Thanks, Michael. That is amazing! Am I correct that you are saying that I could not find others of my maiden name - Gavagan (originally Gavican) through a DNA test because I am female, but I could discover my geographical origin through my maternal line? Fran ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael O'Hearn" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 5:54 PM Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Thin lips?....What is an Irishman/woman? > It depends on what you are looking for. > > If it is connected to a surname, then the Y-chrmosome > would work in the paternal line to tell you whether > there is any degree of common ancestry among people of > that surname as compared with people in Ireland of any > surname. The mtDNA test would not work because it is > only inherited through the female line. > > However, if you are trying to find out where your > mother's maternal ancestors originated, then the mtDNA > test would work. I contacted a guy in New Zealand who > found that his mother's Irish maternal line went back > to the Ukraine in Eastern Europe, thus corroborating > the view that Indo-European settlers whether Celt or > Viking provided her maternal lineage. > > > > Michael O'Hearn > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time > with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. > http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry > at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message