DNA Testing - Why Not

[Nick29]

The only way it can work is if there are descendents alive now carrying the same DNA who have taken a test.  Ideally, if they tested every male in Ireland, there would be clusters of people carrying the same Y-DNA as your grandfather.  When you pay to have tests done on sites like Family Tree DNA, when your DNA has been processed, you may receive matches with others who have matching DNA who have submitted a test.  To my mind, where it becomes important is whether the company you use charges for matches which may occur from samples analysed in the future.  Family Tree DNA only charges for the tests, and their fee includes notifying you of matches that could occur in the future.  As I understand it, some companies charge a monthly/yearly fee for your DNA profile to remain on their database.

[grandma]

Hi Just want to tell my sucess story ( or almost).

My grandfather was illigitimate with the middle name of Lynch. We suspected his father could be an Irish shoemaker James Lynch. This is in Edinburgh in the 1860`s. A couple of years ago my brother did a DNA test and we discovered we were connected to a man in the US within 6 generations. This man `s last name is Lynch and he can trace back to Ireland to the beginning of 1800 about the same time as our suspected gr grandfather was born.

In spite of a lot of searching, even hired a professional for help, we have been unable to find our common denominator.

Mary

[polly88]

That's useful to know Nick.  I'll bear that in mind when deciding which company to use.  I wish more people would do it, then I'd have a sporting chance of finding some cousin or other!  I wonder how many people in Ireland have had it done?  Given that so many Irish emigrated and scattered throughout the world, the dna test ought to be done free in Ireland, on the nhs, as a gift to all frustrated genealogists!

[polly88]

Gosh Mary, how frustrating.  To know that there is a link, and to still not get any further!  I have just paid an Irish professional company to look for any clues to my family.  They are due to report back this week, and I am so excited, whilst at the same time not really expecting anything of substance. 

[grandma]

Hi polly88.

Will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Yes it was a bit disapointing not to have come any further, but that, I guess is Ireland. No body cared much about recording the births of all those poor people.

Maybe someday we will get an answer.

Mary

[DevonCruwys]

In case it's of any help I've got a brief article on DNA testing I wrote for the Berkshire Family History Society explaining how the tests work:

www.irishtype3dna.org/DebbieKennett.php

The most useful test is the Y-chromosome DNA test which can only be taken by men, so females need to get a male relative to test. To get the best out of the test you need to be in a surname project. Some people get lots of matches straight away; others have to wait.

The newer autosomal DNA tests can be used to find relatives across all your family lines. The big problem is that the databases are dominated by Americans and it's impossible to find the paper trail connection when all your lines are in two different countries. As more people in the UK get tested we should eventually get more meaningful matches. These tests are currently best used to prove a hypothesis (eg, do two people share the same great-grandmother?). It is however best to get people tested while they are still here to have the tests done. You can't change your mind in ten years' time when the databases have grown in size and the people you want to test are no longer around.

I've done blog posts which explain how the 23andMe and Family Finder tests work:

http://cruwys.blogspot.com/2010/07/exploring-my-genome-with-23andme.html

http://cruwys.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-family-finder-test-from-ftdna.html

The 23andMe test also gives you Y-chromosome and mtDNA results but these results are only useful from a deep ancestry perspective. You cannot use the 23and Me Y-DNA and mtDNA results for genealogical matching. Family Tree DNA's Family Finder does not give you Y-DNA and mtDNA results and you need to buy the two tests separately, but you get more out of these tests as you go into a large matching database and you can join all the geographical and haplogroup projects.

There is a large DNA project for Ireland. I've put links to all the geographical projects for the British Isles on my blog:

http://cruwys.blogspot.com/2009/08/dna-projects-for-british-isles.html

Debbie Kennett

[heywood]

Hi polly88.

Will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Yes it was a bit disapointing not to have come any further, but that, I guess is Ireland. No body cared much about recording the births of all those poor people.

Maybe someday we will get an answer.

Mary

That's not entirely true. The problems occur because birthplaces in the censuses were just recorded as 'Ireland' in many, many cases. That is the  frustrating part. 

[grandma]

In my case, I do have the name of the county, but from the info I have rec. that only limited number of parishes have records which extend back beyond pre Famine times. And for the big majority of the poor, almost nonexistent.

Mary

[aghadowey]

It really has nothing to do with your ancestors being poor. To find Irish ancestors you need to know both their religion and where they lived and then see if any church records exist. There are several helpful topics on finding Irish ancestors on Ireland Resources board.