Royalty

I read a lot as a child. I think every kid, at some point or another, years to be a king. Or a Prince. At least a knight! I grew up on the stories of Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers (although I always thought it should be 4 Musketeers -  d'Artagnan, every kid's favourite, was introduced early on), Ivanhoe (my wife bought me a complete set of the Waverley Novels for my 40th birthday), as well as the other novels of Alexandre Dumas (pere et fils) set among French Royalty. There were many stories set in Victorian England - Sherlock Holmes adorned the walls of 221b Baker Street with a VR (Victoria Regina) with 100 bullets from his pistol ("The Musgrave Ritual").  European Royalty was part of my upbringing. And of course, as a Canadian, the Monarchy was part of our heritage - and until I grew older, it was fascinating.

My mother always said that we were descended from Royalty. Of course, she meant on her Irish O’Connor side, where the claim was that we were descended from Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (c.1116-2December 1198), anglicized to Rory O’Connor,who was the last High King of Ireland. Of course, this has never been proved – we have never been able to successfully trace back past my 2nd great-grandfather in Ireland., and most historians agree that there are no demonstrable male-line descendants of Ireland's last high-king recorded after the 1240s. That said, there is the possibility that we are descended from Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, his much younger brother, who were kings of Connacht. That said, Niall Glúndub was a 10th Century High King of Ireland and my 1st Cousin 34x removed. Again, on my fathers side.

As it turns out, I am related to Royalty. English and Scottish kings were my great-grandfathers. I'm related to French and Spanish Royalty via the intermarriage of Royals - The Scottish and the English have always had intermarriages, the English and the French, the French and the Spanish, and all had ties to other countries.

On my Fathers side.

My mother is rolling in her grave.

My direct ties to British Royalty come via my 7th Great-grandmother Madeleine Hélène (Sarah) Allenn. Her family was one the first to migrate from England to the United States, dating back to the mid-1600’s. One branch of ancestors has been well documented, leading back to the earliest Kings of England and Scotland. Since Royalty married Royalty, this translates into ties with other European nations as well. I have documented these links into 4 categories:

• English Royalty before the Union of the Crowns (802 to 1603)
• Scottish Royalty before the Union of the Crowns (830 to 1603)
• English/Scottish Royalty post Union of the crowns (1603 to present)
• French Royalty from Charlemange to the end of the French aristocracy in 1848
• Royalty in other nations

Of the approximately 111 rulers of England and Scotland, we have direct ties to 101 of them, up to and including the current Monarch, Elizabeth II. Of the 63 French rulers, 29 were my cousins (probably more, I just haven't found links to them - yet!).