MyHeritage showing 4% African DNA, maybe from Irish ancestors?

[Althea7]

I had my DNA tested by Ancestry, and also for free by MyHeritage.  Ancestry is a bit unspecific, but MyHeritage says I have 4% African DNA, of which 1% is Nigerian, and 3% North African.  I also have a tiny bit of Italian and Ashkenazi Jewish.

I have an Irish great grandmother, Mary Ann Roche born 1848 Dublin, and and another Irish great, great grandmother, Bridget Ward born about 1823, both on my maternal grandfather's side, and I share this African and Mediterranean mix with a known DNA match, who is a descendant of my Irish great grandmother Mary Ann and also her husband Hiram whose mother is my Irish great, great grandmother Bridget.

I found other matches on MyHeritage that I share with this known match, who also have this African and Mediterranean mixture.  I don't share this mixture with any known matches on my father's side, and other than matches on this, my maternal grandfather's side, this mixture seems rare.

I assume this African/Mediterranean mix comes from either one or both of my Irish ancestresses.  I am very curious if these genes were very common in some Irish communities due to frequent comings and goings of Mediterranean sailors at some Irish ports?  My great grandmother was born in Dublin, and my great great grandmother I am not certain, the records just give her place of birth as Ireland, but I suspect the east coast between Dublin and the northern border, maybe county Louth.  Possibly these genes date from one event such as the Spanish Armada?  But 4% African is quite a lot of DNA, with added bits of Italian and Ashkenazi, and the Spanish Armada was so long ago that any genes from then would surely have died out by mixing, unless there were a lot of sailors whose genes made a big impact on a whole community?  Or maybe it was one man, in the relatively recent past, such as the last two hundred years?

I am especially curious as I have been unable to find out much at all about either Mary Ann or Bridget, or their families.  It looks as though Bridget's whole family had moved to Manchester by 1841, though they were all born in Ireland, her two (step?) siblings John born 1837 and Betsy Ward b 1828, and possible another sister Ann Ward born 1826.  It could be Bridget's father James Ward and sister Ann who are on the Manchester 1841 census, where he is listed as a broker, born Ireland, living in Medlock Street, which is just adjacent to where Bridget, her husband, her two sons and her siblings John and Betsy were living on the 1851 census, where Bridget's husband Thomas Greenwood is listed as a Marine Store Keeper, and an 1855 source lists his Marine Store in adjacent River Street. Also there is a good chance that the Ann Greenwood, living with Thomas Greenwood on the 1871 census, after Bridget died in 1867, in Manchester, is the same Ann Ward living with her father James Ward on the 1841 census.  My great, great, great grandfather James Ward, born about 1799 in Ireland, seems an interesting person who I can only get glimpses and guesses about.

The whole family of Thomas Greenwood and his wife Bridget are missing from the 1861 census, though their son, my ancestor, Hiram, re-appears on the 1871 census living in Salford with a wife Mary Ann nee Roche, born Dubin, Ireland, and two small daughters.  I can't find any English marriage for Hiram and Mary Ann, neither could a genealogy expert, and I wonder if at some time between 1855, when Thomas Greenwood had a Marine Store listed in Manchester, and 1867, when I have the birth certificate for Hiram and Mary Ann's daughter Rebecca, born in Salford, they were living with family in Ireland?

Just background on this family, and where in Ireland they might have come from.  I have been totally unable to trace anything in Ireland.  I wondered if anyone can shed light on how such a high percentage of African/Mediterranean DNA could be inherited from Irish ancestors?  I am not entirely sure how DNA works, but it seems to me the amount is actually quite a lot, and meaningful?  Do some communities in Ireland have this sort of DNA mixture?

[Sinann]

My Heritage ethnicity estimates are best taken with a pinch of salt. They can only base them on the results of people who have tested with them, this is the same for all companies, which is why all ethnicity estimates should be considered as interesting but not necessarily accurate.
Ancestry with the largest base to work with seems to have the most likely estimates so far.

[Elwyn Soutter]

The respected genealogical expert Guy Etchells said:

“Ethnicity results are based on guesses based on the guesses of the ancestry of people living today. They are not an accurate representation of where ones ancestors came from and never, repeat never will be. They are best viewed as a bit of fun rather than anything that will help the family historian.

The important part of the DNA for the family historian is not the ethnicity guess but the data revealed by the chromosomes and any resulting matches, but even then care must be taken, as any gedcom associated with a match may not be accurate”.

https://www.british-genealogy.com/forum/threads/93348-100-British-and-Irish-DNA-now-what

[Mart 'n' Al]

Althea, I had a free MyH test and I am still wondering about my 8% Albanian!  I don't think my ancestors ever left the county (Bedlingtonshire) !

Martin

[Althea7]

I just checked for the exact amounts, MyHeritage also gives me 8.6% Italian and 1.7% Ashkenazi Jewish.

As Martin says they gave him 8% Albanian for ancestors who never left their English county, maybe it doesn't have any significance.

[Mart 'n' Al]

But an Albanian sailor might have visited my ancestors, of course.

Martin

[Althea7]

But an Albanian sailor might have visited my ancestors, of course.

Martin

All kinds of mixtures happened in history.  I think the Vikings sailed down the river Rhine (?) and worked with the Ottoman rulers?  But that was so long ago, surely any genes from the Viking era, or Roman era, would have long ago died out due to mixing with a much bigger local population?

There were also Baltic trade routes?

But for you to have 8% Albanian, surely it would either mean that Albanians were coming to England on a large scale, maybe to a specific local area for a specific purpose, in which case this would show up in contemporary local DNA, or that there was one ancestor in the fairly recent past?  8% is a lot?

[hurworth]

My aunt gets 1.7% Ashkenazi, 1.2% West African and 1% North African at MyHeritage.  I've noticed that at MyHeritage quite a few of her Irish matches also show small traces of these.

In my aunt's case I don't think this is real.

[Althea7]

My aunt gets 1.7% Ashkenazi, 1.2% West African and 1% North African at MyHeritage.  I've noticed that at MyHeritage quite a few of her Irish matches also show small traces of these.

In my aunt's case I don't think this is real.

It does seem strange that we share these traces with our matches with Irish ancestors, and not with other matches.  Maybe it is just due to the way MyHeritage estimate ethnicity.

I have traced most of the lines in my tree back at least to the early nineteenth century, many lines much further back, and all my known direct ancestors lived in the British Isles.  I have no idea where that 8.6% Italian DNA came from either.

I just checked my exact ethnicity estimate on MyHeritage.

Europe 95%.
   North and West Europe 84.7%. 
      Irish, Scottish and Welsh 57.7%.
      Scandinavian 27%.
   South Europe 8.6%
      Italian 8.6%.
   Ashkenazi Jewish 1.7%.


Africa 5%.
    North Africa 4%
    West Africa, Nigerian 1%.