It has long been established that settlers came into Ireland from the north during the ice age, when what is now the Irish Sea formed a natural land bridge. DNA, however, is revealing more connections between the peoples of the British Isles. A large DNA project regarding Scottish and English ancestry was conducted by Dr. Jim Wilson, a geneticist at Edinburgh University, and Alistair Moffat, journalist and rector of Saint Andrews University, and noteworthy discoveries have been made.
Reporters for the online United Kingdom newspaper, The Telegraph, revealed several of them. The Romans may have never crossed into Ireland as they conquered their way across Europe, but they did succeed in completely taking over England and Wales. Nick Collins explained findings of Roman ancestry in many English and Welsh genes through instances of the occurrence of what is called “the Alpine marker,” ( R1b-S28).
It is not clear how the testing is able to tie individuals to long dead others, such as “The Young Pretender,” Prince Charles Stuart, grandson of the exiled Catholic King James II of England who had been ousted by William of Orange and his wife, King James II’s daughter, Mary. However, DNA apparently revealed that “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” had some English ancestry and that there is great similarity between some Scottish and English DNA. The test also tracked a small percentage of Scottish ancestry back to African tribes from the Sahara desert and found 157 wide-ranging forms of female DNA.
One Scottish individual, whose male DNA markers traced his ancestry to Scandinavia, revealed female ancestry that led anciently back to Senegal, Africa, perhaps through a slave woman who had been brought into England. Co-leader of the project, Alistair Moffat believed this to be evidence of mitochrondrial DNA from the biblical Eve. He stated, “Adam also lived in central Africa, perhaps only 140,000 years ago. Only his YDNA survived to father all of the male lineages on earth.”
Auslan Cramb, wrote of the R1b-S530 DNA marker that tracked ancient ancestry in some people linking their descendence from the Picts, the original settlers of the northernmost part of what came to be called Scotland, originally Alba, in Scottish Gaelic.* Instead of having simply melded into the rest of Gaelic ancestry and virtually disappearing after 839, Pict heritage may be found among some men whose grandfathers were Scottish.
Dr. Wilson, the other co-leader of the project was excited ” to see for the first time the ancient genetic connection between Scotland and Ireland—the signature of a movement of people from Ireland to Scotland, perhaps of the Scots or Gaels themselves.”
*[As an ancient Maher side-note: The disciple of Saint Columba, Machar, one of the three Irish leaders baptized by Saint Patrick, was a descendent of Olioll Olum. According to Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, Machar/Mechair “received episcopal ordination, and undertook to preach the Gospel in the northern parts of the Pictish kingdom. The legend adds that Columba admonished him to found his church, when he should arrive upon the bank of a river where it formed by its windings the figures of a bishop’s crozier…” Machar founded the Church of Aberdon.” (p.14,SHN)]
Marie McKeown, whose “Hub Pages” include many excellent essays about early Irish history, wrote of the Irish DNA story as being closely related to the Basques. She said, ” those Irish whose ancestors pre-date English conquest of the island are descendants of early settlers who probably migrated west across Europe, as far as Ireland in the north and Spain in the south…the closest genetic relatives of the Irish in Europe are to be found in the north of Spain in the region known as the Basque Country. These same ancestors are shared to an extent with the people of Britain—especially the Scottish.”
She explained that the Haplogroup 1 gene was shared from stone-age times among those in the neighboring British Isles, but that variations emerged via other nationalities that migrated into Ireland. Over time the additional influences of genetics created more diverse mixes, but in some parts of Ireland—the west coast in particular—populations remained very stable over the centuries with little mixing from other parts of Europe. This would explain the concept of a living Maher having Spanish genetics, which suggests a long surname line that began with a Spanish male having come into Ireland and marrying a native Irish woman. Generally, however, there is so much genetic mixing over time that a surname study seems to look at too little a percentage of data to be helpful to most people, except to attempt to find connections between members of the group.
McKeown’s essays are well worth reading. She pointed to another excellent posting by Leah Lefler about the complex science of DNA. Lefler also provides a clear explanation about the regions associated with the various Y-chromosome markers. McKeown wrote further about the first peoples of Ireland and life in Celtic Ireland. Her map of Ireland and Scotland illustrates well the connection between northern Ireland and western Scotland.
While all of this may be fascinating in the abstract, it is still good to keep in mind that DNA testing is no substitute for solid research about one’s family history. As some have pointed out, the test may be helpful when particular people are seeking to discover a genetic connection between each other. This would likely occur after years of research had led them to the end of their paper trails. Others who have unknown or very mixed lineage may find the DNA test helpful in locating basic areas or pointing to some possible countries of origin. It will not, however, do your work for you, nor is it possible to research your history completely online, Ancestry.com trees notwithstanding. Those serious about genealogy stress the importance of citing one’s sources and trying to gather multiple instances for any fact found, preferably accompanied by an official document. Discrepancies also need to be noted and documented.
Both DNA testing and traditional family history research should be approached with an open mind and a willingness to accept what surprises may lie in wait. Roger Highfield, in an article warning about the limits of DNA tests, quoted University of Texas, Austin’s Deborah Bolnick, who stressed that “some researchers see these tests as merely ‘recreational genetics’ or ‘vanity testing,’ the problems can be significant for the test-takers, who may hope to identify biological relatives, validate genealogical records and fill in gaps in their family histories. ‘Test-takers may reshape their personal identities, and they may suffer emotional distress if test results are unexpected or undesired.'”
After an immersion in research, however, it might be gratifying to take the plunge, like buying a lottery ticket, just to see what outcome will result.
©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair
All Rights Reserved
Very well put, Janet. DNA is a (fascinating) piece of the puzzle, neither a toy nor a panacea.
My mother’s father came from Waterford and we always accepted that we had Spanish ancestors.Maybe I should do the test!
Thanks, Paul, and, yes, Laurie, might be interesting! We can compare you with my brother…
With an English surname and a family tradition of being “Irish” not English, coupled with the lack of paper trails(my grandfather was put in an orphanage by his father, after his mother died) I finally ran my Y dna. Other than ‘common’ markers all Europeans have, I don’t match the English, Scot or Welsh Hopkins.
I do ‘match’ a few Hopkins in Connaght(sp).
I’m eagerly awaiting the results from National Geographic testing of the 100+ people from Co Mayo in June of this year. They are trying to nail down the origin of the old Irish with the mainland. The results will be in before Christmas.
I wish more Irish Hopkins would test as we have some interesting markers that have the scientists scratching their heads.
Have you looked at Dr. Bowes research on name distribution ?
Much good luck to you, Patrick. Something my first phone conversation with a person working for a DNA testing company revealed was the idea about not getting too hung up on the surname, as lines are much more complex than that. (Hard, since that’s what we all concentrate on.) I don’t understand all this fully, as you can see – learning along with everyone else. Trying to nail down the origin of the old Irish in the west seems like a great focus. Some interesting info will likely emerge from that test. Has that group been fairly stable for generations in Co. Mayo? Good to have the scientists delving broadly into this, and always good when questions lead to bigger and better questions. I don’t know about Dr. Bowes. Do you have any particular recommendations for reading about his/her work?
Janet,
I have been reading your blog for some time, and I’m hopeful that your brother agrees to a Y-DNA test. He may test R1b like the majority of the Maher FTDNA Project, administered by Erik Maher. R1b is also the dominant haplogroup in the entire Irish population. But I have a personal interest in Irish lineages outside R1b.
I have used a combination of Y-DNA tests and the autosomal Family Finder test by FTDNA, trying to break past my great-grandfather’s 1898 adoption. We belong to Haplogroup T-M70. Our nearest matches range from 25/27 STR’s (an Ancestry.com test) to 34/37 (matching an adoptee who lives in Ireland today.) Three different individuals at this level of distance are Irish, and one is from England. The 1900 census shows my grandfather’s birth name, while in the orphanage, as Magher. His birth certificate lists Magner. Just two weeks ago, a new Family Finder match appeared with a man who has Meagher ancestors from County Wexford, Ireland (who then immigrated to Ontario.) There are Mahers in Simcoe County, Ontario today, who I might contact offering to sponsor their test costs. If I ever find a Y-DNA match 37/37 markers or greater, regardless of surname, it would be exciting progress.
I did spend several months pursuing the paper trail from my grandfather’s birth certificate to discern whether Magner or Magher was the likely surname. A Maher from Albany, NY emerged as a paternal candidate … but no Magners so far. (That is a less common and completely unrelated surname.)
I hope you take the plunge, and good luck if you do!
Best regards,
Andy
Hello Andy, Thank you for your note and much good luck to you in your search. I’m so happy you continue to read the blog! Thank you. It seems that the names changed spelling a fair amount, which might have been simply due to an official’s interpretation of what he thought he heard. Even Magner might have come out of something pronounced “Ma (soft a, emphasis on that syllable) – her,” it seems. Though there were more complex spellings earlier, if you take Meagher and start dropping a letter here and there – Mea (Ma) gher (her), it seems that Mag-her, Ma-har, Mahr, and Maher could have been evolutions that certain families stuck with once their spelling became official upon immigration. That doesn’t seem to preclude an actual connection to someone who spells it differently now. Magner pronounced Mag (as in hag) – ner (with the n pronounced), seems a bit of a stretch, but I wonder if even that spelling might have been what resulted from someone’s hearing “Mea-gher” pronounced from across a desk. Someone on another shift might have heard and written the same name differently. I’m guessing here, but it seems that spelling had much to do with chance and choice. Not all Irish speakers might have known how to write their name in English way back when or been aware of how an official was writing it when they were giving required information. Re the DNA tests, I did pop for two of them. We’ll see where this goes! Good wishes to you, Janet