McCain's Corner: BBC Ulster, the Kist o' Wurds program

McCain's Corner: BBC Ulster, the Kist o' Wurds program: Barry R McCain on the Thacker Mt Trail My BBC interview will be on today, evening in the UK, at 1:30 PM (13:30) on BBC Ulster Radio.  Th...

McCain's Corner: Celtic Life Internation Magazine

McCain's Corner: Celtic Life Internation Magazine: A note to one and all; there is a review of my new book Finding the McCains in the October 2015 edition of Celtic Life magazine. Th...

McCain's Corner: Highlanders in West Ulster, 1569-1630

McCain's Corner: Highlanders in West Ulster, 1569-1630: In the sixteenth century Scottish Highlanders settled in the Laggan district of east Donegal. They were called Redshanks. Their story ...

McCain's Corner: Epigenetics

McCain's Corner: Epigenetics: Epigenetics is the study, in the field of genetics, of cellular and physiological phenotypic trait variations that are caused by external o...

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Ohio Celt Fest, August 7-9

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Ohio Celt Fest, August 7-9: The 4th Annual Ohio Celtic Festival Welcome to the Ohio Celtic Festival! We'll feature some of the very best in Celtic music, d...

McCain's Corner: SNP Testing, Summer Sale from Family Tree DNA... O...

McCain's Corner: SNP Testing, Summer Sale from Family Tree DNA... O...: Some good news from Family Tree DNA regarding SNP testing.  They are running a special  summer sale of interest to those in the R1b groups...

McCain's Corner: Anglicized Surnames; the many forms of John

McCain's Corner: Anglicized Surnames; the many forms of John: Knowing the Gaelic form of our surnames is a very helpful in genetic genealogy research.  There are many surnames in Ireland and Scotla...

The Tomahawk, Scots-Irish Iconic Tool

The humble hand axe, or tomahawk, is an iconic tool of the Scots-Irish.  It was the multi-tool of its day, of use around the camp for cutting, splitting wood, to drive stakes, and also used for personal protection.  It was good in hand to hand close combat and a skilled wielder could throw it with great precision at ranges from five to twenty yards.   While some associate it with the frontier, its design and use goes back several thousand years.

hand axe in war from a medieval Gaelic manuscript 

 



typical frontier tomahawk

Small hand axes, of the same design and type as used by the Scots-Irish on the frontier, were in use since prehistoric times in both Ireland and Scotland.  The battle axe was called a tuagh (said Too-ah) in Gaelic.  There are many hundreds of them in the Irish National Museum.  Early ones are in stone and as technology improved they were made in copper, bronze, iron, and eventually steel.  From their ethnogenesis in Scotland, to their migration to Ireland, and then to the frontier of the New World, the hand axe, or tomahawk, has remained the one constant of Scots-Irish material culture. It was the Scots-Irish frontiersman that introduced the American Indians to the tool.

deployed American soldier with tomahawk

 

The tomahawk is still very much in use today and is just as useful in the 21^st Century as it was to our Neolithic ancestors.

McCain's Corner: The Second Sight among the Scots Irish

McCain's Corner: The Second Sight among the Scots Irish: Sarah Pearl Tweedy circa 1905 The phenomenon of Second sight has fascinated me for many years.  I was exposed to the Second Sight early...

McCain's Corner: Summer Sale on Finding the McCains, a Scots Irish ...

McCain's Corner: Summer Sale on Finding the McCains, a Scots Irish ...:   Loughcrew, County Meath Finding the McCains, a Scots Irish Odyssey , is now in the Ingram wholesale system and for sale through all...

McCain's Corner: Y-DNA test When No Paternal Relative Is Available ...

McCain's Corner: Y-DNA test When No Paternal Relative Is Available ...: This post will again address genetic genealogy for Irish, Scots, and Scots-Irish, when no male relative is available to DNA test.  Why is a...

Families in the Scots-Irish DNA Project June 2015

The Scots-Irish DNA Project now has 761 participating families.  Below is a roster of the participating families.  As you can see the families are a combination of Lowland and Highland Scottish surnames with a few native Irish surnames.  All these families self identify as being Scots-Irish.  Most of these families participated in the 18th Century Ulster Migration to English Colonies and early Republic, or in the 19th Century Ulster migration into Canada.

The majority of the Lowland Scottish families are from Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Gallowayshire, and most of these families migrated to Ireland during the Ulster Plantation (1609-1720).  The Highland Scottish surnames from Argyll, Lennox, and the Southern Hebrides; many of these families migrated to Ulster circa 1550-1600).

The dominate haplogroups are Insular Celts (85%) and there is about 12% of the haplogroups of Norse/Norman ancestry.   The native Irish surnames come from certain families that converted to the reformed faith and became part of the Protestant Irish community in the 1600s. 

Click on image to enlarge:

 

McCain's Corner: Autosomal DNA Test Sale

McCain's Corner: Autosomal DNA Test Sale:   Autosomal DNA tests utilize DNA from the 22 pairs of autosomal chromosomes. Autosomal DNA is inherited from both parents. Ther...

Foyle Valley Covenanters, a new book by William Roulston

Dr William Roulston is the Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. He holds a PhD in Archaeology from Queen’s University Belfast.
  

Foyle Valley Covenanters

In the middle of the eighteenth century a community of Covenanters in the Foyle Valley emerged from the shadows to form a congregation. The first minister was ordained in 1765 and six years later a site at Bready was secured for a meeting house. Since then the members of this small but significant congregation have been active in preserving a Reformed Presbyterian witness in the district as well as contributing to many other aspects of local life. Through a detailed study of the congregational and denominational records, this book explores the ministers and ministries, the life and work of the congregation, the buildings, the families, and the relationship between the Covenanters of Bready and the state. The appendices to the book include an index to the names in the earliest session book (1791-1800). Raised on the family farm in Bready, William J. Roulston grew up a few fields away from the Covenanter meeting house. He has written extensively on his local area and is the convener of the Reformed Presbyterian Church History Committee.

For overseas orders the best place to go is:

http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/foyle-covenanters-history-bready-reformed-presbyterian-church-1765-2015

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Gaelic Language Festival 26-28 June in Ontario

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Gaelic Language Festival 26-28 June in Ontario: OIREACHTAS GAEILGE CHEANADA A Festival of Gaelic Language and Culture 26 – 28 June 2015   Register Now   Information   ...

McCain's Corner: Gaelic Female Ancestor Names pre 1600 in Genetic G...

McCain's Corner: Gaelic Female Ancestor Names pre 1600 in Genetic G...: As you progress with your genetic genealogy research you will eventually reach a point where records were not written in modern E...

McCain's Corner: DNA Match Group & Derbhfine Names

McCain's Corner: DNA Match Group & Derbhfine Names: If your Y-DNA match group has developed a strong geographic pattern this will allow you to research the primary sources of that locatio...

Scots-Irish DNA Project Update 23 April 2015

For members interested in a case study of a Family Tree DNA family project that located their cousins in Ulster and eventually located their progenitor in Argyll, Scotland, we suggest the new book  'Finding the McCains'  (on Amazon).   The book shows how a Y-DNA match group can be used to focus research on specific geographic area and the use of the primary sources there.  It is a familiar tale to many researchers.  A 40 year search for family history, the brick wall, then the DNA testing with dramatic results.  It can be a complex task, but it can be done and 'Finding the McCains' is an excellent example of how one Ulster family accomplished this.  The McCains include Senator John McCain, the Canadian family of Wallace and Harrison McCain of New Brunswick, and James McKeen, co-leader of the 1718 Ulster fleet that began the Ulster migration.

I have received several emails concerning ‘genetic convergence’  which can produce a false match:  There was a rapid population expansion in the last 4000-5000 years and some of the lineages within R1b1a2 have experienced convergence of STR values.  This is due to the random mutation process. Some of the more distant lineages have moved closer together producing coincidental matching haplotypes.  This phenomenon is called “convergence” (also known as evolutionary convergence) is the term we use in genetic genealogy to describe the process when two different haplotypes mutate over time to become identical or near identical resulting in an coincidental match. Coincidental matches will often be in different subclades and the common ancestor will have lived several thousand years ago rather than within a genealogical timeframe.   A convergence can produce a “false positive" match.


This is one reason we recommend you test at least 67 markers.  There has been only one case of a convergence match at this level.  The 111 marker level is the best test to filter out any possible convergence match.  This is particularly important for participants Ulster and Scottish ancestry, because surnames were often not fixed until very late, circa 1500 to 1700.  In many cases your non-surname matches are just important as your surname matches, but only if they are bona fide matches.  In our geographic area many clans and families used different surnames as these groups followed patronymic naming customs.  An example of this: a Mac Dónaill family circa 1520 has an illustrious son named Alastair and by 1570 his line uses the surname Mac Alastair.  When a descendant tests he will find anglicized forms of both Mac Dónaill and Mac Alastair present in his match group.  In this example the match group could contain numerous anglicized forms, Alexander, Alastair, Daniels, Donaldson, McDaniels, McDonald, McDonnell, etc.

 

Address for our blog below; news of the project is posted there.    Best of luck with your genetic genealogy project.

 

http://thescotsirish.blogspot.com/  (The Scots-Irish Blog)

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McCain's Corner:    http://barryrmccain.blogspot.com/
Ulster Heritage:  http://uhblog.ulsterheritage.com/p/books.html
Barry R McCain website:   http://www.barryrmccain.com/



Ulster Heritage Magazine: Books

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Books: Finding the McCains Finding the McCains , is an account of a man’s 40 year odyssey to find the McCain family in Ireland.   Senator Jo...

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Y-DNA testing... When No Paternal Relative Is Avai...

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Y-DNA testing... When No Paternal Relative Is Avai...: Y-DNA test When No Paternal Relative Is Available A frequent issue in genetic genealogy is the problem of Y chromosome DNA testing when...

McCain's Corner: Irish and Scottish Clan Surnames

McCain's Corner: Irish and Scottish Clan Surnames: Clan Surnames     Many people with Gaelic origin surnames are interested in researching their clan connections. This is cannot be...

McCain's Corner: Genetic Genealogy of Irish, Scots, and Scots-Irish...

McCain's Corner: Genetic Genealogy of Irish, Scots, and Scots-Irish...: There are several firms that do DNA testing for individuals and groups doing genealogical research as well as research concerning ethnicity...

The Kilt and the Scots-Irish

(note many Scots-Irish are of Argyll and Lennox ancestry, areas where the kilt was worn.  Of interest, the first detailed record of the kilt in use is from Ireland; an account of Redshanks arrived in 1596)

Is the kilt Irish…. was the kilt ever worn in Ireland? The answer to this question is a very simple yes, of course, but even simple answers need some explanation. The kilt comes in two forms, the filleadh beag and the filleadh mór. The wearing of kilts came into fashion in the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland sometime during the late 1500s. Prior to the popularsation of the kilt most Isles and Highlanders dressed identical to the native Irish in a léine and short jacket.

Liam Neeson portraying Rob Roy wearing the large kilt, of filleadh mór

Why the kilt came into fashion can only be speculated on, perhaps it was the changing climate, which was growing colder in the late 1500s and the full kilt offered warmth, or perhaps it was improved small looms that could produce more woolen cloth, or perhaps just a fashion trend indigenous to the Gaels of Scotland. For whatever reason, the kilt became popular and fashionable among Gaels in certain parts of Scotland and would be brought to Ireland by Scottish Gaels that settled there in the late 1500s.

The filleadh mór is comprised of a very long piece of material called a plaid, which is belted in the middle. The upper part could be arranged in various ways depending upon the temperature of the day. The part below the belt was folded in the back to make pleats and came down to the knees.

There is a pseudo history about the creation of the smaller kilt, the filleadh beag, which is the form of kilt still very much in use today. At some point prior to 1690s, Gaelic tailors began to cut the filleadh mór in half. It was an organic fashion development within the Scottish Gaelic community. The upper part became a separate plaid and the lower part had the folds sown into it. This way the lower half, the kilt, could be worn separately from the plaid.

Sean Connery wearing the small kilt, or filleadh beag

A false story has long circulated about the creation of the small kilt that maintained two English tailors invented this form in 1727. However, in Gaelic oral history it was known that the small kilt predates this time. The English creation myth persisted in some circles until writer Clifford Smyth produced an illustration of the small kilt in use in 1690 and put an end to the pseudo history of the small kilt.

18th Century illustration on how to wear the kilt

In Ireland the full kilt and small kilt were worn in those areas settled by Highland and Hebridean Gaels. There are eyewitness descriptions of the kilt being worn as early as the 1590s in Ulster. Originally it was worn in the Redshank communities in east Donegal, northwest Tyrone, and north Antrim. Its popularity has waxed and waned over the years, but more and more the small kilt can be seen in Ireland worn at weddings and parties, by hill walkers, and sportsmen. This growing popularity of this very old Gaelic garment is natural and part of the heritage of Ulster.

Finding the McCains

The remarkable story of the McCain family from Ulster, their ranks include James McKeen, co-leader of the 1718 fleet and first magistrate of the Londonderry, NH, settlement, Wallace and Harrison McCain of McCain Foods, Ltd., Admiral John Sydney (Slew) McCain, and Senator John McCain.

Finding the McCains

Finding the McCains, is an account of a man’s 40 year odyssey to find the McCain family in Ireland.  Senator John McCain and his cousin, novelist Elizabeth Spencer, both include a short history of the McCain family in their respective memoirs Faith of our Fathers and Landscapes of the Heart.  Their history is a romantic tale of Highland Scots who supported Mary Queen of Scots and who fled to Ireland after her downfall in 1568.  The search for the McCains became a mystery story with clues, false turns, many adventures, and then ultimate success through Y chromosome DNA testing.  In 2008 the McCains were reunited with their family that remained in Ireland, after 289 years of separation.

The McCain history includes people and events familiar to readers of Irish and Scottish history; Redshanks, Iníon Dubh, Mary Queen of Scots, the Earls of Argyll, the Ulster Migration, and the Scots-Irish, are all part of this family’s history.  Faint memories of this past were told for generations in Mississippi and as the research progressed the facts behind these memories were uncovered. 

The Y chromosome DNA results revealed that the McCains of Mississippi, which include Senator John McCain’s family, are the same family of Wallace and Harrison McCain, the founders of Canada’s McCain Foods, one of the most successful corporations in the world.  They are also the same family as James McKeen who organized the 1718 fleet that began the great Ulster Migration to the English Colonies.  All these families are paternally related and they all descend from one Gaelic man named Mac Eáin that lived in Kilmichael Glassary parish, in mid Argyll, in the Scottish Highlands, in the 1400s.

The book tells of the author’s many trips to Ireland in search of his distant cousins there.  There are anecdotal stories, some humorous and others involving “famous” people; such as, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty, Mary Coughlan (Irish Tainste or vice president), Cindy McCain (wife of Senator McCain), Seán Mac Stiofáin (1970s head of the IRA) , Alan Heusaff (WW II German officer in Dublin who later became president of the Celtic League), and Muhammad Ali.  There is even an encounter with a Bean Sí (faerie woman) on the windy cold hill of megalithic stone ruins at Loch an Craoibh.  All presented from the perspective of a native Mississippian.

Another theme in the book is the Scots-Irish.  Contemporary histories about the Scots-Irish present stereotyped and romanticized accounts of this dynamic group.  Finding the McCains reveals a more complex history and shows the cultural conflation common in Scots-Irish popular history.

Finding the McCains is an excellent read for all interested in Irish and Scottish history and is an how-to guide for those interested in how-to guide for those who would like to use genetic genealogy to locate their family in the old country and recover lost family history.

To purchase from Amazon: Finding the McCains

To purchase from Ulster Heritage directly send US $20 (postage paid) to:
Ulster Heritage
PO Box 884
Oxford MS 38655
USA 

Haplogroup R-S1051 Project

(Many Scots-Irish are in R-S1051 haplogroup.  A lot of research going on with this haplogroup; they appear to be indigenous to central Scotland.  Those men that have the R-S1051 haplogroup are encouraged to participate in the research.  One can join by using your 'manage projects' link on your Family Tree DNA page.)


Recently many new SNP's have been discovered for this unique haplogroup which is located below DF13.

The majority of this family group have 5 main Patriarch SNP's (S1051, FGC9655, FGC9661, FGC9658 and FGC9657). The current age estimate for these Patriarch SNP's is approximately 3,200 to 4,500 years old and likely originated within what is known as the Bell Beaker culture. When examining other haplogroups of a similar age the S1051 people are very few by comparison
.
Evidence suggests that the geographic origin of this family group could have been from what is now modern Scotland.
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/R-S1051/default.aspx?section=results
 S1051 Project SNP results spreadsheet page 1 of 2.  
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E1iiiFeUgXGA-Trg_whSqbK_sTZI5csja4dRFWZ5-bE/edit?usp=sharing 
S1051 Project SNP results spreadsheet page 2 of 2 - FGC17906+
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YsOmg_EaoSh3QVKn9u_216ZtN3nI8LO5-NRA5Oscg4s/edit?usp=sharing

On the above spreadsheet links I've placed "SNP dates" which are an approximation as these mutation rates can vary. So far on average there is 1 Sanger SNP verified per 139 years so it's important to stress that these dates could change slightly as more research needs to be completed. There are instances like the single defining McCeney SNP which likely exceeds 200 years since it's mutation and other examples which were fewer than 139 years. Other factors to consider are the number of SNP's captured from the various sequencing types and the number of raw SNP's which are culled due to reliability issues. The age estimate 139 years per SNP was calculated by using known genealogy, full Y testing, Sanger verification, STR calculations and averaging the number of raw SNP's located below DF13. It's also important to understand that chronology of many of the SNP's (including the 5 main oldest ones) are still unknown.
The following link is to a 64 page paper written by Ronald Henderson that I recently discovered online. Although some concepts found within may stir debate within the historical or scientific community I believe it was well written and worth adding to project page.
http://www.thesonsofscotland.co.uk/Rex%20Pictorum.pdf



Link: R-S1051 Project

Native Tribes of Britain

The majority of the Scots-Irish are descendants of the native Celtic tribes of north Britain.  Here is a link to an article on the BBC History website showing the location and names of these early Celtic tribes.

Link:  Native Tribes of Britain

The Tweedy Family: Tweedys in Scotland and Ireland

The Tweedy Family: Tweedys in Scotland and Ireland: We need Tweedys (by any spelling) to participate in DNA testing.  Our goals are to locate the Tweedy family in Scotland and Ireland and reco...

The Highland Scots in West Ulster

Amazon is running a sale on the book 'The Laggan Redshanks.'  The sale price is only US $13.46.  The book tells the fascinating story of the Highland Scottish migration to Donegal in the 1500s.  Many of these Highlanders migrated to the Colonies in the 1700s and became 'Scots-Irish.' 

In the sixteenth century Scottish Highlanders settled in the Laggan district of east Donegal. They were called Redshanks. The history of the Laggan Redshanks has many fascinating elements which include Clann Chaimbeul and their dynamic leader the fifth Earl of Argyll, Gaelic sexual intrigues, English Machiavellian manoeuvres, and the Redshanks themselves. This book not only tells the fascinating story of how a Highland Scottish community became established in the Laggan, but also includes the surnames of the Redshanks and notes of their origins in Scotland, which will be of interest to family historians and genealogists.

Link to purchase:  The Laggan Redshanks

Scots-Irish, Genetically Speaking

The Scots-Irish were descendants of Scottish settlers in Ireland.  Many of these Scottish settlers were in turn descendants of Lowland Scots that settled in Ulster circa 1609 to the early 1700s.  Others were descendants of Highland Scots from Argyll, the southern Hebrides, and Lennox, that settled in Ulster during the 1500s.  Both of these groups in turn were the descendants of the various Celtic groups indigenous to what is now Scotland.  Recent DNA testing has revealed that the dominated DNA haplogroups of the Scots-Irish are R-M222 and R-L21.  Below are illustrations that show the geographic locations of these two haplogroups.

map showing highest concentration of R-M222

maps showing highest concentration of R-L21

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Christma Sale on DNA testing from Family Tree

Ulster Heritage Magazine: Christma Sale on DNA testing from Family Tree: Link to join:  Ulster Heritage DNA Project