DNA highlights my Grandpa Geake's mysterious Irish connections
Ancestry has recently completed its Irish ethnicity regions update and now offers 92 distinct regions in Ireland. This has resulted in my being able to identify some areas on my maternal grandfather's side. My mum, aunt and two of their first cousins have tested at Ancestry and here are the findings.
My Mum's Irish Ethnicity Results
My Aunt's Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 1's Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 2's Irish Ethnicity Results
Note: The Scottish connection is because Cousin 2's mother was Scottish
Here are maps of the regions:
Connacht with sub-regions of North East Mayo & North West Sligo, North Connacht and North Mayo
Central Ireland with sub-regions of North Leinster & East Connacht and North Leitrim & East Sligo
The region known as North East Mayo & North West Sligo shows up in all of the cousins' results and yet I cannot trace an ancestor from this region. The only Irish connection I have is currently tenuous - one of the cousins' shared great-grandmothers married their great-grandfather in Shanagolden, Limerick, in 1871. Her maiden name might have been Burgoyne or Congdon and I cannot be certain that she was definitely Irish. Her husband, John Gale Hellier, was in the Royal Navy and was from Tavistock in Devon - www.hibbitt.org.uk/familytree/fam1847.html.
It's remarkable that such a lot of Irish DNA has filtered down through the generations considering the three other shared great-grandparents were all Devonians and having only Devon ancestry going further back in time. The cousins' other known family lines do not involve Ireland and so it cannot be easily explained.
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]
My Mum's Irish Ethnicity Results
My Aunt's Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 1's Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 2's Irish Ethnicity Results
Note: The Scottish connection is because Cousin 2's mother was Scottish
Here are maps of the regions:
Connacht with sub-regions of North East Mayo & North West Sligo, North Connacht and North Mayo
Central Ireland with sub-regions of North Leinster & East Connacht and North Leitrim & East Sligo
The region known as North East Mayo & North West Sligo shows up in all of the cousins' results and yet I cannot trace an ancestor from this region. The only Irish connection I have is currently tenuous - one of the cousins' shared great-grandmothers married their great-grandfather in Shanagolden, Limerick, in 1871. Her maiden name might have been Burgoyne or Congdon and I cannot be certain that she was definitely Irish. Her husband, John Gale Hellier, was in the Royal Navy and was from Tavistock in Devon - www.hibbitt.org.uk/familytree/fam1847.html.
It's remarkable that such a lot of Irish DNA has filtered down through the generations considering the three other shared great-grandparents were all Devonians and having only Devon ancestry going further back in time. The cousins' other known family lines do not involve Ireland and so it cannot be easily explained.
[Note: All content on the Hibbitt & Barnes Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]
Category: DNA