Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day - I Didn't Know I Was Irish Until My DNA Told Me So!

Am I Irish if my AncestryDNA test says that I am 18% Irish ancestry?  I guess I'm entitled to post this:


Here's my AncestryDNA test results (two screens):



Some thoughts about my "Irish" ancestry:

*  The matches they've made of my autosomal DNA with that of other "Irish" people show that I'm 18% "Irish."  however, the range could be 3% to 32%.

*  This ethnicity estimate is based on a pool of 154 persons identified as having "Irish" ancestry.  That's probably why the ethnicity range is so wide.  I really question how they can make judgments when there are so few persons for comparison purposes.

*  I am nowhere near the percentage of the "typical native" of Ireland.  For all we know, those 154 could have significant English ancestry.

*  From what I've heard, the autosomal DNA test indicates ethnicity as of about 2,000 years ago - around the time of the Roman invasion and rule of southern England, but not of Ireland.  The Celts in England were pushed westward to Ireland and Wales and Cornwall.  There were earlier migrations to the British Isles in prehistoric times from central Europe, Gaul and Iberia.

*  My ethnicity according to my genealogy research is about 65% British Isles and about 35% Western Europe (mainly Germany, with a little Dutch, French and Scandinavia).  But that's based on where my ancestors lived about 500 years ago.  Of course, it's those Angles, Saxons, Danes, Normans, Vikings, etc. who muddied up the gene pool in England.

*  Over the last 400 years, I may have a few ancestors who lived in Ireland, but I doubt that I have 18%.  If the ethnicity estimate was 3% or even 6%, I'd tend to believe it.  It may be that some of those conquering heroes took Celtic wives and they contributed to my gene pool with a fair amount of Irish ancestry in the green end.

For the record:

*  I love Irish music.

*  I love the spirit of the Irish people, both sides, Orange and Green.

*  I've been to Northern Ireland once on business in 1985, and it was really green.

*  We visited Dublin for a day on the Legacy Family Tree 2013 genealogy cruise, and we visited St. Patrick's cathedral.

*  I don't like beer, and especially green beer.

* I would love to experience Irish research...if I could only find the connection in my genealogy.  I do have some "dead ends" in my pedigree chart, and some of them may lead to Irish ancestry if I can find the intervening generations.

I also posed for this picture with a wee Irish lass (is this my cousin?) ...



The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/happy-st-patricks-day-i-didnt-know-i.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver




2 comments:

The Flying Genealogist said...

Love your St. Patrick's Day blog. I'm not particularly Irish (Scot Irish yes, not Irish) but "for the record" I love beer, especially green beer, and potatoes. I hope to visit Ireland one day even if I can't find the connection in my genealogy. Great musing. Best Regard, Lynn (dawsonlm)

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

My DNA came back 18% Irish, too, although I've yet to find an Irishman (or woman) anywhere in my tree which is pretty complete for almost 400 years back. You and I share a significant number of ancestors,and now a matching percentage of Irish DNA. Perhaps the clue lies in those cousin connections!