Hi folks, of course if you are reading this you are still on the Scotch Irish list. If you feel inclined, let us know about your research interests. Here's mine. I continue to be amazed at the assistence DNA can be. I have a couple clients who have tested and turned out to be Northwest Irish -- better yet -- leading O'Neills. I can't say 'royal' because the main line was 'lost' either because the son of the blacksmith ... was the son of the blacksmith (First Earl of Tyrone) or... and, maybe, the geneticists think it was lost by 900 AD (unless they changed their minds and of course didn't tell me <grin>) . What happens in this case is that the geneticists in Dublin, attempting to sort out the early genealogies and DNA lines, pay a lot of attention to your DNA, free. So it is a big win. You sit and read about the O'Neills while they work hard on your DNA at no charge to you <grin>. So far, the now no longer lost O'Neills include a Johnston family that settled in western Pennsylvania about 1821, lived in Derrry and Unity Townships. NOT the 'famous Johnstons' who provided a governor or so to the state. These ones were Catholics. They are part of the McShane sept and came from Co Down. Merchants who had probably lived near Belfast before coming to the states, where they first settled in Baltimore. This is the clan webpages: http://www.clanmcshane.org/ Then we have the McCamish/McAmis clan of Tyrone. The American branch descends from three brothers who appeared in Virginia about 1770 and after the Revolution moved to eastern Tennessee. We established their place of origin through a DNA match in Australia to a man living in Tyrone. Mixed religions. There is another group in the Banbridge area of County Down who often are McComish. They are also north west Irish but not 'royal' eh, sorry, 'leading'. Mixed religions. They have a match in the USA with a man surnamed Clark who fathered a son in Illinois in 1902. The mother died and the father's whereabout are unknown. The mother's family raised the son. Oral family history said Mr. Clark was Irish. They are searching for more information, but what is clear is this man was an O'Neill. Any Clarks here have their DNA test results so we see if y ou match??? As for my own family, for new people, I have Andersons who settled in Western Pennsylvania in 1785 from what is now Franklin County, PA. They emigrated before the Revolution from County Antrim. Probably related to the Andersons who built Bushmills as they are also red headed, musical Covenantors. Blacks -- I descend from the brother of the Rev. John Black, from Aghohill, County Antrim. My Robert and his wife Sarah Aiken first settled in South Carolina about 1795 but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to the split in the Covenantor church in 1805. Norris -- from Swatragh, County Derry. A huge mess of Norrises came over and not all came to western PA. Wife's surname was Dowling. Also Marshall from Tyrone (though I am beginning to doubt that). Had 7 daughters. No DNA. And Kelly from County Down. Stuck in western PA at about 1820. Probably related to the Kellys of Wilkinsburg though not in any direct way (since the last one died without a legal heir). Mine were north of the Allegheny River in O'Hara/Indiana Township. Linda Merle (List Admin)

Very interesting post, Linda. When a family member tests and family turns out to be "Northwest Irish," does that mean they have to be R1b of one kind of another? Or are they are a particular R1b category? Or not necessarily either of the above? My McLaughlin side (or should I say my husband's) was for all I, or even he, knew when we married, and for quite a few years afterward, a Scots family from Uddingston in Lanarkshire. Then came our first visit to Scotland to visit an elderly widow, the last remaining close blood relative. From this dear wee Auntie Mary, we heard the story of "her great journey" to Ireland to visit her husband, John Leckie's family; she quickly added "the Leckies and McLaughlins came from the same place, you know." We both sat bolt upright and said, "WHAT?!! ...." We'd been led to believe by Jack's long-widowed grandmother, Auntie Mary's sister, that her McLaughlin husband had been a Scotsman. This led us to finding out about, and travelling several times to, Raphoe in County Donegal. We've been told, there is a good chance that that particular McLaughlin family was Northwest Irish. My husband must DNA test; we both so love Northwest Ireland, it would be cool to test that way! The comical part of it all was when we told Grandma that we'd discovered the McLaughlins had emigrated from Ireland to Scotland in the late 1800s (something it turned out she knew all along), she quickly informed us they *really* were Scots in the first place, had gone to Ireland and were just coming back home! Once one DNA tests, how does one get access to the sort of fascinating information you speak of — the kind being sorted out by the Dublin geneticists. One of the things I've found difficult in the three DNA project in which I am involved is how little real help there seems to be—or I just haven't looked in the right places. It's a bit like the blind leading the blind, admins who are non-existent.... I've hesitated to push Jack to test until there seems to be more online help since I'm already swamped trying to understand Smith, Crozier and Johnston projects. Ruth in Ottawa On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 11:41 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi folks, of course if you are reading this you are still on the Scotch Irish list. If you feel inclined, let us know about your research interests. > > Here's mine. I continue to be amazed at the assistence DNA can be. I have a couple clients who have tested and turned out to be Northwest Irish -- better yet -- leading O'Neills. I can't say 'royal' because the main line was 'lost' either because the son of the blacksmith ... was the son of the blacksmith (First Earl of Tyrone) or... and, maybe, the geneticists think it was lost by 900 AD (unless they changed their minds and of course didn't tell me <grin>) . What happens in this case is that the geneticists in Dublin, attempting to sort out the early genealogies and DNA lines, pay a lot of attention to your DNA, free. So it is a big win. You sit and read about the O'Neills while they work hard on your DNA at no charge to you <grin>. > > So far, the now no longer lost O'Neills include a Johnston family that settled in western Pennsylvania about 1821, lived in Derrry and Unity Townships. NOT the 'famous Johnstons' who provided a governor or so to the state. These ones were Catholics. They are part of the McShane sept and came from Co Down. Merchants who had probably lived near Belfast before coming to the states, where they first settled in Baltimore. This is the clan webpages: http://www.clanmcshane.org/ > > Then we have the McCamish/McAmis clan of Tyrone. The American branch descends from three brothers who appeared in Virginia about 1770 and after the Revolution moved to eastern Tennessee. We established their place of origin through a DNA match in Australia to a man living in Tyrone. Mixed religions. > > There is another group in the Banbridge area of County Down who often are McComish. They are also north west Irish but not 'royal' eh, sorry, 'leading'. Mixed religions. > > They have a match in the USA with a man surnamed Clark who fathered a son in Illinois in 1902. The mother died and the father's whereabout are unknown. The mother's family raised the son. Oral family history said Mr. Clark was Irish. They are searching for more information, but what is clear is this man was an O'Neill. Any Clarks here have their DNA test results so we see if y ou match??? > > As for my own family, for new people, I have Andersons who settled in Western Pennsylvania in 1785 from what is now Franklin County, PA. They emigrated before the Revolution from County Antrim. Probably related to the Andersons who built Bushmills as they are also red headed, musical Covenantors. Blacks -- I descend from the brother of the Rev. John Black, from Aghohill, County Antrim. My Robert and his wife Sarah Aiken first settled in South Carolina about 1795 but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to the split in the Covenantor church in 1805. Norris -- from Swatragh, County Derry. A huge mess of Norrises came over and not all came to western PA. Wife's surname was Dowling. Also Marshall from Tyrone (though I am beginning to doubt that). Had 7 daughters. No DNA. And Kelly from County Down. Stuck in western PA at about 1820. Probably related to the Kellys of Wilkinsburg though not in any direct way (since the last one died without a legal heir). Mine were north of the! Allegheny River in O'Hara/Indiana Township. > > Linda Merle (List Admin)