yDNA Interpretations

Interpretations

Introduction

The different links on the Society website provide a history of the Ó Donnchadha name and the various septs/tribes which identify them. The yDNA results are divided most clearly between the different tribes of Eoghanacht O’Donoghues, who trace their descent from Eoghan Mór and the Milesian warriors of mythical times, and the several tribes of Breifne Donohoes of county Cavan.

The Atlantic Modal Haplotype (AMH) and L21

A modal haplotype is a compilation and average of the most common allele values at each marker for the group which is being defined. Along the western coast of Europe, there is a common haplotype amidst the R1b1a population which has been labeled the Atlantic Modal Haplotype – AMH. About three years ago, an SNP named L21 was identified that appears to encompass the majority of R1b1a found in Ireland and the British Isles. The L21 modal mirrors that of the AMH. Those values are listed on line 8 of Spreadsheet B for comparison with the various tribes and clusters.

The two most numerous of the identified tribes are the Eoghanacht Raithlind and Eoghanacht Cashel, whose ancestral modals both match the AMH/L21 modal rather closely but are separated principally by five loci, DYS 391, DYS 385b, DYS 439, DYS 447 and DYS565, where the Raithlind/Mór tribe match the AMH/L21 modal while the Cashel/Glens tribe differ by a genetic distance of one, either up or down from that modal. These four markers are significant in differentiating the two tribes, and the alleles are highlighted in yellow in the spreadsheets for the Mór members and in orange for the Glens. Other tribes differ from the L21 modal at varying different markers. The spreadsheets indicate the various modals for the different tribes.

SNP's

In addition to the STR’s that are tested to identify an individual’s haplotype, SNP’s (Singular Nuclear Polymorphisms) are also found on the Y chromosome. Since SNP's play a significant role in differentiating some of the tribes, a brief summary of them will be useful before proceeding to the particular tribes. While both STR's and SNP's can back mutate (return to an ancestral value) SNP's are more stable than STR’s and mutate infrequently so that they can clearly identify a related group. They are used to separate the different haplogroups and their subclades. Family Tree offers ‘Deep Clade’ tests for some of the early SNP’s that have been discovered, and advanced tests for an increasingly long list of newly discovered SNP's is also available. If a person is ‘ancestral’ for an SNP, this means he does not have that SNP and his ancestors’ yDNA never contained that mutation. He is ‘derived’, if his ancestor carried that defining SNP.

The Northwest Irish Modal Haplotype was one of the early Irish subclades to be recognized, based on its distinctive haplotype. In February 2006 research identified the SNP labeled M222 as distinguishing this subclade. A number of the Breifne Group A participants have tested positive (derived) for M222, which was expected, since their haplotype so closely matches the modal for that subclade.

A more recent development is the discovery the SNP labeled L21. It identifies a major subclade that appears to be related to Celtic territories on the continent, with a large majority of the Irish and British who have tested to be positive. Early on, we had both a Glens and Mór representative tested - and both returned positive. The NWIMH’s M222 is itself a subclade of L21.

While there are a significant number of continental L21+ results, particularly in areas of France and Germany which were settled by Celtic tribes, there are relatively few in Spain. Does this contradict the Milesian myth of coming from Spain via Egypt and Scythia? To those who wish to discount the myth, they point to this relative lack of L21 in Spain as evidence against the myth. There is a suggestion that the SNP originated in Ireland, which would make any individuals having L21+ be part of the early settlers of the island and the likelihood of the Milesians being later ‘invaders’ would be very suspect. It would have been very tidy to find our Eoghanacht tribes were L21-, matching the prevalence in Spain, but it does not necessarily cancel the possibility that they had come from other Celtic areas north of the Pyrenees prior to their travels to the east before coming back via Spain to Ireland. The myths are vague enough about how long Gallo and his relations lived in Spain itself. The focus is on them stopping in Spain after their sojourn in Scythia prior to their invading Ireland.

I have found evidence of haplotypes from Romania matching our Eoghanacht tribes in the YHRD database (YHRD.org) and more recently the data accompanying a paper, Population History of the Dniester-Carpathians, which studied the same area of Romania near the Black Sea, which historically had been Scythian territory. Significantly, the haplotype of the Mór members with the unusual value of 12 at DYS392 was found there (see the October 2006 Journal, The Milesian Myth & the Scythian Connection). The only difficulty with these sources is that the number of markers tested is only eleven (YHRD) or seven (PHotD-C) – basically from the first twelve Family Tree markers – so the connection is statistically less significant than if there were more markers that matched as well. We keep looking.

In late 2009 a new SNP named L226 was discovered via the Walk-the-Y project at Family Tree which was determined to be a defining SNP for the Irish Type III haplotype. This defines our Ruis Airgit/Irish Type III group. There is a website created by Dennis Wright that is devoted to Irish Type III at http://www.irishtype3dna.org/ . It contains a thorough discussion of the findings to date.

There is a Leinster modal haplotype identified by the SNP L159.2 with a dedicated project at Family Tree which can be found at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b-L159.2/default.aspx. It explains that ‘This SNP is a parallel mutation that exists also within Haplogroup I2a.’ and also ‘The first discovery of L159 was within Haplogroup I-M26; it was then found within R-L21. FTDNA designated them L159.1 and L159.2, respectively.’ There are a number of observations made on the Goals page of the website. For L159.2 found in Ireland, ‘The majority of Irish samples are from coastal Leinster (Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Kildare) and Munster (Cork). We have a small cluster who match this modal.

A Donnachie who joined our project belongs to a subclade identified by a different SNP – U152 – which is quite distinct from the more numerous L21 in Ireland. This gentleman is from Derry, and he matches a group of men in our Project, one of which knows his origins to be Cavan. There is only one other member of the Breifne Clans Project who matches this cluster, so it does not appear to be terribly populous, at least amongst Donohues.

Our O’Donoghue of the Glens was tested through the Walk-the-Y project in hopes that a defining SNP would be discovered for the South Irish haplotype, but on the section of the Y chromosome tested, no unique SNP was discovered.

The O’Donoghue Mór tribe

The O’Donoghue Mór tribe belongs to the Eoghanacht Raithlind, which also includes the O’Mahony’s. This tribe of Eoghanacht is considered by many to be the senior branch of the Eoghanacht, with the other tribes separating from them and establishing their own identities at various times through the centuries. Eoghan Mór, their progenitor (if he did indeed exist), probably lived around the time of Christ, give or take a century or so.

The Raithlind ancestral modal basically matches the AMH/L21 modal, with a few variations. At DYS 460, the AMH/L21 modal is 11, but the Mór tribe has two subclades with a 10 and a few one step up the modal to 12. There are four fast mutating markers – DYS 449, DYS 456 and DYS 576, where the variance is one to three from the modal, and DYS CDYa & b is highly mutable and shows little consistency except between relatively closely related individuals.

Within the Mór tribe, there are several subgroups of individuals that share particular allele values that separate them somewhat from the others. Spreadsheet B shows those smaller subgroups. There is a singleton who is not closely related to anyone else in the group, but with origins in Kerry, he has been included here. The first group of nine men include our founding Group Administrator, Prof. Tom Donahue, whose family tree leads him directly to Coomacullen Mountain about three miles from Glenflesk. While he originally supposed that his geographic location placed him within the O’Donoghue of the Glens tribe, his haplotype clearly matches the Mór in common values as well as genetic distance. His group has several common alleles between them, each a genetic distance of one from the ancestral modal. One of these gentlemen has his origins in Tipperary prior to emigration to the US, but his research indicates that there does seem to be a Kerry connection as well. Another recent participant who is a genetic distance of one from Jerry has been able to find a common ancestor back in the 18th century. This is a real success story.

Next there is a pair of two men with a Glens allele value of 11 at DYS 439. While their TMRCA between each other is less close as a whole than the other subgroups, their off-modal allele patterns suggest a similarity. Their TMRCA to the tribe as a whole appropriately assigns them to the tribe. The more unusual result is for a family whose paper trail suggests that a paternal ancestor had been adopted and was not a true O’Donoghue. However, a review of photos of the O’Donoghue ancestor and three generations of offspring suggests a surprising family resemblance and increases the odds that family may indeed be O’Donoghues, however the paper trail may appear. With that evidence, the similarity of haplotype and the lack of matches with the suspected surname or any other surname, we are including this participant in the Mór tribe. If future evidence lessens this likelihood, we will always reconsider.

The single most significant allele in the Mór group is the allele of 12 at DYS 392. The AMH/L21 value is 13, along with the vast majority of all R1b. This is an extremely slow mutating marker, and I have labeled it the ‘Scythian connection?’, due to the fact that in several databases containing haplotypes gathered from around the world, it matches a small group of similar haplotypes found in the Carpathian mountains of Romania, which were the lands of the ancient Royal Scythians, where, according to legend, Mil Espana/Gallo was to have travelled prior to his return to Spain and his sons sailing to Ireland to establish that mythic Milesian dynasty. There are two in-depth articles, in the October 2006 Journal - The Milesian Myth and the Scythian Connection - and the October 2010 Journal - The Enigma of the Eóganacht Genetic Signature and the ‘Scythian Marker’ - regarding this myth and the supporting yDNA evidence that suggests that there may be some element of truth to the story.

There is no other Eóganacht family that carries this unusual marker value. This significant match with the eastern world suggests that the line of the O'Donoghue Mór may indeed be the unique carrier of a genetic tie with the Milesian lineage and the legend of these invading Gaels.

There are twelve participants who have this unique value of 12 at DYS 392 including Tighe O’Donoghue/Ross (the official historian of the Society). His family tradition of descending from the Mór/Ross lineage was instrumental in recognizing that there is indeed a separate, robust lineage of that lost dynasty from the 1583 death of Rory O’Donoghue Mór and the later attainder in 1586 of the last documented O’Donoghue Mór of Loch Lein, his son, also named Rory.

According to tradition, the Mór family moved to the Glens lands after the attainder and remained there till the Rightboy movement of the Tithe wars, when the then O’Donoghue of Ross became Captain Right, the leader of the movement (see Captain Right – The Rightboy movement and the Tithe Wars in the Jan 2004 Journal). Finally caught and banished to the Burren of Clare, Tighe’s grandfather was one of those descendants who emigrated to the US from that county in 1905. Tighe’s closest relative in the project is also from Clare, though his family’s illustrious/infamous history was lost in the mists of time and the tribulations of staying alive on that barren landscape until the present day.

The yDNA records also show that some of those Mór O’Donoghues managed to evade the English guns, since there are ten other members with the distinctive 12 at DYS 392, who still hail from Kerry to Limerick, which would have been the northernmost reaches of the original Mór territories. They all have rather close connections, with two matching exactly at 37 markers who have found their common ancestor in a family of four brothers of the early 1800’s. Another member, a genetic distance of two (from the two just mentioned) at fast mutating markers, has a family tree connecting him to one of the other four brothers. The remaining participants of this group, including the founder of The O’Donoghue Society, our own Rod O’Donoghue, have in all likelihood a connection near the time of the four brothers – perhaps a generation or two further back. They are still searching records to see if they can find the common ancestor.

In addition to two of the last members of the Mór tribe, who match each other exactly at 25 markers, sharing one off-modal allele at DYS 447, a participant upgraded from 12 to 67 markers to find he is closest to this Mór subgroup. None of them are sure from whence their families came in Ireland, but one of them felt the call of home when he visited Ireland and drove within sight of the Kerry mountains.

The Raithlind group has a wide spread of TMRCA between the subgroups. Those who have the ‘Scythian’ allele are overall the closest. Tighe and his close cousin, John Roger, have not yet found a common ancestor via paper trail. He may lie just beyond the records still available, or he may still be discovered. Of the ten mentioned above, several have a known common ancestor, and the rest are certainly almost as close. But, comparing the two to the ten, there is an average distance of 1700+ years, making the common ancestor probably back to the very beginning of the Raithlind dynasty. On the surface, you might think that they are not necessarily related at all, with such a distant TMRCA. However, with the rarity of the 12 at DYS 392, coupled with them sharing the same surname and the known origins of most of them to be in the Mór territory, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that the connection is there.

The first subgroup of Prof. Tom Donahue’s also has a definitive tie to Kerry; and they are clearly not part of the Glens tribe, based on their Mór modal values at the four distinguishing markers highlighted in yellow on the Spreadsheet B and their TMRCA. Their average distance of TMRCA to Tighe and John Roger is 1500+ years, making them actually closer to those two than to the group of ten. This reinforces all the relationships, indicating that Prof Tom’s subgroup mutated back to the common 13 value at DYS 392 at some point after the common ancestor.

With the introduction of the 111 marker upgrades, several of the Mór participants have availed of the upgrade. The results have been quite interesting, insofar as the results of a member of the first subgroup shares marker values with Tighe O'Donoghue./Ross that differ from the two upgrades in Rod's group of ten, who also share almost all of the same values.

The most significant discovery, however, is that research into newly identified SNP's amongst the genetic genealogy community has discovered that a 9 at DYS643 (one of the last markers listed) is a strong indicator of the presence of the SNP DF21. A small group of interested individuals contacted Tighe and suggested he test for DF21. He did, and was found to be derived - DF21+. However, Rod also tested and was found to be negative for DF21. This creates a huge quandry, since the implication is that Tighe's group of two is not related to Rod's group of ten within the timeframe of the genesis of the SNP, which has been estimated to roughly 3,000 years ago.

However, the member of the first subgroup with 111 markers shares the 9 at DYS643 with Tighe. He has requested a test for DF21, so we will see if he is as well and withhold further conjecture until those results are in.

It has been suggested that the presence of another cluster of O’Donoghues in the Killarney/Glenflesk area does not necessarily equate with them being of the Mór lineage. That is, of course, technically true. The majority of Irish families suffer from the gap in records which resulted from the English occupation of the country, making it impossible to verify a continuation of pedigrees in most cases. However, the family tradition, coupled with the genetic evidence we have discovered and the long TMRCA between the cluster as a whole suggesting an ancient lineage supports the verity of the designation of the Mór tribe.

Things are less complicated for the Glens tribe.

The O’Donoghue of the Glens tribe

Many histories describe the Mór and Glens lines as originating from two sons of Awly Mór (d.1158), the champion of Kerry who staved off the attempted conquest of south Kerry by the O’Briens of Thomond, built the cathedral at Aghadoe and solidified the Eoghanacht Raithlind presence in Kerry. The yDNA project has overturned that assumption, by clearly separating the lineage of The O’Donoghue of the Glens from that of the Mór. A few historians have posited different origins of the two tribes, and the research initiated by Prof. Tom Donahue has indicated that the Glens tribe of the Hy Donnomoii, the senior branch of the Eoghanacht Cashel, which also includes the McCarthys and O’Sullivans. Their likely progenitors separated from the Eoghanacht Raithlind around the 5th century, when the annals indicate Corc of Cashel established his tribe in Tipperary after his group’s return from several generations in Wales, raiding the Roman settlements there.

By the middle of the 11th century, the Eoghanacht Cashel O’Donoghues were driven from power and out of Tipperary by the McCarthys, and we see little of them in the annals after that until they show themselves in Kerry in the mid 1100’s. Later histories contain uneven references to the Cashel O’Donoghues and they are sometimes not mentioned at all, but that could be said of other families as well, depending upon the sources used.

As mentioned earlier, this tribe has five loci, DYS 391, DYS 385b, DYS 439, DYS 447 and DYS565, with off-modal values from the AMH. This ancestral modal matches that of the ‘South Irish’ haplotype, also described as ‘Irish Type II’. Surname projects of McCarthys, O’Sullivans, McGillicuddys, O’Mahony’s and other Eóganacht families contain individuals who also closely match this ancestral haplotype, though there are often other markers with different modal values as well that distinguishes them from other families. This similarity also supports the contention that the Glens O’Donoghues are part of the tribe of Eóganacht Cashel. It also suggests a different origin than the eastern Gaels which the O’Donoghue Mór lineage embodies.

The Glens tribe is a very coherent group. On average, they are related within 1000 years or less, which coincides with the timeframe of the earliest indications of the Glens tribe as a separate entity in Kerry, shortly after the death of Awly Mór. This would seem to indicate that the whole tribe descended from one man, or at most a few closely related individuals who were at that time probably part of Awly Mór’s family, either through fosterage or adoption. There was a common practice noted in the Brehon laws that P. W. Joyce explains in his Social History of Ancient Ireland. “An adopted person was called Mac Faosma, literally ‘son of protection.’ Sometimes not only individuals, but smaller tribes, who for any reason had migrated from their original home, were adopted; who were then known as finé-taccuir, i.e. ‘a family taken under protection’.” This could explain the common notion that the Mór and Glens lines were from sons of Awly Mór. There is no other adequate explanation for how Awly Mór’s territories were divided after his death and the two lineages would have retained close ties of kinship throughout subsequent history.

The group includes five individuals of recognized branches of the Glens tribe still living in their ancestral territories in addition to The O’Donoghue of the Glens, who now lives in Offaly. The most significant division within the group is of seven individuals with slightly different alleles at two of the multi-copy markers – DYS 385b, DYS 464d, DYS CDYb and DYS 442, four of which can trace their families back to a common ancestor in the US, though not across the water.

There are two Dunphy’s from Laois who tested to 67 markers to confirm that they are related, and a participant from the Duff cadet line of the Glens has tested to support that he is indeed related to The Glens as his family history indicates.

There are two others who have personal haplotypes with a few more than usual off-modal values, nonetheless, we are comfortable with the correctness of their attribution.

There are also three participants whose birth name is O’Donoghue. For one, his results exactly match another Glens member, and they have communicated to discover a common ancestor, which has opened up a whole new family history to enjoy. This is another success story.

There are seven participants of other surnames who match the Glens/Southern Irish modal. One does not know where his family originated, three are from Cork/Kerry and one, though his immediate family originated in Clare, a tribe of his surname is found in Munster, which could explain his matching the Glens modal. There is an O’Neill from Tipperary who matches the South Irish, much the same as two other O’Neills in the O’Neill project who are also South Irish. The genealogical tracts include the name O’Neill as a sept of the Eóganacht Raithlind. While we consider the Glens tribe to be Eóganacht Cashel rather than Raithlind, there is an indication that these South Irish O’Neills are of an Eóganacht lineage. Family roots in Tipperary place them in proximity with the Cashel Eóganacht when they were at their height of power. A Mulcahy has joined us since he matches the South Irish haplotype of the Glens tribe and the Annals of Inisfallen indicate the possibility of an ecclesiastical connection with a Dean Ó Donnchada in 1317 AD.

From the annals, it would appear that the Hy Donnomoii were scattered after they were forced from Cashel in the mid 1000’s, since for the next century they were lost to recorded history. In that time, the various families would have made their way the best they could, though the majority of them probably remained in the Cork/Munster area. By the time surnames came into practice, they could have taken a local surname, but the royal lineage appears to have been taken under the protection of Awly Mór, or perhaps his predecessor, and they assumed the name O’Donoghue along with Awly’s tribe when surnames were taken.

Osraighe (or not)

There are two occasions when an Eoghanacht tribe was overlord of the Erainn Osraighe tribes of the lands in Ossory, which the Historical Origins link describes as comprising County Kilkenny and certain parts of counties Tipperary and Laois.

The Eoghanacht held sovereignty over the Osraighe territories in the 6th century, prior to the local tribes wresting back power and ruling the territories themselves. However, due to an unlawful killing of the Cashel King by the King of Leinster in the mid 700’s in a battle at the Hill of Allen, an eric (fine) was imposed, and part of the Osraighe territory from Gowran in Kilkenny to Dungrianan in Tipperary was given to the neighbouring Eoghanacht Cashel. O’Hart indicates it remained under their control until the end of the 12th century when Normans seized it.

In addition to the Eoghanacht sovereignty, there is also record of an O'Donnchadha tribe being kings of Osraighe along with the O'Carroll’s and MacGillipatrick’s. While there is record of Donal Mac Firbis saying that these O’Donoghues were of Eoghanacht origins, it is also possible that they were Erainn. In the April 2009 Journal, Eóin Ó Donnchadha wrote a brief article as an introduction to the Ua Donnchadha sept of Osraighe. His own origins go back to north Wexford, which is not far from the traditional Osraighe territory. Eóin and Kurtis Dunphy (Dunphy origins are said to be in Osraighe, though more on that below) share an unusual allele, and Eóin’s own research uncovered that a number of Carroll’s matched his and Kurtis Dunphy’s uncommon null 425. Initially, that supported a connection between the Ósraighe Ua Donnchadha and the O’Carrolls of Ely, whose territory is in Osraighe.

However, as mentioned in the October quarterly report, Joe Donohoe’s 2009 annual report for the Breifne Clans project contains a well researched, thorough discussion of Oriel surnames and the Airghialla clans of the Oriel territories, including parts of counties Armagh, Monaghan and Louth, abutting Cavan. There are a number of these Oriel families who contain members with null 425’s (which Eóin and Kurtis share), and there are a tribe of Oriel Carroll’s in this territory. Hence the Carroll’s who are null 425 are probably Oriel O’Carroll’s.

There is a new Family Tree project devoted to the Ely Carroll’s and I’ve been in touch with the administrator. The pedigree of one of the cluster of Carroll’s considered Ely supports that the cluster is indeed Ely, and their ancestral haplotype does not match that of our two participants. This makes it unlikely that there is an Osraighe connection for our two null 425 participants.

Eóin has also researched the Teallach Modharain Ó Donnchadha, of which, as indicated in Rod’s book, little is known. Their territory appears to abut Airghialla tribes, but so far there has not been found any sources which include them in the Airghialla. Joe points out in his BCP Report 5, Part 7 that there are no obvious associations between the Dunphy/Ó Donnchadha names and the Airghialla. In any case, Eóin and Rod are pursuing further research to try to uncover more material which would clarify if the Teallach Modharain Ó Donnchadha may have Airghialla connections. As a result of this additional information, we are listing Eóin and Kurtis as a possible Teallach Modharain cluster at the moment.

Ruis Airgit

The territory of the Eoghanacht Ruis Airgit, noted as the smallest of the eight Onaghts, lies at the northern edge of the lands of the Osraighe. While there is little information in the old records and manuscripts about them, we believe there are strong indications that they are a sept of Raithlind. It was at the beginning of the earliest contemporary annals begun in the 500’s A.D., long before the assignment of surnames, when the first instance of Eoghanacht overlordship of the Osraighe took place, as mentioned above. At that time, the Eoghanacht Raithlind were the most powerful of the Eoghanacht tribes in Munster. Their core territory was the rich lands between the River Lee and the River Bandon in what is now West Cork. Their stronghold at that time was Garranes (see the Jan 2011 Journal for the article – Garranes, The Camelot of Ireland). Due most certainly to their warlike tendencies, they had gained supremacy over much of the area throughout the whole of Munster. They were actively expanding their territories and conquering local tribes, among them the Corcu Loegde, an Erainn tribe in a territory to the southwest of them, along with the Erainn Osraighe to the northeast, who were, at the time, one of the Corcu Loegde’s vassal tribes. It would have been expected that the Eoghanacht Raithlind place allies as overlords of these Osraighe. Since the Eoghanacht Ruis Airgit (Silver Wood) were located just north of the Osraighe, it’s quite possible that they were given this role.

Around this same period, the Raithlind were also battling northwest towards Clare to annex that territory, which was part of Connacht at that time. In order to accomplish this task, they sent a contingent of Deisi warriors (a Belgic – Fir Bolg Celtic tribe in Wexford to the south of their territory) to Clare, logically under Eoghanacht leadership as well. They were successful, and these soldiers probably remained in Clare to assure the allegiance of the tribes there. The supremacy of the Eoghanacht over the Osraighe in this first instance was short lived, but, it may not be a coincidence that there is record of another Ruis Airgit in Clare, which would suggest that the overlords of the Osraighe in the 6th century may have been Ruis Airgit as well.

There are four O’Donoghues whose family originates in either Offaly or Tipperary, one of them is still living in Offaly, who we believe may be part of that tribe. The ancestral haplotype of this group matches another recognized Irish modal – Irish Type III, which is shared with the current tribe and chief of the O’Briens. I discussed this discovery at length in the April 2007 quarterly report, with our reasonings for our attribution at the time. These O’Donoghues had originally been included in the Mór tribe prior to our becoming aware of their match to the ‘Irish Type III’ haplotype. A member still included in the Mór tribe was originally part of their subgroup. His genetic distance was similar to theirs, but he didn’t have the distinctive allele values distinguishing the Type III modal. That might indicate that the Type III is indeed a cadet branch of the Eoghanacht Raithlind whose genetic signature mutated to the current Irish Type III haplotype, which also supports the theory that E. Ruis Airgit derives from E. Raithlind, since what records there are of Ruis Airgit indicates its presence in north Kilkenny west of the River Nore and also in Clare.

This Eoghanacht Ruis Airgit presence in Clare would align them geographically with Thomond. The fact that The O’Brien and a significant percentage of other O’Briens, along with septs descended from them, are Irish Type III would support the concept that they are indeed of Milesian lineage, something which they claimed after their rise to power in north Munster, though generally historians such as O’Rahilly and Ó Corráin tend to dismiss this as a fabrication in order to elevate their lineage. There is the possibility that the O’Brien overlords of the Dal Cassians (as they called themselves, a grander title, rather than Deisi, which means ‘vassals’) may indeed have been descendants of the legendary Milesian Spanish soldiers.

Checking the O’Mahoney’s surname project, which is the other family in the Eoghanacht Raithlind, there are several individuals who are also Irish Type III. Their original territory was in West Cork as well, and it’s possible that it was from their tribe that the Ruis Airgit originated. At this point, we are listing our cluster as possible Ruis Airgit.

A Dunphy who has joined the project is also Irish Type III. His origins are in Cork back to the early 1800’s. (There is an article about his family in the April 2009 Journal.)

A sixth participant with this haplotype is of a different surname – Forbes, whose immediate ancestry is Scotland. He joined our project when he discovered the close match he has with our participants. He has no close matches among those of his own surname, and he is of the opinion that Forbes is probably not his actual heritage but the name chosen when surnames came into use by virtue of the fact that his family was living in Scotland in Forbes territory at the time. He professes an affinity for the Irish more than the Scots, which could mean there is indeed a connection there. Family traditions and ‘gut’ instincts are not to be ignored.

While there is logic to the conclusions that we have arrived at in that the report mentioned, there is still the possibility that the Irish Type III are unrelated to the Eóganacht, as suggested by O’Rahilly and Ó Corráin. An SNP - L226 - has been discovered through the Walk-The-Y project at Family Tree which so far has been found exclusively in those with the Irish Type III haplotype. One of the members of our Type III group has been tested positive for this SNP as well. The age of this identified subclade has been variously estimated to be from 800 to 1500 years. That could mean that the common ancestor could have branched off from one of Brian Boru’s recent ancestors, or it may have arisen in the early phase of the Eóganacht dynastic period.

If the common ancestor were to have been from the earlier time, it’s conceivable that the ancestor’s haplotype mutated from the line of the O’Donoghue Mór. The most significant alleles that distinguish this haplotype are the values at DYS 459a & b and DYS 464a & b. These loci lie close to each other on the Y chromosome segment, and according to Dr. Thomas Krahn at Family Tree, have a tendency to mutate at the same time. The ancestral modal of the Mór and Type III is only a genetic distance of seven apart. If the two multicopy markers mutated at the same time and were considered just one mutation, the genetic distance is only five. It’s quite possible that the L226 SNP arose at that same time.

There is a website created by Dennis Wright that is devoted to Irish Type III at http://www.irishtype3dna.org/ . It contains a thorough discussion of the findings to date.

Eoghanacht Ninussa/Aran Mór

This tribe of O’Donoghues were located in Clare, on Aran Mor. In the 5th century, St. Enna brought a contingent of 150 followers to Aran to convert the pagans there. At that time, Christianity had not yet arrived on these remote islands. When some of the inhabitants refused to convert, Enna asked his brother-in-law, Oengus Mac Nad Friach, King of Munster at the time, to send forces to assist in the conversion of those recalcitrant natives. He sent a contingent of Eóganacht from Cashel to do so, and after the banishment of those who would not covert, these Eóganacht remained and settled. That group came to be known as the Eoghanacht Ninussa (named after the Scottish abbot Ninnian who was known for his missionary work) and we suspect that we may have members of that Eoghanacht tribe as well. This group is not to be confused with the Mór/Ross O’Donoghues who were transplants from Kerry at the end of the 18th century during the Tithe Wars.

We have an O’Donohue whose family originates in Clare, and his haplotype is different from the Mór/Ross O’Donoghues. A second participant matches at 11/12 markers. Unfortunately, he is not aware of his origin in Ireland. We tentatively designated these two members as Ninussa. Since our last report, we’ve had another participant with 37 markers who matches our Clare man – but whose family last hails from county Kerry. Since they match exactly at 12 markers with some unique allele values and show a TMRCA of only 600 years, we are inclined to consider them both as possible Ninussa, with John’s family probably migrating to Kerry at some point in time. We hope to see more participants from that county to widen our understanding of this tribe.

Cavan Donohues

There are four different subgroups of Donohue/Donohoes in the Project. They cross over with groups in the Breifne Clans project, which also has members that belong with other tribes in the Society project.

The Breifne Group A modal matches that of another established Irish subclade – the NWIMH, the Northwest Irish Modal Haplotype. It was discovered within the genetic genealogy community by David Wilson in late 2004 and it was further studied during the Smurfit Institute of Genetics’ project at Trinity College and independently named the Irish Modal Haplotype. They described the haplotype, predominating in the northwestern areas of Ireland, as being that of the Ui Neill. The TMRCA (Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor) they calculated of 1730 years ago has a standard deviation (SD) of 670 years that could place the common ancestor much later, or earlier, than the 4th century in which Niall of the Nine Hostages was most likely to have lived, but David Wilson has reported that the haplotype has been variously estimated from 2,000 years to nearly 8,000 years. Thus, while it is almost certainly an older subclade than the time of Niall, there was press and publicity about it when Trinity published their paper in the American Journal of Human Genetics in November 2005 which captured the public’s fascination and the NWIMH/IMH has become synonymous with Niall, even to the extent that Family Tree uses it as a benchmark for those matching the modal.

While the NWIMH definitely has a geographic distribution across the northern counties and over the channel into the Scottish highlands, it’s unlikely its origins can be attributed to any specific tribe. You can find more information about this Irish subclade at these two websites: http://clanmaclochlainn.com/R1b1c7/ and http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b1c7/default.aspx, where you can join the Family Tree R-M222 Haplogroup Project if you belong to this subclade (Breifne Group A).

The Breifne Group B has a distinct ancestral modal differing from Group A. It is definitely not NWIMH, but it is quite distinct from the southern Eoghanacht. There is a third Group C with five members in the Society project, and they have more matches in the Breifne Clans’ ‘FD2MaguireGroup’.

A Breifne Group D has been recently added who are in the U152 subclade. This group of six men are rather close to the AMH except for a value of 10 at DYS 391 (which is the off-modal value of the Glens tribe for that marker) and hence appear somewhat close to the Mór tribe. However, the one gentleman who knows his place of origin in Ireland is from Cavan. Another matching participant in the Breifne Clans project is also from Cavan, though they do not match any other of the Cavan/Breifne tribes. So their haplotype might make it appear that they are not too distant from the Mór lineage.

Hugh Donnachie from the Clan Donnachaidh project joined ours since his haplotype matches these men rather closely, and his TMRCA is also closest to theirs. He has had a Deep Clade test and he is positive for the SNP U152, which places him in the R1b1a2a1a1b3c1 sub-clade. This means that he cannot be related to the Mór lineage in any close timeframe, regardless of what his STR markers values are or how close they seem to be to the Mór tribe. We have received the results of a Deep Clade test for another member of the group, and he is also U152+, which supports the probability of the whole cluster being R1b1a2a1a1b3c1.

We recommend you visit the Breifne Clans website - http://donohoeclan.org/index2.html for more information.

Other Clusters

Melvin Lawrence Donahoo joined the project and his haplotype was rather close to this Group D just mentioned . He ordered a Deep Clade test, and I expected he would probably be R1b1a2a1a1b3c1 as well. I was wrong! He is also R1b1a2a1a1b4/L21+, as are the other tribes who have similarly tested. This is an example of how ‘convergence’ can occur across Hg R1b, which is so huge as to have unrelated haplotypes appear on the surface to be connected more closely than they actually are. I’ve placed Melvin in Group I of the Clusters with Thomas O’Donoghue, who has only a twelve marker test taken but matches Melvin exactly at those twelve markers.

I have labeled the smaller unidentified clusters (insofar as we are not currently aware of a known tribe of O’Donoghues to which they are likely to belong) as Group I through V.

Two members of Group V match the Leinster modal haplotype, so I listed the Leinster modal for comparative purposes. Here we have another instance of haplotype ‘looks’ being deceiving.

Our member John Paul Donahue, kit 174583, did not at first know from where his family had emigrated. He had been included in the Mór tribe, since his closest match at 25 markers was Michael P Donoghue, already included in the Mór. John had a Deep Clade test done, and the results were a surprise – rather than just the anticipated L21+, which was what was found for the other Mór participants, he was also L159.2+, which is an SNP found in the Leinster haplotype.

There is an R-L159 project at Family Tree which can be found at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b-L159.2/default.aspx. It explains that ‘This SNP is a parallel mutation that exists also within Haplogroup I2a.’ and also ‘The first discovery of L159 was within Haplogroup I-M26; it was then found within R-L21. FTDNA designated them L159.1 and L159.2, respectively.’ There are a number of observations made on the Goals page of the website. For L159.2 found in Ireland, ‘The majority of Irish samples are from coastal Leinster (Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Kildare) and Munster (Cork).

As it happens, John has since discovered that his earliest ancestor emigrated from county Tyrone. This, of course, is slightly at odds with being outside the Leinster province or the Cork area, but a migration from either area further north prior to emigrating to America is entirely feasible. Interestingly, John’s haplotype does not match the Leinster modal at any of the six distinguishing markers for that modal in the first 37 markers, which could indicate that the Leinster haplotype is older than some believe to be the case, with such variance in haplotype. John is now included in the Group IV cluster, with the two other participants whose STR’s match the Leinster modal.

Unaffiliated R1b1

We have a small group of six as of yet unaffiliated participants who do not match any of the clusters we have identified. A new member is a Donoghue from Athy, Kilkenny. While he matches the Group II cluster on some of their off-modal markers (I refer to off-modal from the AMH), the other men are null at DYS439 – indicated by a 12 in the spreadsheet – and hence it is unlikely there is any close connection there.

Rare allele values & Dunphys

There are a two pairs of individuals who match each other but are not very close to anyone else. They are listed on the third worksheet in Spreadsheet B. One pair has a null value at DYS439, listed as a 12 in the spreadsheets. There is a research ‘null439 DNA Project’ (http://www.familytreedna.com/public/null439/) at Family Tree that contains over 150 individuals that share this unusual value. It has recently been discovered that a null value at DYS439 is related to the presence of an SNP nearby on the chromosome, which interferes with the test process and prevents a value for DYS439 from being detected. This SNP is L1, which defines the R1b1a2a1a1a3 sub-clade. This subclade is seen mainly in the south and central parts of England, with a presence in Germany which has been interpreted to be its origin.

Likewise, we have two participants who have a null value at DYS425. Since this null value, though uncommon, occurs in a number of different haplogroups, there is no reason to believe the null value is anything other than a simple mutation, just as any other change in value might be.

Overall, we have a growing number of Dunphy’s in the project, including a gentleman in haplogroup I2b1, and their genetic distance indicates that there was no single origin of the Dunphy name, even though it has traditionally been considered a chosen change by O’Donoghues in the Osraighe area.

NPE - Non Paternal Event

This is a term used in the genetic genealogy community to indicate that the paper documentation regarding the parentage of the individual does not match what the yDNA reveals. This undoubtedly has the potential to create upset, but there is no need to jump to conclusions.

There are various reasons for an unexpected yDNA result. The person could be adopted into a family, or a father/grandfather/etc. could have been adopted. The mother may have remarried and the husband gave her children his name. In the case of the Irish, when surnames came into usage, it was usual that the people under the protection of the local chief assume his surname as part of the tribe. They were not always actually related to him. It also happened that people would take the name of a powerful individual, just to have the same name, regardless of whether there was any tribal connection or not.

In the case of the Raithlind O’Donoghues, they used the umbrella name of Clan tSealbhaig to encompass all the smaller tribes under their protection. This way, the people retained the name of their own head of family rather than assume the name O’Donoghue. That could be a reason for the more modest number of participants found to belong to the Mór tribe. In addition, a few years after the defeat at Kinsale, Rory O’Donoghue, the last acknowledged O’Donoghue Mór, took a company of men with him to the continent in 1606 and served in Spain, then later France. It’s likely that many of that company where O’Donoghue cousins, whose progeny have been lost to history. It would be interesting indeed if someday we find a match to the Mór lineage with a Spanish or French name. Testing in these countries is increasing, so there is such a possibility.

Other Haplogroups

We have a few members now who are members of a different haplogroup. While they have the name O’Donoghue, of various spellings, their genetic heritage is necessarily different from the majority of members in identified tribes. There could be various reasons for these differences.