New York City
Howard Lutter
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
A More Precise Irish Hometown?
I found a website detailing the history of a school in Meentinadea, County Donegal, Ireland.
I was directed to the page by searching for a priest in the family, Father Charles O'Donnell (1884-1934).
The site mentions that Father O'Donnell's father (Cornelius or Neil O'Donnell) was from Altnagapple, "two miles from the school," and his mother, Mary (Gallagher), was from Cullion, Killybegs. Father O'Donnell "visited his ancestral home at Altnagapple" on a return trip from Rome in 1923, saying Mass while an uncle, Charlie Mhici O'Donnell, "and relatives were present."
This information expounds upon the little information I previously had, which was from Father O'Donnell's book. In a poem in the book, Father O'Donnell wrote that his father was from Ardara and his mother from Killybegs. They met on the road in Donegal.
Father O'Donnell's father, Neil O'Donnell, was a brother of my great great grandfather, Patrick Francis O'Donnell. Neil and Patrick's parents were Peter O'Donnell and Margaret Gallagher. I am hoping that Margaret Gallagher was also from this area of Donegal and is related to the Mary Gallagher who married her son Neil O'Donnell. That should make finding records easier.
I did not know that Neil and Patrick had a brother, Charlie, who remained in Ireland.
Hopefully this additional information will enable me to locate some more generations in Ireland.
I was directed to the page by searching for a priest in the family, Father Charles O'Donnell (1884-1934).
The site mentions that Father O'Donnell's father (Cornelius or Neil O'Donnell) was from Altnagapple, "two miles from the school," and his mother, Mary (Gallagher), was from Cullion, Killybegs. Father O'Donnell "visited his ancestral home at Altnagapple" on a return trip from Rome in 1923, saying Mass while an uncle, Charlie Mhici O'Donnell, "and relatives were present."
This information expounds upon the little information I previously had, which was from Father O'Donnell's book. In a poem in the book, Father O'Donnell wrote that his father was from Ardara and his mother from Killybegs. They met on the road in Donegal.
Father O'Donnell's father, Neil O'Donnell, was a brother of my great great grandfather, Patrick Francis O'Donnell. Neil and Patrick's parents were Peter O'Donnell and Margaret Gallagher. I am hoping that Margaret Gallagher was also from this area of Donegal and is related to the Mary Gallagher who married her son Neil O'Donnell. That should make finding records easier.
I did not know that Neil and Patrick had a brother, Charlie, who remained in Ireland.
Hopefully this additional information will enable me to locate some more generations in Ireland.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Cousin Prediction
A promising DNA match has appeared at 23andMe.com. She shares a good chunk of chromosome 4 with my father and his three siblings. As with all matches, I also check for DNA shared with my father's close relations. If a distant cousin matches my father and his close cousin on the same segment of DNA, then I look for the shared ancestor in the branch of the family tree shared by my father and that cousin. That is the strategy behind DNA testing not just yourself, but your aunts, uncles, and cousins.
You need to be careful when a distant cousin matches two close family members on different segments. This could be indicative of two different ancestral lines, meaning that the distant cousin is not related to both close cousins by the same ancestors.
Beautifully illustrating this point, the promising match shares DNA not only with my father, but his mother's cousins and his father's cousin- on different segments. To date, my research has not revealed any shared ancestors between my paternal grandparents. (Though one of my grandmother's cousins shares a segment of DNA with my grandfather's cousin.) This newest match may be connected in three different ways to my family, or maybe just two.
Hopefully a few generations of her family tree will be forthcoming and I can figure out the ancestor responsible for the chunk of chromosome 4. My prediction: third to fourth cousin. IF she is related by a common ancestor to one of the grandparent's cousins, she should not be closer than a third cousin because they are the prior generation and their shared segment is too small for a second cousin range.
You need to be careful when a distant cousin matches two close family members on different segments. This could be indicative of two different ancestral lines, meaning that the distant cousin is not related to both close cousins by the same ancestors.
Beautifully illustrating this point, the promising match shares DNA not only with my father, but his mother's cousins and his father's cousin- on different segments. To date, my research has not revealed any shared ancestors between my paternal grandparents. (Though one of my grandmother's cousins shares a segment of DNA with my grandfather's cousin.) This newest match may be connected in three different ways to my family, or maybe just two.
Hopefully a few generations of her family tree will be forthcoming and I can figure out the ancestor responsible for the chunk of chromosome 4. My prediction: third to fourth cousin. IF she is related by a common ancestor to one of the grandparent's cousins, she should not be closer than a third cousin because they are the prior generation and their shared segment is too small for a second cousin range.
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| Segment Mapper by Kitty Cooper |
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