tullamore Dew distillery by Wade Ceramics in England. Distant relatives? A sept of the Mac Uaid family in England? There were (are) some settled in Longford, next to Offaly, of my own family.

"He was the bulwark of valour and prowess, the shield of protection and shelter, the tower of support and defence, and the pillar of the hospitality and achievements of the Oirghialla and of almost all the Irish of his time".

-His bard, O'Hussey

Erc, King of Irish Dalriada, contemporary and nephew of Niall, according to tradition, had been described by the Bards as being of the formerly pagan sacral Ulaidian or Fir-Bolg royal house descended through the semi-legendary “Peace-King” Conchobar Mhór or Conn Cétchathach from ritual incarnations of the Celtic godspirit of the sun; and from his son “Eochu” or “Eochaidh” (the Horseman of the Heavens), equated with a male manifestation of the ancient Belgic goddess-spirit of lightning, Bolg. These references in folklore to the legendary “Tuatha de Danann” and “Fir-Bolg” people are the primary known links between Cineal ua Dhomhnuil and those possibly pre-Celtic Irishmen. These and other sources also show that Erc, who died c.502, was a son of Colla Uais, and establishes the direct royal line from the Dál Cuinn, as well as the name "Cineal Cholla," (The Descendants of Colla).

MUIREDACH "Tireach" who was his father's champion had been away fighting his father's battles when his 3 cousins committed their deadly deed and he now became the Dal Cuinn 122nd King of Tara / Ireland. As he had great compassion he only exiled the 3 Colla brothers banishing them to Alba / Scotland and ruled over Ireland in his own right for the next 30 years. Later on during his rule the 3 Colla brothers returned to Ireland seeking his just decision for what they had done and he forgave them and made them his champions. Later on seeing their numbers growing he advised them to go further north into what is now the lower portion of the Ulster Province and seek out territory there for their own Family. There they founded the Kingdom of Airgialla / Oriel - centered on the territory that is now Co. Monaghan.

According to the tradition of Cineal ua Dhomhnuil, Eochaidh Duibhlein (Eochu), King of Aileach, had married an Alban Princess, Ailech, daughter of an Alban king, perhaps of the Epidii, thus acquiring her property (under the pagan Gaelic tradition of matrilineal succession) and giving the Dál Cuinn interests in Alba. Ailech was probably not the mother of either “Niall Noígiallach” nor of Eochu’s other son “Eochaidh Mugmedón.” An old Irish poem describes the Princess as “a mild, true woman, modest, blooming till the love of the Gael disturbed her, and she passed with him from the midst of Kintyre to the land of Ulaidh.” Their three sons all eventually bore the name of Colla - Colla Uais, Colla Meann and Colla da Crich. The designation Colla was “imposed on them for rebelling” and means a strong man, their original names being Aodh, Muredach and Cairsall.

With Eochu as their father, Niall Noigiallach would have been a half-brother.

Niall Noigiallach was, in my opinion, the most powerful Irish king. He expanded Irish boarders into Mann, Britain, and Gaul; pushing Rome into Provincial Gaul before dying in battle. I love the story about Niall's dead body being carried before the army into battles during their retreat from Gaul, never tasting defeat with him in front. Niall made major in-roads into northern Britain, present-day Scotland. There he pushed the Picts back to their stronghold at Fortriu and established the Gaelic kingdom of Dalratia. Dalradia takes its name from the Dal Riata, a gaelic tribe in the northern corner of Ireland. The Dal Riata strengthened their hold in Scotland through alliances with the Oirgialla back in Ireland. Gofraid mac Fergusa was given lands in Dal Riata in exchange for his service to Cinaed mac Ailpin, King of Dal Riata and future first king of Scotland.

In the beginning of the 4th century three warlike princes, called the Three Collas, sons of Eochy Doimhlein, son of Cairbre Lifeachar, legendary High King of Ireland, of the race of Eremon, made a conquest of a great part of Ulster, which they wrested from the old possessors, princes of the race of Ir, called the Clanna Rory, or Rudericians.

The Three Collas in the great Battle of Achadh Leithdheirg in Fearmuighe (also Fearnmhagh), in Dalaradia, on the borders of Down and Antrim, 331, defeated the forces of Fergus Foga, king of Ulster, who was slain; and the victors burned to the ground Eamhain Macha or Emania, (near the present city of Armagh,) the famous palace of the Ultonian kings, which had stood for six centuries, and had been long celebrated by the Irish bards. The place where this battle was fought is called also Carn Achy-Leth-Derg, and is now known as the parish of Aghaderg, in the barony of Iveagh, county of Down, where there still remains a huge Carn of loose stones near Loughbrickland. The sovereignty of Ulster thus passed from the race of Ir to the race of Eremon.

The names of the three chiefs were Colla Uais, or Colla the noble, Colla Meann, or Colla the famous, and Colla da Chroich, or Colla of the two territories. Colla Uais became monarch of Ireland 327, and died in 332. The territory conquered by the three Collas comprised the present counties of Louth, Monaghan, and Armagh.



The new kingdom was given the name Oirgíalla. The over-kingdom of Oirgíalla was itself composed of nine sub-kingdoms, named after their ruling dynasties. The name Mac Uaid first appears in Monaghan, having its origins tied in with one of these nine dynasties. The earliest common ancestor was a man, Uaid mac Bhuidhe. Through him, The Mac Uaid are linked with The Oirgialla. An ancestor of Mac Bhuidhe was Sir Rossa Bhuidhe mac Airt, King of Oirgialla from 1579-August 1589. Rossa Bhuidhe also held the title of Mac Mahon during this time and was the leading representative of the Clanna Mac Mahon of Monaghan. The Kingdom of Oirgíalla persisted for a short while after, when the ruling dynasties (primarily Mac Mahons and O’Neills) were dispossessed of their lands by the invading Anglo-Normans.

Most sources indicate that the name, “Uaid”, originated with the Normans, a Scandinavian tribe which settled in northwestern France (Normandy) and then invaded Ireland in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Norman name from which the family name sprang was Walter, which was derived from the Norman wald , meaning rule , and theri , meaning army . Thus Walter was ruler of the army. The Norman invaders were completely and thoroughly adsorbed by the mostly native population of Ireland and Walter evolved into the Gaelic given name Wat , which was pronounced wait. Wat in turn evolved into Mac Uaid , son of Wat. The transition from Wat to Uaid is somewhat of a mystery, but the name as it is found in present-day Ireland and America is usually McQuaid, McQuade, and in some cases, just Quade or Quaid. In Monaghan, “McWade” was sometimes used by the Gaelic Mac Uaid Sept instead of the more usual MacQuaid..

It has been said that Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages) was the second most fecund male in recorded human history (the first being Ghenghis Khan). The number of Irish that can trace their DNA back to one man in history is staggering. The number of Ui Neill (and the like; O'Neill,McNeill,McNeal,O'Niall,etc.)who can trace their DNA to Niall Noigiallach is the highest (around 20%)! To one man! The region of Ireland where there are the most descendents of Niall is the north. This makes sense; it was his home turf. In the previous entry I explained that the name Glaisne was common amongst the Oirgialla, a northern tribe. The odds that Glaisne shares some DNA with Niall are pretty good. Actually the odds that he shares DNA with Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles), an ancestor of Niall, is probably better. Thus Glaisne could be of the line of Niall.