Birth of another new Group (Group 6)

Recently, a new member joined the O'Malley DNA Project (LOM-8460). He did not match anyone in the existing 5 genetic groups, but he did match an O'Malley in the Ungrouped section (PMM-0138). And thus, a new genetic family was born. And it was christened Group 6.

The two gentlemen (Maley & O'Malley) have a highly unusual genetic signature which allows them to be grouped together with 95% confidence, even though their Genetic Distance is 6/37 (the usual threshold for matching is no higher than 4/37). Their Unique STR Pattern (USP) is characterised by highly distinctive marker values for the following "multi-copy" markers:

• dys459 8-8-9 (usually it is just 2 copies, not 3 e.g. 9-10)
• dys454 13-13-15-15-17-17 (usually it is just 4 copies, not 6)
• CDYa&b 34-37-38 (usually it is just 2 copies, not 3)

The Unique STR Pattern of Group 6 consists of exact matches on 3 multi-copy markers

How old is the group?

The TiP Report for these men suggests that they share a common ancestor about 14 generations ago with a 90% range of 6-24 generations. This translates to give us a very crude estimate for his year of birth, namely 1530 (90% range 1230-1770).

In addition to their TiP Report estimate (1530),  and because they have different surname variants, the O’Malley / Maley name has probably been associated with this genetic signature for about 300-600 years. So if there was a Surname or DNA Switch (aka NPE) in this group, it probably happened over 300 years ago.

Where is the group from?

PPM-0138 has an MDKA (Most Distant Known Ancestor) from Connaught in Ireland, born about 1789. This suggests a Mayo origin for his Maley ancestors. However, this MDKA emigrated to London where his son was born (in 1818) and this son emigrated to Australia where the family has been ever since.

There is no ancestral information available for LOM-8460.

I fed the STR marker results into Robert Casey's R-L21 SNP Predictor tool and the results came back with a 95% probability that these men will test postive for the SNP L226 - this is the DNA marker of the Dal gCais of which Brian Boru is the most famous member.

The R-L21 SNP Predictor tool suggest that Group 6 will test positive for the SNP marker L226

Both of the men in Group 6 have very few matches, suggesting a rather rare genetic signature (one has 1 match at 37 markers and the other has none). I searched the FTDNA database for people with a similar signature and the only one I found was a man called Cain (in the L226 Haplogroup Project) who has identical values for the first two multi-copy markers (namely values of 8-8-9, and 13-13-15-15-17-17), but 35-39-39 for CDYa&b. So it is quite possible that this new Group 6 is distantly related to this Cain chap … and he himself has tested positive for the downstream SNP marker DC245, which falls below L226 (Brian Boru’s signature) and this suggests a Clare/Limerick origin for Group 6. This would make it the second group within the project to have Limerick roots, the first being Group 2.

Only 1 other person in the FTDNA database comes close to Group 6

The likely SNP Progression for this new Group indicates it is on a separate branch to Group 2 (which is also sub-L226). If one or both of the members ordered the Big Y-700 test, the results would confirm or refute their tentative placement on this particular branch (DC245) of the Tree of Mankind. Current residents of this branch include 2 people called Lynch.

The DC245 branch of the Tree of Mankind - is this where Group 6 sits?

A nearest neighbour analysis using Surname Distribution Maps could give clues as to the origin of the group but with only 2 surnames to work with, the results have limited applicability. Lynch is a ubiquitous surname, whilst Cain occurs in both Limerick & Mayo.

Surname Distribution Maps (mid-1800s) for (potential) nearest genetic neighbours

Conclusions & Next Steps 

Both members should join the L226 Haplogroup Project.

Both members should consider upgrading to the Y-DNA-111 test as this may reveal additional matches that are hidden at the current 37-marker level of testing (and also to confirm that they are correctly grouped together).

LOM-8460 should include his MDKA data and both should post their direct male line on our Post Your Pedigree page.

To confirm the deeper origins of the group, one or both members should do the Big Y test.

If this new Group does turn out to have Limerick origins, then this will be the second genetic family from Limerick. And this raises a very interesting question: if the Limerick O'Malley's are a separate clan/sept to the Mayo O'Malley's, then who carries the original genetic signature of the Limerick O'Malley's - Group 2 or Group 6?

What a tantalising question!!

Maurice Gleeson

July 2019