Why have you done an expensive Y-DNA test? Presumably to help you with your family tree research, and specifically the ancestral line down which your surname passed, generation after generation, since the formation of your surname, perhaps some 800-1000 years ago.So it makes sense to share the results of your Y-DNA test with the right people in order to maximise your chances of making a ..read more

Someone does a Y-DNA test to find out more about their direct male line and "where my surname came from" only to find that the results are not what they expected. So they join the DNA project relevant for their surname and ask the Administrator for an interpretation. What information are they going to find useful? And, as an Admin, what information can you give them?These were the questions I ..read more

You don't need an Ancestry subscription to start building your tree, but you do need an account on Ancestry and you need to sign in to start building your tree. The easiest way is to create a FREE account on Ancestry is to just click here, start filling in the details, and then click on the green START YOUR TREE button ... https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/There is NO need to take out a ..read more

I have been privileged to have been appointed recently as Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Strathclyde. I am looking forward to working with the team and advancing academic research into genetic genealogy.The University is located in the heart of Glasgow and last year won Scottish University of the Year. I'll be working within the Department of Genealogical Studies which is part of ..read more

There are several important questions that face Project Administrators of Surname DNA Projects:Why should I group people together?How should I group people together?What does each group tell me?As an Administrator of 15 DNA Projects for a variety of Irish Surnames, I have pondered these issues, explored different alternatives, fallen down rabbit-holes, and revised my thinking. So here is my ..read more

There has been increasing interest in Irish Clan Research as more fine-detailed Y-DNA data becomes available and the Irish branches of the Tree of Mankind have grown larger and sprouted more downstream branches. Soon we should be able to identify specific DNA signatures for particular Irish clans. This has already happened with the Uí Neill (O'Neill) in northwest Ireland and the Dál gCais ..read more

There have been major advances in recent years in the field of Ancient DNA. The science has evolved to the point where the DNA profile extracted from ancient bones can be linked directly to surname projects at FamilyTreeDNA. This is particularly relevant to Irish surname projects and is sparking a renewed interest in medieval Irish history and Irish Clan research. But what is the optimal way of ..read more

Chi-squared test on Irish Type III Analysis Dennis Wright’s paper from 2009 describes a four-fold greater frequency of the Irish Type III (IT3) signature among Dalcassian surnames compared to non-Dalcassian surnames … http://www.jogg.info/pages/51/files/Wright.pdf This data is summarised in Tables 7 and 8 of the paper. Thus, among men with Dalcassian surnames, 57 had the IT3 ..read more

The short answer is: about 1000 years ago, but ... And that "but" represents the fact that different Irish surnames arose at different times, usually between 900 to 1350 AD, and mostly between 950-1150 AD, with the busiest period being 1000-1050 AD. Also, surnames with the prefix O or Ó were formed prior to 1200 AD and those that formed afterwards were mainly those with the prefix Mac. These are ..read more

Introduction This article will be of particular interest to anyone engaged in Irish Clan research or those who wish to do so. If you are a Project Administrator of an Irish Surname Project or Haplogroup Project, I hope you find the suggestions below of practical relevance to your own project. I also hope this article sparks an ongoing conversation about this topic because I feel we are on the ..read more