Barry McCain of the Ulster Heritage Group, http://ulsterheritage.com, found mention of MacEoghain in Argyll who were bards and had some connection with the Maguires. Using the Google search term "MacQueen and MacGuire" I found that the names in the title block above are associated with each other. And also with McKown and McQuown, which latter is itself a spelling variant of McCown.
The MacEwens (MacEoghain) were bards to the Campbells of Argyll and Breadalbane and to the MacDougalls of Dunollie.
This does not prove anything about my family history, but is an avenue which must be investigated because it ties together my Irish and Scottish matches and surname with my Maguire DNA. That in itself offers some encouragement.
Barry says that he will look into this more closely when he returns from Ulster in the next couple of weeks. It also give a bit of credibility to our word of mouth family tales of being of highland Scots descent. In this case the Scots most likely having come from Ireland.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Help ont the Way
Barry McCain reports that Dr. Roulston sent parts of my DNA package to Dr. Brian Traynor in Fermanagh. Dr. Traynor specializes in Fermanagh genealogy and is personally known by Barry. I am most anxious to see what Dr. Traynor has to say about any connection between MacEoin/McCown and any of the Maguire Clan surnames. The momentum seems to be building and that gives us hope for an early connection. It would be great if we could find someone in Fermanagh who has the same surname or a spelling variant thereof willing to be tested to see if we match at 67 markers.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
This Just in to Our Newsdesk
Dr. William Roulston has recived and read our DNA genealogical package and will send his comments to Barry McCain next week. Barry's email included a short piece about how easily surnames changed between Mag Uidhir (Maguire) and Mac Eoin (McCown) although he didn't use this specific example. If you would like a copy of that email please contact me.
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Right People
In any endeavor, it helps to know the right people. In this search for my line of McCowns, I am most fortunate to have Barry McCain, barramccain@gmail.com, administrator of the FTDNA Ulster Heritage Group, http://www.ulsterheritage.com, in my corner and hopefully Dr. William Roulston, Chief of Research, ULster Historical Foundation. The latter is dependent on Dr. Roulston's evaluation of my Y-DNA results and whether or not we have enough data to proceed. Dr. Roulston received the data by email today and I am on pins and needles awaiting his analysis.
Barry McCain has pinned down Enniskillen, Fermanagh, as the most likely loacaton of my McCowns no longer ago than 1600AD. He believes that we are paternally related to the Maguire Clan and that the MacEoin/McCowns are in fact part of the Clan. This is most encouraging.
Barry McCain has pinned down Enniskillen, Fermanagh, as the most likely loacaton of my McCowns no longer ago than 1600AD. He believes that we are paternally related to the Maguire Clan and that the MacEoin/McCowns are in fact part of the Clan. This is most encouraging.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
One Step at a Time
The genealogical package of Y-DNA is being put together by Barry McCain to be sent to Dr. William Roulston of the Ulster History Foundation. He will evaluate whether we have enough material to warrant moving ahead with a combined conventional geneaology and DNA genealogy to learn something of our McCown line history.
I prepared a list of 23 matches at 67 markers and a list of 5 matches at 37 markers with no duplications, making a total of 28 high quality matches. Hopefully, more matches will continue to be reported and these will be forwarded to Dr. Roulston as they come in. The highest Match other than cousin Sam at 66/67 markers is Dr. Thomas James McGuire at 63/67 markers. It would be nice to get an exact match at 67/67 plus others at 64 and 65/67 and it may happen yet. Sam would be an exact 67/67 marker except for a one step mutation at 37 markers. As far as I am concerned, he is an exact match since he is descended from a younger brother of my great grandfather.
I prepared a list of 23 matches at 67 markers and a list of 5 matches at 37 markers with no duplications, making a total of 28 high quality matches. Hopefully, more matches will continue to be reported and these will be forwarded to Dr. Roulston as they come in. The highest Match other than cousin Sam at 66/67 markers is Dr. Thomas James McGuire at 63/67 markers. It would be nice to get an exact match at 67/67 plus others at 64 and 65/67 and it may happen yet. Sam would be an exact 67/67 marker except for a one step mutation at 37 markers. As far as I am concerned, he is an exact match since he is descended from a younger brother of my great grandfather.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Down and Out in Abingdon
Sad but true, no state records of marriage were required before 1850 in Virginia. The only records older than that are church records and they do not include the names
of the parents of the couple who were married. I had thought the church records might include the parents' names, but no such luck. At this moment, unless some legal paper such as apprenticeship, property transfers or gravestones are found, I don't have a clue as to where next to find the names of the parents of our earliest known ancestor, Lawrence McCown.
of the parents of the couple who were married. I had thought the church records might include the parents' names, but no such luck. At this moment, unless some legal paper such as apprenticeship, property transfers or gravestones are found, I don't have a clue as to where next to find the names of the parents of our earliest known ancestor, Lawrence McCown.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Abingdon, Virginia Search
I have contacted the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in Abingdon, Virginia.
The object is to see if they will recommend someone to search the marriage record of my great great grand parents to see if their parents' names are recorded.
If so, that would be a tremendous break through. It might be possible to determine if these parents were the first of our line in America and the location in South Carolina where they settled. This church (though not this building) is where my gggf&m were married in Janurary 1815.
Also, I have contacted Debra McCown in Abingdon who has been very helpful and may be able to come up with a McCown contact in northeastern Tennessee who has done a lot of genealogical work related to various McCown lines. As with all things genealogical, none of this may pan out, but never the less some very helpful people already have been encountered in the search.
Another goal of this search in Abingdon, Washington County, VA is to locate other male McCowns willing to take the Family Tree Y-DNA test which could give us an indication of whether or not our lines are related.
The object is to see if they will recommend someone to search the marriage record of my great great grand parents to see if their parents' names are recorded.
If so, that would be a tremendous break through. It might be possible to determine if these parents were the first of our line in America and the location in South Carolina where they settled. This church (though not this building) is where my gggf&m were married in Janurary 1815.
Also, I have contacted Debra McCown in Abingdon who has been very helpful and may be able to come up with a McCown contact in northeastern Tennessee who has done a lot of genealogical work related to various McCown lines. As with all things genealogical, none of this may pan out, but never the less some very helpful people already have been encountered in the search.
Another goal of this search in Abingdon, Washington County, VA is to locate other male McCowns willing to take the Family Tree Y-DNA test which could give us an indication of whether or not our lines are related.
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