Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
NameToirrdhealbhach, 35G Grandfather
Web Notes notes for Toirrdhealbhach
On 7 Jan 1996, Stewart L Baldwin posted to the soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup on Internet :
BRIAN BORU was descended from the minor sept called the Deisi, and in fact came from a branch of the Deisi called "In Deis Becc", which could be translated "little Deisi". "In Deis Becc" was divided into two sections, "In Deis Deiscirt", and "In Deis Tuascairt", of which Brian belonged to a branch of the latter called "Ui Toirdelbaig", named after Toirdelbach, an ancestor who lived in the eighth century. The first member of Ui Toirdelbaig to become even a minor king was Lorcan, Brian's grandfather, but the family's fortunes rose swiftly after that to become one of the most powerful in Ireland. It was not good press for such a prominent dynasty of rulers to be descended from such an obscure family, so they did what was apparently common practice. They faked their own genealogy. A genealogy was invented for them which tied into the Eoganact family so far back that it was centuries beyond human memory, and they then even gave themselves a new name, "Dal Chais" (or "Dal Cais"), after their new phony ancestor. Fortunately for modern scholarship, they did not cover their tracks well enough, and enough solid evidence survives to convict them of this act of pedigree faking (which to them was probably just good politics). So, where does the fiction end and the history begin? That is a tough one. The earliest ancestor of Brian who is anything more than a name was his grandfather Lorcan, but there seems to be no reason to doubt the genealogy back to Toirdelbach (8th century), after whom the sept of Ui Toirdelbaig was named. Some of the generations before Toirdelbach might even be genuine, but it is difficult to tell where the real genealogy ends and the phony link with the Eoganachta begins. Maybe future research will clear this up.
BRIAN BORU was descended from the minor sept called the Deisi, and in fact came from a branch of the Deisi called "In Deis Becc", which could be translated "little Deisi". "In Deis Becc" was divided into two sections, "In Deis Deiscirt", and "In Deis Tuascairt", of which Brian belonged to a branch of the latter called "Ui Toirdelbaig", named after Toirdelbach, an ancestor who lived in the eighth century. The first member of Ui Toirdelbaig to become even a minor king was Lorcan, Brian's grandfather, but the family's fortunes rose swiftly after that to become one of the most powerful in Ireland. It was not good press for such a prominent dynasty of rulers to be descended from such an obscure family, so they did what was apparently common practice. They faked their own genealogy. A genealogy was invented for them which tied into the Eoganact family so far back that it was centuries beyond human memory, and they then even gave themselves a new name, "Dal Chais" (or "Dal Cais"), after their new phony ancestor. Fortunately for modern scholarship, they did not cover their tracks well enough, and enough solid evidence survives to convict them of this act of pedigree faking (which to them was probably just good politics). So, where does the fiction end and the history begin? That is a tough one. The earliest ancestor of Brian who is anything more than a name was his grandfather Lorcan, but there seems to be no reason to doubt the genealogy back to Toirdelbach (8th century), after whom the sept of Ui Toirdelbaig was named. Some of the generations before Toirdelbach might even be genuine, but it is difficult to tell where the real genealogy ends and the phony link with the Eoganachta begins. Maybe future research will clear this up.