One consequence of Yair Davidiy's distracting series of messages is that it stimulated me to re-read Howard and Mclaughlin's paper. One thing that struck me this time was the statement "The R1b haplogroup of the progenitor certainly indicates that his ancestors came from Western Europe, probably though England and arrived in Ireland by land from lowland Scotland or by sea to the area near Co. Donegal and Connacht." This got me wondering what the land connection might have looked like. A quick search on the Internet didn't turn up much, except that I learned that to the south-east of the North Channel there exists a geological feature between Ireland and Scotland known as Beaufort's Dyke that has a depth in excess of 200 metres. I presume that this could not have been the place where a land connection existed. This suggests that the land connection would have been to the northwest part of the North Channel which appears to be much shallower on the maps I have seen - comparable perhaps to depths in the English Channel. So, I was wondering if there has been a comparison of the geologic history of this area with the current distribution of M222. I would also much appreciate any suggested references to the geologic history of this area that might be accessible from Canada. John Carey