100% England, Wales and Northwestern European

[Carl42]

My DNA results show that I have 100% England, Wales and Northwestern European ethnicity.  Ancestry define Northwestern European as an area around Calais plus the Cherbourg peninsula.  However I know that one of my ancestors, the wife of my paternal great grandfather, was Irish, and I know that the wife of my 4x great grandfather was from the Low Countries. 
Questions - Why don't these Irish and Dutch genes show up in my results?
I am male.  Am I to assume that my test results have only examined the male line?
Finally I find it very hard to accept, bearing in mind all the turmoil that has taken part in Europe during the past 2000 years(?), that my gene pool is confined to such a relatively small area.
I would be grateful if someone can enlighten me.
 

[KGarrad]

Ethnicity estimates are just that - estimates!

They are OK for a bit of fun, but shouldn't be relied upon.

[Craclyn]

https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/AncestryDNA-Ethnicity-FAQ

[melba_schmelba]

My DNA results show that I have 100% England, Wales and Northwestern European ethnicity.  Ancestry define Northwestern European as an area around Calais plus the Cherbourg peninsula. 

It covers far more than that - my map shows the lower half of the Netherlands, the whole of Belgium and Luxembourg, the western edge of Germany and almost half of western Switzerland. Your Irish ancestor may have been of partial or fully Anglo-Irish or Scots-Irish origin, if partial, maybe you only got the Anglo or Scots genes.

[guest189040]

Don’t get hung up on ethnicity.

The next time Ancestry does an update your ethnicity will change.

My own bears no similarity to what it did three years ago

[melba_schmelba]

My DNA results show that I have 100% England, Wales and Northwestern European ethnicity.  Ancestry define Northwestern European as an area around Calais plus the Cherbourg peninsula. 

It covers far more than that - my map shows the lower half of the Netherlands, the whole of Belgium and Luxembourg, the western edge of Germany and almost half of western Switzerland. Your Irish ancestor may have been of partial or fully Anglo-Irish or Scots-Irish origin, if partial, maybe you only got the Anglo or Scots genes.

Looking at the map again, it also includes northern Denmark, southern Denmark is included in the Germanic Europe category, this itself has a large overlap with the North Western europe map.

[Janethepain]

Your ethnicity estimate, if it is in any way accurate, and i do believe it can be, and is, in my case, definately represets both your male and female line. 

You only have passed on to you bits of DNA from your various ancestors, and it may well be  that you miss on getting any dna from some  distant ancestor, and I would guess that if that ancestor was the only Irish, or Jewish, or Scandinavian ancestor you have, then clearly you are unlikely to have these ethnicities included in your own full ethnic estimates. 

The chances involved in mitosis, (or is it meiosis - I can't remember), impact on the dna passed on or not passed on at every generation, at every joining of sperm and egg cell, to produce the next generation. If the DNA is not passed on, it won't be represented in your ethnicity estimate!

[IJDisney]

Ethnicity is only a broad definition in most cases, is based on recent population comparisons, and cannot reflect our individual richness of heritage since we do not inherit DNA from all of our ancestors.

700 years ago I had ancestors from Iceland, Russia, North Africa and the Middle East, but my Ancestry report does not reflect that.