As a 'Barry' variant, I find this very interesting as I am still trying to identify which Barry variant my surname came from. I can honestly say I've joked about digging up a questionable ancestor or two for DNA testing. > On Jun 14, 2014, at 2:51 PM, Malcolm McClure <malcolmmcclure@mac.com> wrote: > > Susan > > There's a lot of wishful thinking about ancestors out there. In my > opinion genetics is likely to give more productive results working > backwards from living individuals rather than forwards from a > putative, if illustrious person who happens to have had a similar name. > The site claims that Richard Barry, 6th Earl of Barrymore belonged to > "one of the most important Anglo-Irish families." > > For English people Barry is a short form of Bartholomew. > > For people in the north of Ireland the (made-up) name Barry's is > associated with an amusement park in Portrush. > > For the Welsh it is the name of a town in Glamorgan. > For the French it is the name of Louis XV's pimp/procurer Jean- > Baptiste du Barry, nicknamed le roué, whose wife Madame du Barry was > guillotined in the Revolution. > For Italians Bari is a town in Apulia. > Etc. Etc. > People's names can have a multitude of origins and it seems better to > let sleeping dogs lie. > Digging up the dead is the last resort of the desperate. > Malcolm. > >> On 14 Jun 2014, at 20:34, Susan Hedeen wrote: >> >> I really don't have an opinion on it; I see plus and minus from >> several >> points of view. On the one hand, what if genetic genealogy had >> nothing >> to do with this? Would the attitude be different? Suppose it was a >> bog >> body or an "under the car park body" rather than an identified grave? >> >> On the face of things one could say that disturbing the remains of a >> known individual could be creepy I guess. On the other hand for an >> environ in a region that seems consumed by history and historical >> claims >> regarding its past populations, the descending surnames, etc., it >> could >> be considered coming to grips with all the realities surrounding the >> considerations of that. >> >> One only needs to refer to the many debates regarding the "Niall and >> the >> Nine Hostages" linkage to IMH and then M222 to understand that in >> microcosm this may be a reflection of firming up the various claims >> and >> sorting quantifiable facts from unqualified speculation. >> >> Is it important? I don't know. >> >> We have many hundreds to thousands involved in genetic genealogy, more >> involved in genealogy, and more yet involved in the attempt to >> understand history and the place of our ancestral heritage and >> ourselves, all spending multiples of thousands of dollars and >> immeasurably more of investigative time in the quest to satisfy the >> questions. Just how important is that? In the broader scope will any >> of it alter this world as we know it? Bring a betterment in living to >> man kind? Stop the wars, the hate, and the ill will that exists among >> people? Will understanding our ancestors and from whence they came >> alter history as we know it and then promote the better within us? >> Tough questions that all come down to personal aspirations and >> interests >> and what they mean to us. >> >> I do understand your point of view as well as the other side. Susan >> >>> On 6/14/2014 2:31 PM, Malcolm McClure wrote: >>> Susan >>> Maybe it's just me, but I find taking this extreme intrest in >>> paternal genetics a bit creepy. The Scots have long been fascinated >>> by the resurrectionists but this must be a new departure for the >>> Irish. >>> Malcolm >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com >> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >> the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DNA-R1B1C7-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message