O'Malley Group 5 - update June 2025

Group 5 was formed in June 2019 when a new member joined the DNA Project and was a match to an existing member in the Ungrouped section (see previous post here). These two project members formed the new "Group 5" and even at that early stage there was a lot that the Y-DNA results told us about the group in terms of its origins and its evolution.

The Earliest Known Ancestors of these two group members (on their direct-male-lines) came from Galway (specifically Kilmilkin) & Roscommon (neighbouring counties) and the predominant surname among their DNA matches was Joyce (79% of matches). This suggested origins in "Joyce Country" which is in the border area between northern Galway and southern Mayo (see below). 

Other surnames (e.g. Coyne, Newell & Nally) had surname distribution maps which also suggested origins in county Galway.

Joyce Country (in green) with Kilmilkin / Kilmeelickin indicated by the yellow dot

Distribution of the surname COYNE in the mid-1800s

Distribution of the surname NEWELL in the mid-1800s

Distribution of the surname NALLY in the mid-1800s

The heavy preponderance of matches called Joyce suggested that this branch of the O'Malley's had previously carried the surname Joyce. The Time Tree below (from the last update in May 2024) shows the single O'Malley Big Y-test-taker sitting on the FT91246 branch. He is surrounded by men called Joyce on adjacent branches. This strongly suggests that Joyce came first and a Surname Switch to O'Malley occurred some time after 1434 AD (or thereabouts).

Time Tree with Surnames for Group 5 (May 2024)
click to enlarge

However, since this last update, an additional group member has done the Big Y test and this has given us a more precise estimate for when this Surname Switch occurred. The updated version of this part of the Time Tree shows that new matches have appeared in the database and now there are two O'Malley Big Y test-takers sitting on their own specific branch, a new branch immediately below FT91246 called branch FTF86799.

Time Tree extract with Surnames for Group 5 (June 2025)
click to enlarge

The age estimate for this new O'Malley Group 5 branch is 1609 AD (95% Confidence Interval 1307-1809). And the revised current estimate for FT91246 is 1442 (range 1269-1579). And because there are mainly Joyce men on branch FT91246 and only two O'Malley men on branch FTF86799, this suggests that the switch from Joyce to O'Malley happened some time between 1442 (or thereabouts) and 1609 (or thereabouts).

Furthermore, one of the current 4 members has updated his EKA (Earliest Known Ancestor) information and now two of the four group members have origins in Kilmilkin, county Galway.

Group 5 currently has 4 members (2 have done the Big Y  test)
click to enlarge

So O'Malley Group 5 were previously called Joyce before they became O'Malley's and their origin was from or near the Kilmilkin area of northwest county Galway, bordering on southern Mayo.

We will revisit these findings when we come to consider a second (separate) group of Kilmilkin O'Malley's in Group 3g, because the switch from Joyce to O'Malley discussed above may very well have been followed by a further switch, but this time in the DNA, and this switch may have occurred several generations before a well-known O'Malley ancestor called Seán "Na Firinne" Ó Máille (Sean "The Truthful" O'Malley, c1740-c1800).

Maurice Gleeson

June 2025