Whilst proof reading the final draft for “What to believe (2)”, I had a flash of insight. “Any account of events written more than 40 years later is likely to contain errors. Dates can become mixed up. Events can be forgotten. Others can be, albeit unwittingly, exaggerated. Details become blurred.” Almost all accounts of historic…
All posts tagged Roscommon
Kane cluster
I have been examining the family trees of people in one of the DNA clusters that I have accessed from Ancestry. The fact that there is a cluster tells me that there should be a common ancestor. I do not know where. I do not know how far back in history to look. Geography helps…
Sowing more seeds
I have been doing a course in the last few weeks. The subject is Genetic Genealogy. It has helped to clarify a few points. One of the suggestions made by the course tutors has paid immediate dividends. I had my DNA analysed by Ancestry. But, as some broadcasters are fond of pointing out, in the…
MRCA 4
The last connection that I want to explore, at least for the present, is that of the Lally family. (See MRCA 2 and MRCA 3 for further investigations along these lines.) A number of Lally family members have had their DNA results uploaded onto Gedmatch. Estimates of the number of generations back to the Most…
MRCA 3
The second best MRCA score comes in at 3.97. (See ‘MRCA 2’ for information on the best score.) I have known about this connection for some time. It does not feature very highly on my list of matches through Ancestry. Gedmatch provides more information. There is a 22.5 cM match on Chromosome 3, as well…
MRCA
When I first started work, MRCA stood for Multi Role Combat Aircraft. (I am showing my age!) It was subsequently called Tornado. In the world of genealogy, MRCA stands for Most Recent Common Ancestor. And that is the meaning that applies here. Gedmatch produces an estimate of how far back I must look to find…
Bridging the gap
The conventional starting point for genealogists is with the immediate family. We then work backwards. Step by step. Generation by generation. At some point, maybe two or three generations back, we tend to hit a metaphorical ‘brick wall’. There are many possible reasons for this. Not all records can be found. Records may no longer…
We have a problem
“Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The words of Jim Lovell, Mission Commander on Apollo 13 in April 1970. A masterful understatement! Similar words are used frequently in documentaries in an effort to introduce tension into the narrative. On an almost trivial level, I too have a problem. For some years, I have been struggling to…
Real people – not just names
Developing a deeper understanding of relatives can be quite important in tracing their movements. For example, if you own land then you are likely to stay in one place. If you are a tenant then moving is easier. Indeed, you may be given no choice by the landlord. Many tenant farmers were evicted when their…
More on DNA
I am posting this in the hope that someone will either confirm my theories or tell me that I am completely wrong. If I share a single 3 cM segment of DNA with someone, then there is a 97% probability that it is due to random factors. Turning it round, there is only a 3%…