Y-DNA testing allows us to group men together who are likely to share a common ancestor on their direct-male-line some time in the last 1000 years (which is roughly the time when surnames emerged in Ireland).
So far, 18 distinct genetic groups have been identified in the O'Malley DNA Project and this article explores Group 7.
When analysing any genetic group (in any surname project), there are several standard questions that we can ask ourselves:
- Is there a dominant surname (or surname variant) within the group?
- Have the members been accurately grouped? Are there any Chance Matches? Any DNA or Surname Switches (also known as NPEs, Non-Paternal Events)
- Are there any clues as to where the group is from?
- How old is the group? How far back is the Most Recent Common Ancestor? Is the DNA signature likely to have been passed down from the surname’s originator (1000 years ago or thereabouts)?
- Is the group likely to be associated with an Irish “Clan”? And to answer this question, we need to assess: a) where does it sit on the Tree of Mankind (a.k.a. Y-Haplotree)? b) who are the nearest genetic neighbours? and c) does this tie in with the Irish medieval genealogies?
Of the two members in Group 7, one did the Y-DNA37 test (which assesses 37 DNA markers) and the other person did the Big Y-700 test (which assesses the same 37 DNA markers and over 200,000 additional DNA markers).
The two test-takers can only be compared on the 37 DNA markers (because that is all that both have results for) and this shows that they have a Genetic Distance (GD) of 3 / 37 (i.e. their DNA signatures are identical on 34 out of the 37 DNA markers and only differ by a single "one-step mutation" on 3 of the 37 markers).
FTDNA are able to translate this Genetic Distance into a very crude age estimate for their common ancestor (known as a TMRCA estimate, Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor) and this shows he lived some time between 1000 AD and 1800 AD, as illustrated below. This age estimate lacks the precision that we would want for genealogical purposes, but tells us that these two O'Malley men are related within the surname era.
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| Age (TMRCA) estimates based on a GD of 3 / 37 |
Only one of the test-takers has entered information for his earliest known ancestor on his direct-male-line. This tells us that the origins for this test-taker go back to county Mayo in Ireland, which is the ancestral homeland of many O'Malley's.
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| Results Page showing Group 7 members' "Paternal Ancestor" details |
In addition, the two test-takers have relatively few Y-DNA matches, and only match each other at the 37-marker level of comparison. This suggests that the two men probably sit on a relatively isolated branch of the Tree of Mankind (and that there is a low risk of Convergence i.e. minimal "interference" from other test-takers in the database just matching them by chance).
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| Person A: number of Y-DNA matches (in brackets) at each level of comparison |
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| The position of FTC91067 (red icon) on the Time Tree: the O'Malley test-taker is the one with the Irish flag icon (on the right), and his nearest neighbours are the 4 men below him (with the globe icon) (click to enlarge) |
This diagram only shows us the test-taker who did the Big Y-700 test (Irish flag icon). It does not show the other Group 7 test-taker (who only did the Y-DNA37 test) because his Y-DNA37 test does not test for the relevant DNA markers. He would need to upgrade to the Big Y test in order to be placed on the Tree of Mankind. And if he did, he and the other test-taker would probably form a new branch, below (i.e. more recent than) FTC91067, sometime in the last 1000 years.
However, what we can tell from the present data is that these two O'Malley men do indeed sit on a relatively isolated branch of the Tree of Mankind - their nearest neighbours (a group of 4 closely-related men) share a common ancestor with them who passed down the DNA marker FTC91067 to them all. And age estimates (i.e. TMRCA) for this common ancestor indicate that he lived about 500 BC, over 2500 years ago, well before the emergence of surnames in Ireland (about 1000 years ago).
I then tried to find out who these 4 neighbouring men are (or at least their surnames) by using the DNA marker associated with their particular branch of the Tree of Mankind, namely FTC90701. However, this marker does not appear among the Y-DNA matches of either Group 7 member, and a google search for "FTDNA FTC90701" did not turn up any relevant results. I also checked the Family Finder results for the one test-taker who had done the test, but again, the search found no matches with FTC90701 (nor any markers immediately ancestral to it). I only had partial luck when I entered FTC90701 into the Search field for FTDNA's Discover tool and navigated to the Suggested Projects tab ...
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| Two members of the Turner DNA Project belong to FTC90701 |
There were 6 suggested projects, each with varying numbers of members, but most had "0 [members] belong to R-FTC90701". The only exception was the Turner DNA Project, which had 2 members who sat on the FTC90701 branch. So this tells us that at least 2 of these 4 neighbouring men are probably called Turner. I say probably because we cannot check this against the Results Page of the Turner DNA Project because the Project Administrator has set it to private. Nevertheless, does this give us any clues as to where Group 7 originated?
Well, Surname Distribution Maps on John Grenham's wonderful website tell us that 350 households carried the name Turner in the mid-1800s in Ireland. Furthermore, we learn that the surname Turner was "numerous: evenly distributed all areas but greater numbers in Ulster. The name has been in Ireland since 15 cent with most coming in 17 cent from both Scotland & England." So it is possible that the deeper origins for Group 7 will turn out to be English or Scottish. And if so, then how did their Y-DNA get into Ireland? Maybe they were gallowglasses? or planters? or merchants? And when did they arrive in Ireland?And when did they become O'Malley's.
These are all intriguing questions, but only further information will tell. And that means a waiting game for more matches to arrive in the database, and match the Group 7 members, and do the Big Y test.
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| Surname Distribution Map for the surname Turner in Ireland (mid-1800s) |
In regards to additional Y-DNA matches, it may be possible to actively recruit some. One of the Group 7 test-takers did the Family Finder test (which assesses all the chromosomes apart from the Y-Chromosome), and among his matches, there are 7 people called O'Malley, Malia, or some other variant. It would be worthwhile approaching these people and asking them 1) if they have done the Y-DNA test; and 2) if they haven't, would they consider doing it; and 3) if not, could they pass on the message to any male O'Malley's in their family who might be interested in doing it.
It costs nothing to ask. And it may provide the breakthrough you've been waiting for.
So, to what extent have we answered the questions posed at the start?
- Is there a dominant surname (or surname variant) within the group? Yes ... O'Malley
- Have the members been accurately grouped? They appear to be.
- Are there any clues as to where the group is from? Possibly England or Scotland.
- How old is the group? The two test-takers probably share a common ancestor some time between 1000-1800 AD.
- Is the group likely to be associated with an Irish “Clan”? It is difficult to say at this stage because of the limited amount of information available, but their nearest genetic neighbours include two men called Turner which possibly suggests an English or Scottish origin. But bear in mind that the connection to these 2 men is 2500 years ago, and a lot can happen in that time. So alternatively, Group 7 could be a rare branch of the O'Malley clan, with few surviving members, and even fewer surviving members who have done a Y-DNA test.
Great analysis Maurice. Thank you!
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