DNA puzzle

[Olde Crone]

For reasons not clear to me, my bro has had an atDNA test. I have made my opinions clear on DNA testing, so I am not surprised that the geographical information is bland tripe!

But can someone please explain to me why my bro apparently has29% Irish ancestry, when we do not have a single identifiably Irish person in our tree of nearly 2000 people? I do not question paternity in at least the three most recent generations.

OC

[kiterunner]

Because it's mostly Americans who have this test done, and Americans love to have Irish ancestry? Just guessing.

[Mary from Italy]

How cynical :) :)

[Olde Crone]

It's making me more and more annoyed, lol. 29% Irish would mean that at least one of our grandparents was completely Irish and they most definitely were not.
I,m not concerned about being Irish or not, I,m concerned about the misinformation involved.

OC

[Merry]

Have they sent him someone else's results? :D

[Olde Crone]

Lol Merry!

I have many illegitimate ancestors (oh the shame) but all are too far back to account for this. Unless I have misunderstood what is involved in finishing up with an ethnic origin of nearly one third!

And what is meant by Irish anyway, as opposed to British? Why does my mother's completely Scottish ness not show at all?

OC

[ElizabethHerts]

Perhaps the Irishness given in the results is actually your Scottish ancestry?

[Merry]

Was your brother swapped at birth, perhaps?? :eek:

Goodness knows, re your known Scottish ancestry. What does your brother think about the results?

Is Owd Timothy o' th' Looms mentioned anywhere in the DNA results? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Olde Crone]

Unfortunately no, my brother was not swapped at birth. He is as puzzled as I am because photographic evidence, if nothing else, shows that we are all related in a proper manner, lol.

Elizabeth- I,ve just been reading something about the Scots and the Irish being closely genetically related so that is probably the answer here. But how very misleading.

All this just consolidates my view that genetic testing as a shortcut to family history is at best misleading and at worst, a complete ripoff. Glad it wasn't my money!

OC

[maggie_4_7]

The Irish and Scots DNA are very closely linked. I would expect to see Irish in my DNA.

"Irish and Scottish people share very similar DNA. The obvious similarities of culture, pale skin, tendancy to red hair have historically been prescribed to the two people's sharing a common celtic ancestry. Actually it now seems much more likely that the similarity results from the movement of people from the north of Ireland into Scotland in the centuries 400 - 800 AD. At this time the kingdom of Dalriada, based near Ballymoney in County Antrim extended far into Scotland. The Irish invaders brought Gaelic language and culture, and they also brought their genes."

https://www.sott.net/article/263587-DNA-shows-Irish-people-have-more-complex-origins-than-previously-thought

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31905764

[Olde Crone]

Thanks for those links Maggie.

I've just read an article regarding research done on a very small sample of people, comparing dna of Irish, Polish and Aberdonians! The Irish and Aberdonian dna was very closely related, so as my mother was an Aberdonian, there's the answer.

Of course, unless you understood that there was an Irish/Aberdonian connection, or even an Irish/Scottish connection, you could go a long way up a dead end looking for Irish connections.

We don't have red hair (but one or two of my grandchildren have a suspiciously auburn tinge, haha) but we do have pale skin, light blue eyes and flat faces!

OC

[Olde Crone]

Update.

My bro has received his first match. We do not recognise any of the surnames except for one very common name. My heart sagged when contact said he has our tree back to 1066. A look at his tree reveals the usual Ancestry fantasy tree in all its glory, complete with 14 year old grandfathers and 92 year old mothers.

OC

[Merry]

lol OC :d Does he have Owd Timothy? :rolleyes:

[Olde Crone]

No, not a single Holden!

OC

[marquette]

My husband and I had our DNA tested, his for a family history research problem, and mine because I was just curious.

We are both 100% European, but his DNA says he is 62% British Isles and small bits of everything else, while mine is 59% West and Central European and only 29% British Isles.

Mine was really a surprise because in most cases, I can trace my ancestry back to the beginning of parish records and there's no immigrants obvious ! I can only think that I have lots of Normans who came with the Conqueror and because some of my ancestors married their first cousin, it concentrated the DNA.

We both have some Scottish and Irish ancestors, him both more than me (and he has Welsh), but we both have 2-3% Southern European which I imagine is some stray Romans who donated DNA to us.

Interestingly, he has barely any common DNA with the other 10 family members in the family study, and not with all of them. Strangely, I also have a trace amount in common with two of his family members, although not from the common family I would think. Too small to make any definitive conclusion, or even to follow up as it would be many generations before records were kept I think.

Neither of us had matches with anyone worth chasing up and I really only did it to see what they thought my ethnic ancestry was.