Group 3a of the O'Malley DNA Project represents the O'Malley clan of Mayo, of which Grace O'Malley (the Pirate Queen) is the most famous member. And presumably, if we could test Grace's direct male forbears, they would also belong to Group 3a. The Finding Grace project was set up to try to establish the specific Y-DNA signature of Grace O'Malley's great great grandfather, Dermot (born about 1400 AD). Previous articles about the Finding Grace project are available here, here, and here.
There are now 53 participants in Group 3a (the largest in the O'Malley DNA Project) and of these 40 have undertaken SNP marker testing (mainly the Big Y test). The SNP testing allows us to place these participants on very specific branches of the Tree of Mankind (a.k.a. Y-Haplotree). This is summarised in the diagram below which is from FTDNA's Group Time Tree (available here).
The overarching SNP marker for the entire group is BY35730, which was passed down to every single member of Group 3a by a common ancestor who lived about 750 AD (current estimate 765 AD, range 417-1044 ... see here). The next descendant branch is BY35760, and this was passed on to all but one of the members of Group 3a by a common ancestor who lived about 1100 AD (current estimate 1106 AD, range 862-1304 ... see here). Thereafter, there are two descendant branches - FTC73000, which was passed on by an ancestor who lived about 1200 AD (see here); and FT86146, which was passed down by an ancestor who lived about 1250 AD (see here). The FT86146 branch is the largest branch within Group 3a, and 30 of the 40 SNP-tested participants sit on this branch (or one of its sub-branches).
The above diagram is in 3 parts and you can click on each part to enlarge that section. Also, a pdf version of the above diagram is available to download here.
For the Finding Grace project, we tracked down 13 men whose genealogy indicated that they reportedly descended (along a direct male line) from Dermot (born about 1400), the great great grandfather of Grace O'Malley. These 13 men sat on 3 major branches below Dermot:
- Line 1 - the 5 men on this branch are reported to descend from Melaghlin (born about 1545), a supposed brother of Grace O'Malley. The Ross House O'Malley's are part of this branch as are some Achill O'Malley's. Three of the 5 members did the Big Y test.
- Line 2 - the 6 men on this branch are Kilmilkin O'Malleys and are reported to descend from an uncle of Grace O'Malley, namely Dermot (born about 1490). Three of the 6 men did the Big Y test.
- Line 3 - the 2 men on this branch are from the Ballyburke O'Malley family. They are reported to descend from Donal (born about 1430), who is supposed to be a brother of Grace's great grandfather. Both men did the Big Y test.
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| The reported genealogy of the 13 descendants of Grace O'Malley's great great grandfather (click to enlarge) |
Our plan was to test the 13 men initially with the Y-DNA-37 test, and thereafter (if indicated) upgrade each one of them to the Big Y test. The Y-DNA-37 test assesses 37 DNA markers, the Big Y test assesses over 200,000 DNA markers (and, as mentioned above, allows people to be placed on very specific branches of the Tree of Mankind). This higher level test was able to determine beyond any doubt that there are significant inconsistencies between the reported genealogies and the DNA data.
The first major finding was that the Kilmilkin O'Malley's of Line 2 were not related to Group 3a at all. They belong to Group 3g, which shares a common ancestor (DF105) with Group 3a (the Mayo O'Malleys) who lived about 200 AD (see here). This could possibly indicate a long-standing error in the genealogies, or an NPE (Non-Paternity Event, or DNA switch) that occurred some time prior to 1600 (the age estimate for the FTC36168 branch that the Kilmlkin O'Malleys sit on is currently 1573, range 1300-1763 ... see here). Either way, because of this DNA disconnect, the data from Line 2 was not going to be helpful in our quest to identify the Y-DNA signature of Grace O'Malley's great great grandfather.
The second finding was that the Line 1 O'Malleys did not match each other as expected. The Ross House O'Malleys sat on the FTC67000 branch whereas the Achill O'Malleys sat on the FTC91082 branch. These two branches have a common genetic ancestor in branch FT86146, which has a current age estimate of 1255 AD (range 1048-1422 ... see here). This genetic age estimate is very different to the birth year of their reported genealogical common ancestor, namely Teige O'Malley born about 1655. So this finding suggests an error in the genealogies, or an NPE (DNA switch).
The third major finding was that the Line 3 O'Malleys of Ballyburke sit on exactly the same branch as the Ross House O'Malleys of Line 1, namely FTC67000. The age estimate for this DNA marker is currently 1669 AD (range 1451-1820 ... see here), which is far removed from the estimated birth year of their genealogical common ancestor, namely Dermot (born about 1400), the great great grandfather of Grace O'Malley. So this result also indicates a discrepancy between what the genealogies say and what DNA tells us. Again, this could be due to a long-standing error in the genealogies or an NPE / DNA switch.
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| The genealogical data with genetic data superimposed on top, demonstrating the mismatch between the genealogical and genetic data (2023 data) (click to enlarge) |
Nevertheless, the data produced so far by the Finding Grace project allows us to generate some hypotheses that can be tested as we move forward. Firstly, it seems reasonable to assume that one or both of Line 1 & 3 descend from the O'Malley chieftain line. And as they both sit on the same branch (FTC67000), then one of the upstream SNP markers is likely to have been carried by an O'Malley chief. Now, we know that Grace's great great grandfather Dermot was born about 1400 and thus he may very well have carried a SNP marker above FTC6700 that is estimated to have arisen around this time. So let's look at the list of ancestral SNP markers above FTC67000 ...
- R-BY35730 > BY35760 > FT86146 > FTA85293 > FTC67000
... and the respective current age estimates for each of these branches is as follows ...
- FTC67000 ... 1669 AD (range 1451-1820 ... see here)
- FTA85293 ... 1424 AD (range 1158-1621 ... see here)
- FT86146 ... 1255 AD (range 1048-1422 ... see here)
- BY35760 ... 1106 AD (range 862-1304 ... see here)
- BY35730 ... 765 AD (range 417-1044 ... see here)
As Dermot's estimated birth year (i.e. 1400) falls within the current range for both FTA85293 and FT86146, it seems probable that he carried the SNP marker FT86146, and it seems possible that he carried the SNP marker FTA85293, and passed them on to all his descendants, including the O'Malleys of Line 1 and Line 3.
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Also, because the FT86146 branch is relatively the most successful branch in Group 3a (30 of 40 SNP-tested members sit here), this could indicate that it represents the royal line, which, being wealthier and more powerful than the lines of more common folk, would have produced more surviving descendants.
Another line of enquiry would be to explore the other descendant branches of FTA85293 for additional clues. Members who sit of the FGC50642 branch include the Michigan O'Malleys and members called Mealue.
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| The genetic neighbours of Line 1 & Line 3 (2023 data) |
Hopefully, over time, additional Big Y test results will further illuminate this current working theory. And we are still in search of extensive O'Malley lineages to test, in the hope that new Big Y results will throw light on some of the remaining questions. We are currently pursuing a branch of O'Malley's in France that dates back to the 1500s ... the trouble is we have yet to identify a direct male line that has survived to the present day.
But hope springs eternal.
