Atrocities and Assimilation: Crusader DNA in the Near East

   This paper got its start back in February of this year while I was researching R1b-DF100 for my posting, The Third Brother.  Among the data, primarily Western European haplotypes, was a single Armenian record.  The R1b-L11>DF100 group that I was working with had as one of their theories that L11 was a fairly recent, 3,000 to 4,000 years, arrival from the Near East and that the Armenian record was part of that evidence.  I looked at the Armenian record, ran a phylogenetic test on it, the L11 group and some similar Near East records.  The Armenian record fell squarely within a Baltic cluster on the tree with a rough TMRCA of about 1,200 years.  This Armenian was clearly more European than Armenian, at least on the paternal line.  My comment back to the L11 group was that their Armenian was probably the descendant of a Crusader based on the timing and directionality.

   In September, I ran across Pierre Zalloua’s paper - Y-ChromosomalDiversity in Lebanon Is Structured by Recent Historical Events (2008).  He and the other authors had put together a good correlation between Crusader DNA and haplogroup R1b in Lebanon.  The paper also correlated haplogroup J and the Muslim expansion.  The paper received quite a bit of feedback about haplogroup J and little or no mention about haplogroup R1b.  Considering the extent of the Crusader’s presence in the Near East from 1096 to 1343, if they left DNA behind it would have been spread farther than Lebanon. 

   The real question is not – if they left DNA behind.  There is significant literature that details the atrocities; raping and pillaging was standard operating procedure for the Crusaders.  There are also numerous accounts of assimilation.  During the Crusader’s 247-year occupation and roughly eight generations, they married local women and raised families.  The real question is did Crusader DNA survive to modern time. 

Crusader DNA Distribution

   If Crusader DNA survived, it would be spread from Istanbul to Jerusalem and beyond.  The graphic above shows the potential for DNA distribution during the Crusader occupation (red) and the distribution over the past 918 years (gray).  My research focused on the following Near East countries - Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey.

   Here is something I found bizarre.  Zalloua and team published their paper in 2008.  Every researcher looking at Near East R1b should be taking a lesson and validating that their data is not of Crusader origin.  Obviously, Crusader DNA wasn’t restricted to Lebanon.  In 2010, Balaresque, et al and again in 2011, Myres, et al, published papers using Near East R1b data (Turkish).  Forty-two percent of the Turkish R1b haplotypes from Balaresque and Myres was identical to Zalloua’s Lebanese R1b data.  This didn’t seem to raise any flags as Balaresque and Myres used the Turkish data to suggest a Near East origin and Neolithic expansion for R1b.  These folks must not talk to each other.  Two of Zalloua’s team members went on to work with Balaresque and Myres on their papers.  The first thing I would have said was – “Considering what Zalloua found, we need to validate the origins of the Turkish data further back than one or two generations”.

   When presenting an analysis it is always good to show comparison data.  I collected R1b data and haplogroup G and J data from multiple Family Tree DNA projects.   I have a higher comfort factor that G and J are associated with the Neolithic expansion, so they were used as a basis for comparison.  For each 37-marker Near East record obtained, I used the haplotype to query a larger set of related records from ySearch (I call this haplotype aggregation).  A Near East set and a Western European set of data was developed for each haplogroup.  I then compared each individual Near East haplotype against the entire Near East set and the entire Western Europe set.  You would expect that the Near East haplotypes would be more closely related to their peers in the Near East set.

   The haplogroup J data tells the best story.  The results cluster down J1-M267 and J2-M172 lines.  The neutral line (diagonal triangles) represents zero affinity towards the Near East or Western Europe.  Points falling to the right of neutral show an affinity toward the Near East and to the left of neutral, an affinity towards Western Europe.

   J1 haplotypes (diamonds), which are rare in Europe, are closely related to their peers in the Near East.  The J1 data only shows an affinity toward the Near East.  The trend line for J1 indicates a fairly stationary population pattern with no suggestion of migration to Western Europe.  A trend line that doesn’t cross the neutral represents a strong peer affinity and little or no migration between the Near East and Western Europe.  J2 data (squares) shows a tipping point at which the more distantly related records lean toward the Near East and the closely related records lean toward Western Europe.  That transition shows a TMRCA of about 3,900 ± 800 years.  The tipping point indicates a point in time where the Near East J2 haplotypes became more common in Western Europe, illustrating a migration. 

   Haplogroup G shows very similar results as J2. Haplogroups J2 and G have been associated with the Neolithic spread of agriculture from the Near East to Western Europe.  Both J2 and G present a consistent distribution from distant relationship (high variance) to closer relationship (low variance).  The trend lines for J2 and G represent migration events from the Near East to Western Europe.  The trend line for J1 represents no migration event.  These results are consistent with other published information.

   Haplogroup R1b does not exhibit either a migration or a non-migration pattern.  The haplotypes cluster in a fairly homogenous group.  There is a slight lean toward Western Europe and essentially no continuum from high variance to low variance.  The more distantly related haplotypes don’t exist in the Near East.  The Near East individuals are just as related to the Western European individuals as they are to their own peers.  The approximate TMRCA for the R1b Near East – Western European group is 1,800 ± 500 years.

   Through atrocities and assimilation, Western European DNA from Crusaders was permanently introduced into the Near East less than 1,000 years ago.  Western European and Near East R1b haplotypes are highly and recently related.  The data indicates that within the last 2,000 years there was a migration from one geography to the other.  There is no documented migration in the past 2,000 years that would account for Western European R1b populations coming from the Near East and replacing indigenous European populations.  The introduction of Western European DNA into the Near East by Crusaders accounts for the west to east genetic flow.

   The sampling practices of research studies are questionable.  The origin of participants is typically only validated for one or two previous generations.  This is equivalent to not knowing the origin for study participants.  Sampling needs to be undertaken with a genetic genealogy approach and 37 markers or greater.  The population genetics approach of less than 17 markers, poor origin validation and haplogroup generalization needs to change.

   Previous papers (Balaresque & Myres) that have used Near East R1b data as the basis of their research are suspect.  In light of the introduction of Crusader DNA into the Near East within the past 1,000 years, any theory on a Neolithic origin for haplogroup R1b will have to be re-evaluated.

Reference:

Maglio, MR (2014) Y-Chromosomal Haplogroup R1b Diversity in Near East is Structured by Recent Historical Events (Link)

© Michael R. Maglio

DNA Mysteries: Iberian R1b-V88 in Africa

   When I first heard about R1b in Africa, my immediate assumption was that the predominantly Celtic haplogroup must have been a recent transplant.  I ran some of the V88 haplotypes against the big databases (FTDNA & ySearch) expecting to see matches to European men within the African colonial timeframe.  It wasn’t that easy.  Common ancestor analysis put the R1b Africans (V88) thousands of years removed from the rest of their European R1b cousins.  Where did they come from?  How did they get there?

   I started with the given that the R1b defining mutations (SNPs) occurred in the Iberian Peninsula.  The jury is still out on this hypothesis.  There have been scientific papers for and against Iberian origins of R1b.  My own work (Iberian Origins of R1b) supports an origin prior to the Neolithic expansion.  Could V88 have made a straight-line migration from Iberia to the Lake Chad region of Africa?  Could V88 have crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, travelled across the Sahara, which 7,000 years ago was a savannah well populated with animals for hunting, and arrived at Lake Mega-Chad?  That was my early premise.  I was wrong.

   The distribution of V88 is much larger than any of the scientific papers would indicate.  While I agree with the work that’s been done correlating the spread of V88 with the spread of Chadic languages (Cruciani et al 2010), the Chadic population is only a subset.  Nobody takes into consideration the V88 populations in Europe and the Middle East.  If they do, it is a sideways glance to say were ignoring them because they don’t fit into what we are trying to prove.  If you don’t look at the entire picture, your conclusions will be skewed.

   I wanted the largest selection of V88 Y-DNA records with at least 37 markers tested.  I started with Family Tree DNA projects that had the records SNP tested.  Those haplotypes were run against the ySearch database to identify highly related records with no SNP testing.  The initial gathering of records picked up individuals with SNP M73.  These were removed.  The key differentiator between V88 and M73 was DYS464a&b.  V88 was typically 12,12 and M73 was 15,15.  Thirty-seven or more STR markers are helpful in identifying additional related haplotypes and even more necessary in determining the relationship between records.  Most studies only looks at SNPs or a small handful of STR markers.  This is shortsighted.  Imagine a reference population of 100 records all with the same SNP.  Without enough STR markers you can’t tell whether you are looking at one haplotype with minor 1 or 2 step variations or 100 unique haplotypes.  That’s the difference between a founder event starting with as few as one individual or a group with greater diversity and age.

   My final set of 119 records has at least 37 STR markers, V88 SNP testing or is highly related via STR and has the geographic location of the most distant known ancestor.  The records are processed through PHYLIP to generate a phylogenetic tree.  The phylogenetic tree give a visual depiction of the relationships in the dataset and an approximate number of years back to common ancestors, represented as the nodes between the records.

All of this is very standard genetic genealogy.  I add a twist (Biogeographical Multilateration) by converting the years back to a common ancestor to a distance using Cavalli-Sforza’s migration rate of 1 to 1.2 km per year.  This is enough for me to solve a series of cascading equations giving me the locations of the common ancestors.  Looking back at the phylogenetic tree shows us how all the nodes and locations are connected, essentially the flow of migration.

   The out of Iberia event took place about 7,700 ± 1,600 years ago.  TMRCA calculations have been shown to be very inconsistent.  Some folks use a constant mutation rate and some use rates per marker.  I include a TMRCA to give a relative chronology.  While the majority of R1b is known for its Western Atlantic migrations, V88 took a path along the Mediterranean coast and down the Adriatic.  While none of the V88 records indicated Crete as an ancestral location, it appears multiple times as a common ancestor location.  The data shows Crete as a stepping-stone in the Mediterranean as V88 migrated to the Nile River Valley.  The back to Africa event(s) occurred roughly 5,500 ± 1,000 years ago.

The majority of the Chadic records (Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria) have relatively close genetic connections to individuals in the Middle East (mainly Saudi Arabia).  The Chadic and Middle Eastern records tie back to common ancestors along the upper Nile.  There is a significant lack of information to understand what impact R1b-V88 had on the Nile Valley cultures.  Considering that there was only 1 out of 119 records with an exact Nile River location, I would venture a guess that V88 didn’t integrate well.

   While the V88 back to Africa migration has captured much attention, the data shows a more fascinating event.  There was a V88 re-migration back to Europe from Africa.   The back to Europe event took place about 3,200 ± 1,000 years ago.  Again, Crete played a role as a stepping-stone as V88 entered the Eastern Adriatic region and spread into Central and Eastern Europe.  Someone will probably notice that many of the V88 in Eastern Europe are Jewish and that the date for leaving the Nile region is close to the time of Exodus.  There is nothing in any of the data to indicate that this was the Jewish Exodus from Egypt.  The V88 group in Eastern Europe is closely related and there is phylogenetic evidence to support that this may have been a founder event with a single male or small group of closely related males.  There is no evidence to support that those founders were Jewish when they left Africa.

   By looking at the big picture, including all the data and letting the data illustrate the patterns, we can unravel what appears to be the mysterious appearance of R1b in Central Africa.  Along the way, we can uncover a previously unknown re-migration from Africa to Europe.  Too often haplogroup data is treated as discrete buckets of information living in a vacuum with no interaction to other haplogroups and no internal relationships.  Every DNA record is connected to every other record in a network.  Each haplotype is a vector with location and direction.  The sooner we treat genetic records as a network analysis, the sooner we will solve more DNA mysteries.

Out of Iberia and back to Africa.  Followed by a return to Europe.

Reference:

Maglio, MR (2014)  Y Chromosome Haplogroup R1b-V88: Biogeographical Evidence for an Iberian Origin (Link)

Iberian R1b Y-DNA: First Movers in Europe

   The disputed origins of haplogroup R1b, most commonly thought of as Celtic, remains split between Iberia prior to the end of the last ice age and various West Asian locations after the ice age.  A new view on the R1b homeland comes out every year.  With all we know about DNA, shouldn’t we be coming to a consensus?  Typically, I refer to R1b as Celtic to help an audience make the connection between lettered haplogroups and culture or ethnicity.  I also add the caveat that Celtic is a misleading label.   R1b is supergroup of cultures including; Iberian, Gallic, Celtic, Germanic and Scandinavian.  To attribute empires or nationalities to R1b would be foolish, as R1b is tens of thousands of years older than any known empire.

   Perhaps I’m naïve.  I like simple, logical answers.  The earliest publications on R1b described their ancestor R1, entering Europe from central Asia during a warm period about 30,000 – 40,000 years ago.  The last ice age forced R1 to split and take refuge south in Iberia and the Balkans.  Time and separation gave us the mutations R1b in Iberia and R1a in the Balkans.  That split is roughly what we see today in those regions.  That’s clean and simple.  The real world is much more complex.  R1b and R1a were not alone in Europe.  Their interactions with the other major European haplogroups- E, G, I, J and N has to be taken into consideration.  We can’t analyze R1b as if it were in a vacuum.

   Let’s take y-DNA haplogroups out of the picture for a moment.  We know that modern humans survived and flourished in the Iberian refuge during the end of the last ice age, based on mitochondrial DNA studies.  [Could someone please run some y-DNA tests on those samples?]  The tribes in western Europe, whoever they were, had a 1,000 to 2,500 year head start over the tribes in central and eastern Europe on repopulating the continent.  The ice sheets melted and retreated earlier on the west coast than in the rest of Europe.  This gave the inhabitants of the Iberian refuge an advantage – a “first-mover” advantage gained by being the first to move north.  These first-movers gained a land-monopoly.  A tribe with a first-mover advantage and over a 1,000 year head start should have been hard to displace from western Europe.  In other anthropological situations, those original inhabitants are forced into niche locations by invading populations, but very rarely are displaced completely.  What we see on the west coast of Europe, is a very strong R1b presence and no niche haplogroups of a significant age.  From this point of view, either R1b is the original Iberian inhabitant or R1b completely decimated another earlier haplogroup that had a 1,000 year geographical head start.  I like simple.  R1b was in Iberia first.
   Let’s throw some data at the problem.   The R1b haplogroup population is enormous.  The majority fall into SNPs R-P312 (Celto-Iberian) and R-U106 (Celto-Germanic).  There is so much information there that it tends to be noise.  If you want to get to the root of R1b (R-M343), you need to work with the branches that are closest to the root - R-L278*, R-V88, R-M73*, R-YSC0000072/PF6426 and R-L23.

• • R1b   M343

• • • R1b1   L278

• • • • R1b1a   P297

• • • • • R1b1a1   M73

• • • • • R1b1a2   M269

• • • • • • R1b1a2a   L23

• • • • R1b1c   V88

[• • • • • • • • • R1b1a2a1a1   U106 - too far downstream]

[• • • • • • • • • R1b1a2a1a2   P312 - too far downstream]

   I collected 250 records that matched these SNPs or were genetically close by STR haplotype.  These records were mapped based on user-reported most distant ancestor location.

   This is not a connect the dot exercise.  Just because two or more records appear geographically close doesn’t mean that they are genetically close.  These 250 records have to be treated like a network.  If this were Facebook, these folks would be randomly associated through family, business, school or neighbor connections.  These are y-DNA records.  There is a relationship between every pair.  Each pair has a different common ancestor, with a different number of generations to get back to that ancestor.  Here is an example of what that relationship looks like across multiple pairs.  The number represents years back to a common ancestor (TMRCA).

When all of the interrelations are taken into consideration, the group of records can be displayed as a relationship tree of who is older or younger and who is more closely related to whom (phylogenetic tree).

   Now we have who, where, when and how the records are connected.  At this point it does become a connect the dots exercise.  I’ve used a biogeographical analysis to connect very specific sets of dots based on the calculated interrelation of the entire group.

   The R1b genetic family tree has a trunk and many branches.   The trunk of the R1b data is firmly rooted in Iberia.  The main core of the tree stretches along the western Atlantic coast of Europe and branches across Europe and even back into Asia.  The results that I found support the work of the earliest pioneers in the field and conflict with the latest publications.
 

   Every analysis has its limitations.  The work that I’ve done looks back at the R1b family about 8,000 years.  The scarcity of data only allowed for me to predict the origin of R-L278, which is currently one branch below the main root of R-M343.    I can’t tell where R1b was between the times that R1 split into R1b and R1a, yet.

   In my analysis, I have included R-V88.  They are a curious group of R1b found in Africa and the Middle East.  I will be treating R-V88 in a separate write-up to do justice to a very interesting back migration story.  The R-V88 article can be found here.

Reference:

Maglio, MR (2014)  Biogeographical Evidence for the Iberian Origins of R1b-L278 via Haplotype Aggregation (Link)

The Third Brother: A Y-DNA Tale

   If we were to look at the Y-DNA family tree, we would see ancestors and descendants in a genetic sense. Haplogroup B is descended from A and C is descended from B. If we keep going, R is descended from P, etc. Within haplogroup R is SNP R-L11/P310 (R1b1a2a1a ISOGG 2014). There was a boy born somewhere between 3,000 and 10,000 years ago (there is much disagreement on the exact age). This boy was the first male to have this mutation on his Y-chromosome. He essentially became the ‘father’ of all R1b men in Western Europe.

   This R-L11 man had three sons, in the genetic sense, not in the literal sense. The first two sons are R-U106 and R-P312. Their stories are well known (at least in genetic genealogy circles). This is the story of the third brother, the one without a name. I’m going out on a limb in saying that this third branch exists as an independent unidentified SNP. R-DF100 has been identified as belonging to this third branch. Yet, it is too early to determine whether DF100 is the third brother or one of the many nephews (I had to keep the analogy going). Currently it is known as R-L11*/P310* (xU106,xP312), which means that folks on this branch test positive for having the L11 SNP and test negative for the U106 and P312 SNPs. Let’s call him R-x for simplicity. In case you were wondering, a SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) is a mutation that can mark a branch point on your DNA.

Figure 1 – Three Brothers

   What do we know about R-x? They are a small group, only about 10% of the very large R1b population in Europe. They are still found in substantial numbers in Danelaw areas, the Netherlands, Pomerania, former Prussia and Denmark. U.S. President John Adams is one famous member of group R-x. A group of R-x descendants have created a site (http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/r1b1a2a1a) for those who are interested in tracing their family origins further back, have taken a y-DNA deep clade test and tested positive for L11 and negative for P312 / U106. 

   I was approached because of my work done on William the Conqueror’s DNA. The question was asked, what was the frequency of R-L11* (R-x) in the Conqueror study. All of the DNA records that made it into the final paper were R-L21*, which is downstream from R-P312. Unfortunately, for the R-x folks, that meant that no R-x records made it into the William the Conqueror modal haplotype.

   R-x was rare and it piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know how they fit into the bigger picture, where they came from and maybe connect them to a part of history. I’ve had some good success with geographical distribution of y-DNA data based on multiple distance measurements from reference positions (BGM). To start, I collected 26 R-x y-DNA records with close STR marker matches and known or probable SNP matches. Eight of these records were directly from the R1b1a2a1a website group data. The records were processed to determine time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA). The neighbor-joining method was run on the results to create a phylogenetic tree.

Figure 2 – Phylogenetic Tree – R-L11*/P310* (xU106, xP312)

   Each of these records were picked because they also contained self-reported ancestral origins. The records were mapped based on these origins and a range calculated from the TMRCA was drawn as a radius representing distance to a common ancestor. See “Getting More” for additional details.

Figure 3 – Generalized Migration Flow – R-L11*/P310* (xU106,xP312)

   Migration direction is determined from phylogenetic connections. The orange arrows represent the primary migrations from the South Baltic region starting 2,000 years ago ± 200 years. The destinations for these migrations were into Scandinavia and along the Rhine River. The yellow arrows represent secondary migration events ending about 1,000 years ago. The results validate the R-x group’s origin locations (Pomerania, former Prussia and Denmark) and adds the Rhine River as a secondary origin. This is not the endgame. This just gets us 2,000 years into the past. Additional records need to be identified to push us back another 1,000 or so years. Where were the R-x ancestors before they were in the South Baltic?

   The third brother remains unnamed. Perhaps his name is R-DF100. The SNP hunters, those folks that are finding new SNPs every day, need more R-L11*/P310* (xU106,xP312) samples in order to identify a defining SNP. I’d also love to see better techniques of determining the age of a genetic branch. Someday we will know the name and the birthdate of the third brother.

Reference:
Maglio, MR (2014) Y-Chromosome Haplotype Origins via Biogeographical Multilateration (Link)

© MRMaglio 2014

Genealogy Gold: McCarthy DNA

   Sometimes in genealogy, we go for the gold.  We try to figure out how we are descended from Presidents, royalty or other famous people.  In the US, if your last name were Adams, you might ask if you are related to the second President.  With a surname like Stewart/Stuart you could try to research back to UK royalty.  If you are Irish, some of those royal names are O’Neill, O’Brien or McCarthy.

   The last King in Ireland died in the 1600s.  For many of us it is incredibly difficult to go back beyond the 1800s in our Irish genealogy research.  The lack of paper records makes finding that connection to Irish royalty challenging.

   DNA is the next best answer to the lack of records.  Both regional and surname projects can collect enough genetic samples to build family trees.  Not in the same sense as child - father - grandfather etc., more in a phylogenetic sense.  A phylogenetic tree will show how individuals connect back to common ancestors and in turn, those common ancestors trace further back to another common connection.

   I have McCarthy ancestry and like everyone else I have researched as much as possible about one of my surnames.  Historically the surname comes from Carthaigh or Carthach, an 11th century King of Ireland and ancestor of the McCarthy Kings of Desmond (current day Cork and Kerry).  His son, Muireadhach, was the first to take on the Mac Carthaigh name.  Literally the ‘son of Carthaigh’.  In names like O’Neill or O’Brien, the O’ means grandson or descendant.

   Time to go for the gold.  How am I related to the Kings of Ireland?  Which DNA haplogroup do the McCarthys belong?  First, I found that a surname project existed on Family Tree DNA.  Then I started analyzing the data on the McCarthy Surname Study DNA site.  Nothing is ever simple.  There are six different haplogroup represented in the group, E1b, I1, I2a, I2b, R1a and R1b.  There are also four different R1b subgroups.  The site has R1b divided into Group A (SNP R-L21), Group B (SNP R-P314.2), Group C (SNP R-M222) and Group D (misc. others).  I would expect there to be multiple R1b subgroups as it is the most numerous haplogroup in Western Europe.

   Like the Olympics, there can only be one gold medal winner in this event.  Only one (or none) of these groups can be related to the original Carthaigh.  There are many reasons why there are multiple McCarthy haplogroups.  The Administrator of the McCarthy site, Nigel McCarthy, is well aware that there could be non-paternal events and has posted some possible situations where a McCarthy name could have arisen:

“•Soldiers, serfs, or slaves or hostages taken in battle and who remained with their captives, all under the tutelage of a McCarthy king, chief of chieftain, adopting this surname.
•Rape of McCarthy womenfolk by invading forces.
•Other illegitimacy.
•Adoption (e.g. by a chieftain of a sister’s orphaned children).
•Raiders such as Vikings being absorbed, a century or two after they settled in Ireland,  into the group which became the McCarthy family as they became “gaelicised”.
•Stepsons taking the McCarthy name of their new stepfather (early deaths of husbands or wives, and thus remarriages, were common).
•The sons of Cárthachs other than he who died in 1045 forming their surnames in a similar manner (although there is no explicit evidence of this).”
-source McCarthy Surname Study - Background

   Which genes are the royal McCarthy genes?  Other projects have been able to analyze DNA records and come back with an announcement that they have identified the haplotypes of Genghis Khan or Niall, ancestor of the O’Neill kings.  The same methods should work for the McCarthys.  If we consider the McCarthy DNA records as a random sample representing the larger population, then the groups with the larger number of records are more likely to be part of the royal group.  A wealthier family would have had more resources to provide for larger families, allowing for more descendants.

   Looking at the McCarthy site, haplogroup R1b Groups A and B have the most records.  At first glance, the other haplogroups seem to be ruled out for lack of representation.  An analysis of the haplotypes within these haplogroups gives us additional evidence.  The E1b group shows a clear pattern of migration from Greece through Italy, Germany, England and Scotland before arriving in Ireland.  This is consistent with the Alexandrian origin of E1b and the timing fits with Rome’s incursion into the region.

   Haplogroup I2b shows a migration from the Danube River region through Germany, England, Scotland and into Northern Ireland.  They appear to have arrived before the Romans.  Haplogroup R1a originated from Eastern Europe and took a different path via Normandy, Devon/Cornwall, into Ireland through Cork.  Their timing fits the Norman invasion of Ireland about 900 years ago.

   If we calculate the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) for Groups A and B, we see that within each group they are closely related.  For each group, their common ancestor lived about 1,000 years ago, which coincides with Carthaigh’s timeframe.  Comparing the two groups against each other shows a common ancestor over 2,800 years ago.  Both groups have the right ancestral timing.  Group A has DNA that is associated with Southern Ireland and an analysis across a larger R1b tribal haplotype indicates that this group entered Ireland over 2,600 years ago.  The same analysis of Group B indicates that they entered Ireland about 500 years later.  Group A has been in Ireland longer and occupy the ancestral region of Desmond.

   So far, we have circumstantial evidence.  We need something more concrete.  We can get a clue from the historic royal genealogies.  The McCarthys were more than just a royal family.  They were a dynasty.  Along with the surname McCarthy, there were also the Sullivans, Callaghans, Keeffes, Donoghues and Donovans that made up the larger related genetic dynasty.  Looking at each group in the context of the larger genetic pool of records and surnames shows that Group A has a close DNA connection to the dynastic surnames and Group B does not.  This method was a key factor in the O’Neill project.

   The evidence points to Group A as the descendants of the royal McCarthys.  The haplotype for Carthaigh is slightly different from the modal for the McCarthy Project Group A.  Considering the dynastic records, makes the values of DYS576=19 and DYS442=13.

   The pedigree of Carthaigh’s ancestors borders on mythology.  Many Irish pedigrees trace back to Milesius of Spain as the father of the Irish people.  Historians found it easy to dispute these claims as these records often are full of conflicting historical information, a lack of dates and obvious attempts to connect back to the Biblical genealogies.  As with most mythology, the Irish origins contain grains of truth.  Haplogroup R1b, which is predominant in Ireland, has its origins in Iberia (modern day Spain and Portugal).  The McCarthy Group A DNA data can be traced backward in time via STR mutations to their Spanish and Portuguese cousins.  Imagine two brothers at a farewell party on the slopes of the Pyrenees 3,000 years ago.  One brother has decided to go north to seek better fortunes and the other decided to stay behind.  The ancestors of each exist today for us to compare.

   The Irish do have ‘Spanish’ origins.  Some elements of that oral history remained intact over 3,000 years as the Iberian tribe migrated and settled in Ireland.  As with any oral tradition, embellishment can occur, especially when developing a royal pedigree to show divine right.

   McCarthy Group A was not the first Iberian tribe to land in Ireland and certainly not the last.  Group B arrived about 500-1,000 after Group A.  Irish mythology suggests that there were at least four previous waves of immigration to Ireland from the mainland.  The E1b McCarthy ancestors begin to show up around 2,000 years ago with the Roman invasion and the R1a McCarthys are associated with the Norman invasion of Ireland about 900 years ago.

   My next steps are to find my male McCarthy cousins and get them tested.  I’ll look for at least two, one from each of my g-granduncle’s surviving lines.  My McCarthys trace back to Kilmichael Parish in County Cork and my gg-grandfather, Florence McCarthy, has one of those names that repeats throughout McCarthy history.   I look forward to finding out which McCarthy DNA group I belong.

   If you are a McCarthy, please consider DNA testing and joining the McCarthy DNA Project.  Your data will help build a better understanding and a better genetic family tree of the McCarthy groups.  Along the way, we can learn more about our ethnicity and our Irish culture.  You may even want to change your surname back to its original Irish spelling, Súilleabháin (Sullivan), Ceallacháin (Callaghan), Donnchadha (Donoghue), Donnabhain (Donovan) or Mac Carthaigh.

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