Y-DNA to the Rescue?

Two of my DNA contacts came up with some interesting ideas.  First, Brad McGuire mentioned
that the three of us with Maguire DNA but the McCown/McKown surname, were also the same
value, 16, on marker DYS 464b.  Then Pat Meguire, adm. of the McGuire Surname Group
suggested that since about 25% of his group were also 464b=16, that perhaps this indicated
a particular Maguire family line that we could trace back in time.  Then, Brad McGuire
suggests that the following markers and values in combination could identify those with
a McGuire surname that should be tested for SNP P66+.  That would then tie that particular
line of Maguires to which the McCown/McKown lines are descended.  Sounds good to me,
now all that is left to be done is to find Maguires with those specific marker/values and get
them to test for SNP P66+.  The markers and values are as follows: DYS 390=25, DYS 481
=24, DYS 640=12 and DYS 464b=16.

Brad McGuire is the adm. of the Airgialla Mag Uidhir Group and also points out that some
markers mutate faster than others  and that some SNP's mutate within a given family.  For
example, all five of the markers that separate me from being an exact match for the Maguire
modal at 25 markers are fast mutating and he mentioned that fast mutating markers could
take 3,000 to 4,000 years to mutate.  To me, that would put past mutations well before the use
of surnames became common in Ireland, about 1,000 AD.  I don't know yet whether
mutations repeat over the years and began at different times or if they vary within a single
family line.  I hope to have more on this later because I surely am at my limit tonight.

Latest on Genealogical Contacts

First, let me say that I have to post every five or six weeks to keep the blog alive.  That being
said, I have had a contact with a woman who has an ancestor with the McCowan spelling.  She
and I both have the surname, Dye, in our family trees.  She is currently on a trip to visit
relatives who have more information on their Dye ancestors to see if we have any in common.

Mine is the mother of my paternal grandmother and her name was Margaret Delilah Dye and
Margaret's father was John Dye whose father was Shippe Dye with a connection to the
Goodnight family.  I have no idea whether that is the same line that owned the Goodnight
Ranch in Texas and whose surname appears in the name of the Goodnight-Loving Cattle
trail.  If it is, none of it washed off on us.

Another interesting thing about this contact, is that her maiden name was Cone and Cone is
certainly a version of Co'an or Cowan or Owen which would relate to my surname.  I hope to
inform you whether or not our Dye connection is related to hers.  Dye appears to be a fairly
common surname.

A Good Source for County Fermanagh Records

Navigate to Fermanagh-Gold and then join the forum.  That will allow you to download many
records listed by experts.  Two of these experts are Yvette Sage and John Cunningham.  On
the home page, scroll down to John-Cunningham and see the records he listed along with
Yvette Sage.  Scroll down further, and you will find Yevette-Sage.  She has listed records
that you can download and further down, you can download her CD---at no cost to you.

There is a downside to this in that by joining the forum you will receive many emails from
other forum members.  I suggest just reading the titles, and if these don't interest you, then
just delete that email.  I believe the John Cunningham, mentioned above was our tour guide
in September 2010 when we visited practically every county in what was formerly known as
Ulster.  John is a historian, a genealogist and a speaker of Gaelic as well.  He picked us up at
the Belfast Airport and drove clear across northern Ireland to Fermanagh in less than three hours.

If you, or someone in your paternal line have not been tested for Y-DNA, this is the place to
start.  There are several good DNA services, but I have all of my experience with Family
Tree DNA and it has been a marvelous experience over the years.  A good place to start with
Family Tree DNA is at their home page.  There you will see the many types of tests offered
to track both your male (Y-DNA) and your female (mtDNA).  At the moment they are having
an excellent sale to encourage new members to be tested.

One of the chief virtues of having the DNA tests is that it allows you to find people closely
related to you since their data base is the largest of those offering the test.  Also, if you can
research your family tree, the test results can prove that relationship and that is the gold
standard of genealogy.  Another is that I contact many people and together we try to find
our ancestors---although I readily admit, that often I am the beneficiary of their guidance.

McCown and McKown on Fermanagh-Gold

There are some McCowns and more McKowns to be found on the free Fermanagh-Gold
genealogical website.  Most of these, so far, are shown in Galloon and Aghalurcher Parishes.
Parishes are, in this case, civil subdivisions of County Fermanagh.  You can go to the site
and search freely.  I was interested in information regarding just where in the county people of
our surname are located.  There is also a mailing list.  So far, the only surname bulletin boards
I have found are from Rootsweb which belongs to Ancestry.com and probably require membership
to join.

All Ireland DNA Project Study and Atlas

This just in from the Fair Coane.  The subject study is a combined genealogical and medical/scientific
study of all test subjects living in Ireland or if not, whose eight great grand parents all lived in Ireland.

They will study Y-DNA, mtDNA and whole genome.  There is to be no cost to the participants for the test other than the cost of a postage stamp to return the DNA sample(s) to the study center.  There are a couple of downsides to this.  The biggest one is that the person providing the sample will not get the results of his or her tests but rather they will be grouped with other DNA in communities that may
even cross county lines.  The other is that no mention is made of the testers testing for deep clades
and therefor, they cannot even get down to the whole haplogroup level.

In short, it doesn't come anywhere close to appealing to those of us tested by Family Tree DNA so
does it have an upside?  Perhaps.  The biggest problem for Americans of Irish descent trying to find
ancestors in Ireland has been identifying their names and where they lived.  I find it very frustrating
that I can spend hundreds of dollars on DNA and other research and still not make a connection even
with having engaged genealogists with excellent track records.

For example, how did they locate Barack Obama's ancestor in Ireland without a whole lot of input
being furnished by Obama?  John Kennedy was probably much simpler to research.



At best, the all Ireland DNA study can probably show hot spots where specific haplotypes are concentrated and thus give a clue as to where research may be most productive---but still it seems
to me that this is still like looking for a needle in a haystack and wondering if you found the right
needle.

An Embarrassment of Sorts

In a prior blog, I mis-reported my haplogroup.  It should be R1b1a2a1a1b4c and this time it has
all of the correct digits in all the right places.  I am a bit surprised that no one commented on this
faux paux since several of those who follow this blog are group administrators of groups of which
I am a member.  Perhaps the blog is stealthier than I thought.

Cousin Sam's Results are All In

Sam's haplogroup, like mine and Jim McKown's are identical at R1b1a2a1b4c,  This is the same as
the rest of those with Maguire DNA except for the letter c suffix which means that Sam, Jim and I
are all three Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) P66+ as expected.  The three of us share a
Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) in the year of our Lord 1661.  It is extremely gratifying
to have us match so very closely over a period going back to the common use of surnames in
Ulster, Ireland.  The deep subclades, unlike markers can and do show our common heritage going back
to about 3,000 b.c..