The Birthplace of St. Patrick in Somerset, by Harry Jelley The Birthplace of St. Patrick in Somerset Harry Jelley first published on The Saxon Shore E. Raymond Capt's scholarly investigation of the Traditions of Glastonbury are worth ... And a final interesting experience to view is this YouTube video of the last ... Historians take great pleasure in locating the birthplaces of great figures from the past. This is particularly true when the birthplace has been the subject of heated debate for centuries, as is the case for St Patrick, the 5th century Romano-Briton who later became patron saint of Ireland. There have been claims and counterclaims. Strathclyde was once thought a possible birthplace for Patrick, presumably because of its proximity to Ulster. Several sites in South Wales have been suggested, as well as the area near Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall. For various reasons, however, none of these provides a satisfactory solution. It is my view that Patrick was in fact born in south-western England, in Somerset, at or near the village of Banwell, five miles east of Weston-super-Mare. A settlement of late Roman date is known in the area. The archaeology of the region, which was highly Romanised, suggests Somerset was a plausible location for Patrick's family estate - unlike some of the remoter locations suggested - while placename evidence supports a Somerset location directly. (click to enlarge) Saint Patrick's Somerset Birthplace by Harry Jelley There is, in addition, an undated, unexplained earthwork in the form of a cross at Banwell, surrounded by a bank. A scheduled monument, it is listed by English Heritage as a Roman camp (which is unlikely), and is described in the local Sites and Monuments Record as a rabbit warren, for which there is also no evidence. I like to imagine the cross has a religious interpretation, constructed as a monument to Patrick by missionary Irish monks a few centuries after Patrick's lifetime, at a time when the memory of his birthplace survived. The established facts of Patrick's life are few. He was captured aged 16 by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, from where he is said to have escaped to Gaul before returning to Ireland as a missionary in 432 CE, founding Ireland's first Christian church at Armagh. Recent research disputes the traditional dates, suggesting Patrick may have lived a generation or so later. Famous DNA - DNA Ancestry Project Niall Noigiallach aka "Niall of the Nine Hostages" (d450/455 ad.) was one of the greatest Irish kings. He was said to have consolidated his power by leading raids on the Roman Empire, taking hostages from rival Irish royal families, Britain and the European mainland, thus earning the name Niall of the Nine Hostages? Saint Patrick was said to have been kidnapped and brought to Ireland as one of his hostages during his raids. Here are the conclusions of Klyosov and Conroy's study: "...Based on our data analysis and discussion, M222 is likely to have arisen in South Western England. The M222 bearers of Devon ancestral origin clearly have the oldest common ancestor of M222 followed by other regions/countries, which are practically impossible to reliably resolve in terms of the “age” of M222 common ancestor. However, cross-analysis of lineages shows that the Irish M222 could have arisen immediately after the English M222, but due to a possible bottleneck of the population they started to expand only in the middle of the 1st millennium CE. Thanks to the recently developed methodologies of DNA genealogy, based largely on the DNA sequencing and the apparatus of chemical and biological kinetics, as well as to hard work of administrators of FTDNA Projects (see Acknowledgments below) collecting and publishing haplotypes, we were able to do the work with 67 and 111 marker haplotypes, which greatly improved resolution of the haplotype branches and other results compared with those done with shorter (such as 17-marker haplotypes). The obtained data suggest that the M222 lineages in The Isles likely originated in Devon, England and either from there to Leinster, Ireland and then to South West Scotland. In Leinster, the Dumnonii - known as the Fir Domnann or Laigin - conquered all of Western Ireland, Connacht, and birthed the dynasty known as the Connachta, which in turn gave rise to the Uí Néill dynasty of Northern Ireland. In overall terms it would seem the rank ages of R-M222 in the Isles we could suggest as follows: (a) Devon, England, (b) Leinster, Ireland (c) Central Scotland, (d) North Midlands, Ireland (e) Connacht, Ireland (f) Northern Ireland (g) Wales (h) South West Scotland..." Shrines of Britain: St. Patrick the Old at Glastonbury - ... _www.britannia.com/church/shrines/glastonbury3.html_ (http://www.britannia.com/church/shrines/glastonbury3.html) - Similar to Shrines of Britain: St. Patrick the Old at Glastonbury - ... The Holy Shrines of Glastonbury in Somerset, Part 3. By David Nash Ford. ST. PATRICK THE OLD Enshrined at Glastonbury. Among the most important shrines ... The early ancestor of ydna R-M222 is in Devon or South West England (which was British not English in those days) around 400-500 years earlier according to the study. This would confirm my understanding that Niall is a descendant of the family of St Joseph of Arimathea who lived in this region of South West England. The first member of the family to have R-M222+ may have been Joseph himself or his son Gilead ben Joseph (Josephes/ Galahad). Joseph's older brother Nathan (Tasciovanus/Tenaufen/ Nascien) a British King Traditions of Glastonbury - Documentary by E. Raymond ... - YouTube The Traditions of Glastonbury - Mrkeith.org mrkeith.org/rkeith5b.htm - Similar to The Traditions of Glastonbury - Mrkeith.org M222 Project clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/ - Similar to M222 Project New downsteam SNPs. PF1169 (Conroy, Byrnes) ... Anatole Klyosov's Analysis. M222 Origins (Klyosov and Conroy) ... DNA Studies. Genetic Investigation of the ... [DOC] M222 Origins (Klyosov and Conroy) clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/M222Origins.doc - Similar to M222 Origins (Klyosov and Conroy) Anatole A. Klyosov1 and Paul M. Conroy2 ... This study aims at the analysis of 13,520 haplotypes of R-M222, R-L21+/M222-, and R-DF23+/M222- haplotypes in ... [ More results from clanmaclochlainn.com ] E. Raymond Capt's scholarly investigation of the Traditions of Glastonbury are worth ... And a final interesting experience to view is this YouTube video of the last ... .