Y-DNA testing offers researchers a tantalising window into the past without the transitory limitations of autosomal testing. Y-DNA opens up the possibility of tracing your direct male lineal descent as far back as chromosomal Adam. (1) Y-DNA also has decided advantages over the mitichondrial testing (MT-DNA), the female equivalent: unlike MT-DNA, Y-DNA material provides regular mutation rates allowing more accurate dating estimates. (2) Combined with forensic archeology it is possible to trace your direct male lines migratory history helping to fill out the ancient narrative. (3) Again, in this article I'm going to be using my own results to illustrate my points for reasons of both convenience and familiarity.
World migration path of Y-DNA haplogroup R-BY43560 prepared by Colin Woollcott Mallett
Map: Aristocat123, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Data: Big Y Testing at FTDNA (i)
A haplogroup is a genetic population that share a common ancestor with a specific Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism mutation (SNP). (4) My own personal trail of polymorphisms from R-M269 which is the most common chromosomal lineage for European men, itself descending in the distant past from Chromosomal Adam in Africa is as following: R-P311/S116, ZZ290, L21/S145, DF13, ZZ10_1, CTS3386, S19268, FGC13300, S9797, BY42759, BY43560. (5) The technology has a second trick up its sleeve: Short Tandem Repeat (STR) marker testing is used to fill in the gaps between SNPs and is more suited to interpreting more ‘recent’ ancestry within the last several hundred years. The more remote the Most Recent Common Ancestor between two kits, the more markers in common are dropped. (6)
Based on analysis provided by the R1b-CTS3386 and Subclades Project, FTDNA, 2019. (iii)
In a sense, a haplogroup is a 'genetic surname' for men, one that evades the vagaries of fate. I would argue that we can fill out more of the wider 'family' story through analysis of the etymology and geographical association of the surnames held by those tested. Looking above at a chart (figure iii) of the specific descendants of my own (penultimate) terminal haplogroup R-BY42759, its immediately noticable that several surnames are repeated, specifically FERGUSON, CARROLL and MILBURN. There are in fact three CARROLL and three FERGUSON descendants. One of the FERGUSON lines is separated from the other two by a divergence estimated to have occurred around 1050 CE! Equally, one of the surnames for instance on that arm of the chart belongs to a JAMES (which is not a particularly Celtic surname at all!) sharing a node with the third FERGUSON as late as 1800 CE. This is a reminder that when we study a chart of haplogroup descent, each line is labelled with a surname endpoint. But what this chart does suggest to me is that select lines descending from BY42759 have either settled or remained in a specific region (or regions in Ireland and Scotland) where either of those two surnames, CARROLL and FERGUSON, are common. (8)
Family plot of the CARROLL family, Knockbridge, County Louth, Leinster Province, Ireland.
The Carroll Family Plot at the old Catholic burial ground at Knockbride by Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (iv)
The surname CARROLL was first associated with the Kingdom of Oriel (situated within the modern counties of Louth and Monaghan) and later became common in County Offaly. In fact CARROLL is one of the twenty five most common surname in Ireland (9)
'Ferguson' by R. R. McIan from James Logan's The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, 1845.
Robert Ronald McIan (1803-1856)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (v)
Meanwhile, the FERGUSON clan is closely associated with Ayrshire, Scotland. (10) From the Third Century CE, the 'Scoti' migrated from Ireland to 'Caledonia'. By approximately 500 CE, they were well established in Dalriada (comprising of Argyllshire and the islands of Jura, Islay and Iona). Clan FERGUS(S)ON claims descent from King Fergus mor McErc who it is believed established the Scottish monarchy. (11)
Image from Myths and Legends; the Celtic Race by T. W. Rolleston, 1910.
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons (vi)
In fact, according to the ancient genealogies of Ireland, King Fergus himself was said to be a descendant of King Niall of the Nine Hostages, the 128th High King of Ireland, in turn descended from 110th High King of Ireland Conn of the Hundred Battles, himself a descendant of King Heremon, who along with his brother King Heber were said to be the first of the Milesian Kings of Ireland. (12) There is a theory that the Royal haplogroup is R-M222 and a staggering 21.5% of the male population in North Western Ireland are said to share this genetic fingerprint. (13) The haplogroup's descendants are most common in the North of Ireland and possessed laregly by those with surnames closely associated with the Neill clan including DOHERTY, GALLAGHER, O'REILLY and QUINN. (14) The estimation of the age of the R-M222 mutation does approximately allign with the period of his rule which began in 379 CE. (15) But it must be kept in mind that even High King Niall is a 'quasi-hisorical' figure, although the Y-DNA evidence is highly suggestive of a most fecund shared ancestor for that haplogroup's descendants (16). My own terminal haplogroup, like R-M222, is a subclade of R-DF13 but our last direct common ancestor then lived about 2500 BCE — so even if there were still a High King of Ireland, I doubt any of us of haplogroup R-BY42759 and below would be candidates! (17)
Border Rievers at Glinnockie Tower by George Cattermole
G Cattermole, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (vii)
Returning to the R-BY42759 chart (figure iii), the descendants of the node estimated to have occurred around 500 CE appear to have experienced some kind of cultural shift, in that they share what could be described as more Anglo-Norman surnames: ROBBINS, VANCE, MILBURN and MALLETT. This would suggest a downstream exposure to a Norman influence over several generations perhaps as a result of their invasion of Ireland from 1169 CE or perhaps migration to Normanised England or Scotland. As discussed in a previous article, MALLETT (originally MALET) is either a Norman or Norman inspired surname. (18) ROBBINS is derived from the personal name Robert introduced by the Normans. (19) The surname VANCE is thought to be a modernised version of the Norman de VAUX. (20) MILBURN is in fact a notorious Border Reiver surname. (21) It is known that some members of the descendant haplogroup R-S11304 took the surnames THOMPSON and CLARK. (22) All these clues point to several lines descending from the 500 CE node sharing common experiences of either assimilation with and/or migration into the 'Anglosphere', which matches the narrative suggested by the migratory charts provided at the begining and brings us full circle.
In conclusion, Y-DNA is a happy accident of evolution. It's a technology that opens a unique, inadvertant window into the past. Like all DNA technologies, Y-DNA testing requires careful interpretation of results but its generally more revealing than studies of MT-DNA thanks to a faster mutation rate. Attention to endpoint surnames, specifically their etymology and geographical associations I think can be a valuable technique to help develop a richer, more expansive narrative. Taking into consideration the migatory pathways demonstrated by my sibling lines the FERGUS(S)ON clan and the MILBURN family that both had an association with Ayrshire, it's possible that my own ancestral patrilenial migration story may vary from that depicted in figure ii. Our specific journey may have also involved a geographic reversal of direction from Ireland, back through Scotland, then gradually southwards through the English midlands (wherein one line of the MALLETT family established themselves in Warwickshire) and then westwards to eventually settle in Cornwall.
- Dr. Colin Woollcott Mallett, 14 February 2025.
Endnotes
(1) Until recently, Chromosonal Adam was considered to be the most recent common male ancestor of all modern humans, Y-DNA in the form of a Y-Chromosome being passed down from fathers to sons, mutating at a fairly constant rate of around every 125 years or perhaps around 3-4 generations. Chromosomal Eve is the female equivalent but her MT-DNA is passed on to both male and female children. Its unlikely they coexisted but were both members of larger populations. See: Ewen Callaway, 'Genetic Adam and Eve did not live too far apart in time', nature website, 6 August 2013, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.13478 , accessed 13 February 2025.
(2) MT-DNA haplogroup mutation rate is thought to be 4.6 times slower than that found in Y-DNA. This can make it difficult to estimate if a MRCA shared by two kits sits within a useful genealogical timeframe. It is useful though in establishing if two people do or do not share a direct maternal line of descent. See: Charles F. Kerchner jnr, 'An Example of How to Use TMRCA Calculators for mtDNA Results', Kerchner's DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy Information and Resources Page, 7 November 2006, http://www.kerchner.com/mtdnatmrcacalculations.htm , accessed 13 February 2025.
(3) Archaeogenetics has allowed ancient human migration to be better understood by combining archaeology and genetics. This can be equally applied to an individual. See: George Bushby, 'Here's how genetics helped crack the history of human migration', the Conversation, 14 January 2016, https://theconversation.com/heres-how-genetics-helped-crack-the-history-of-human-migration-52918 , accessed 13 February 2025.
(4) G.C. Binod, 'Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs): Origin, Significance and Detection strategies', 11 May 2023, https://thesciencenotes.com/single-nucleotide-polymorphisms-snps-origin-significance-detection/ , accessed 13 February 2025.
(5) Colin Woollcott Mallett, Mallett Research Folder 0, Unpublished Y-DNA research project, F0000 MALLETT Folder (0) , accessed 11 Feburary 2025.
(6) Tushar Chauhan, 'What are Short Tandem Repeats (STRs)? Why do we use it?', Genetic Education, 3 July 2019, https://geneticeducation.co.in/what-are-short-tandem-repeats-strs-why-do-we-use-it/ , accessed 13 February 2025. For an overview of the SNP and STR marker research within the R1b-CTS3386 haplogroup project please see: R1b-CTS3386 and Subclades Project, 'Y-DNA SNP', Family Tree DNA Website, n.d., https://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b-CTS3386?iframe=yresults, accessed 13 February 2025 & R1b-CTS3386 and Subclades Project, 'Y-DNA Classic Chart', Family Tree DNA Website, n.d., https://www.familytreedna.com/public/R1b-CTS3386/default.aspx?section=ysnp , accessed 13 February 2025.
(7) Colin Woollcott Mallett, Mallett Research Folder 0.
(8) According to tradition, both of these families were meant to descend from the two sons of King Milesius who landed in Ireland around 1699 BCE: the CARROLLs descending from the eldest son Heber and the FERGUSONs (the Anglicised version of McFERGUS) descending from the younger son Heremon. In the case of the men descending from BY42759 this clearly can't be the case as according to the said chart all these CARROLLs and FERGUSONs share an ancestor who lived as recently as around 1000 CE. See: Author Unknown, 'Ancient Origins of Ireland', House of Names, n.d., https://www.houseofnames.com/blogs/Ancient-Origins-of-Ireland , accessed 13 February 2025; John Rooney, 'The Carroll Family' (from A Genealogical History of Irish Families with their Crests and Armorial Bearings, 1895), Library Ireland, n.d., https://www.libraryireland.com/irish-families/carroll.php , accessed 13 February 2025; John Rooney, 'The McFergus or Ferguson Family' (from A Genealogical History of Irish Families with their Crests and Armorial Bearings, 1895), Library Ireland, n.d., https://www.libraryireland.com/irish-families/mcfergus.php , accessed 13 February 2025.
(9) Author Unknown, 'Carroll: family name history', Irish History, n.d., https://www.irishhistory.com/genealogy/irish-surnames/carroll-family-name-history/ , accessed 13 February 2025; John Grenham, 'Carroll Surname History', johngrenham.com, n.d., https://www.johngrenham.com/surnamescode/surnamehistory.php?surname=Carroll&search_type=full , accessed 13 February 2025.
(10) Author Unknown, 'The Famous Places of Clan Ferguson', Scotland Shop, n.d., https://www.scotlandshop.com/tartanblog/famous-places-clan-ferguson , accessed 13 February 2025.
(11) Author Unknown, 'A Brief History of the Fergussons', Clan Fergusson Society of North America, n.d., https://cfsna.net/about-2/clan-fergusson-society-of-north-america-3/history-of-the-society/fergussons-in-scotland-2 , accessed 13 February 2025.
(12) High King Niall of the Nine Hostages was officially number 87 in the line of Heremon. See: Michael O'Clery, 'Milesian Genealogies from the Annals of the Four Masters', Fianna Guide to Irish Genealogy, n.d., https://sites.rootsweb.com/~fianna/history/milesian.html , accessed 13 February 2025.
(13) Larry Manross, 'DNA Link to Irish High King Niall', Manross Family History, n.d., https://manrossfamilyhistory.com/dna-link-with-king-niall , accessed 13 February 2025.
(14) Author Unknown, 'Niall of the Nine Hostages', Irish Genealogy Tool Kit, n.d., https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/niall-of-the-nine-hostages.html , accessed 13 February 2025.
(15) Author Unknown, 'Niall of the Nine Hostages'.
(16) Larry Manross, 'DNA Link to Irish High King Niall'.
(17) Contrast the following Ancestral paths: Author Unknown, 'Ancestral Path (R-M222)', Family Tree DNA Website, n.d., https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-M222/path , accessed 13 February 2025 & Author Unknown, 'Ancestral Path (R-BY42759), Family Tree DNA Website, n.d., https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-BY42759/path, accessed 13 February 2025.
(18) Colin Woollcott Mallett, 'From Natives to Normans to Protestants: Irish surnames from the Ninth Century to the present day', The Write Side of History blog, 16 January 2025, https://thewrite5ideofhistory.blogspot.com/2025/01/from-natives-to-normans-to-protestants.html , accessed 13 February 2025.
(19) ROBBINS is an English name based on the personal name Robert which was introduced by the Normans. See: Author Unknown, 'Robbins', Heraldry's Institute of Rome, n.d., https://www.heraldrysinstitute.com/lang/en/cognomi/Robbins/idc/600565/?srsltid=AfmBOorowR21xBiU5gnflk-aqw_cNejH3i5wVzxaEB_9PiEy1tl9C8_9 , accessed 13 February 2025.
(20) The surname VANCE is strongly associated with Ireland and Scotland. It is thought to be an Anglicised version of the Norman surname, de VAUX, originally meaning 'of the valleys'. See: Author Unknown, 'A Short History of the Vance Surname', Vance History Online blog, n.d., https://vancehistoryonline.blogspot.com/p/short-history-of-vance-surname.html , accessed on 13 February 2025.
(21) Author Unknown, 'Milburn Surname', England's North East, n.d., https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/guide-to-north-east-surnames-m/ , accessed 13 February 2025.
(22) This is drawn from private Y-DNA group project work through the FTDNA site. Similar to the FERGUS(S)ON lines, there also seems to be a distant association between these MILBURN descendants with Ayrshire, Scotland.
Figures and Illustrations
(i) Colin Woollcott Mallett, prepared with data from Big Y Testing at FTDNA with map sourced from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_World_Without_a_Background.png
(ii) Colin Woollcott Mallett, prepared with data from Big Y Testing at FTDNA with map sourced from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Location_map_of_British_Isles.png
(iii) Colin Woollcott Mallett, prepared with data from Big Y Testing at FTDNA and analysed through the R1b-CTS3386 and Subclades Project.
(iv) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Carroll_Family_Plot_at_the_old_Catholic_burial_ground_at_Knockbride_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3827558.jpg
(v) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferguson_(R._R._McIan).jpg
(vi) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Myths_and_legends;_the_Celtic_race_(1910)_(14760459036).jpg
(vii) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reivers_raid_on_Gilnockie_Tower.jpg
Bibliography