Each Irish and Scottish Origenes Y-DNA Case Study completed over the last 12 years has a pinpointed origin for their paternal ancestor within Ireland or Scotland (Irish example click here and Scottish here).

By examining and aligning customers Y-DNA SNP data (see image) it has allowed me to determine how the males of Ireland and Scotland relate to one another. That research reveals that there are 15 Y-DNA Haplogroups that account for 99% of Irish and Scottish Origenes Y-DNA Case Studies which I have condensed into 11 Haplogroup trees (see image). The Haplogroup trees will be available to browse for free at www.origenesmaps.com.

All the terminal SNPs detailed on the Haplogroup trees have a precise geographical origin as detailed on the Irish and Scottish Origenes Y-DNA SNP map. Today, all that is required for the tens of millions of the Irish, Scots Irish or Scottish diasporas to pinpoint their Irish or Scottish origin is a commercial ancestral Y-DNA revealed SNP mutation. I can now compare a customer’s SNP results to the Irish/Scottish Origenes Y-DNA SNP map and pinpoint their paternal origin, date that link, and determine ethnicity (when one’s paternal ancestor arrived in Ireland or Scotland).

The analysis of these Haplogroup trees is rewriting the history of both Ireland and Scotland. Firstly, no Hunter Gatherer Y-DNA survives among modern Irish and Scottish males, and while most Neolithic Ancient remains found in Ireland and Scotland test positive for I-L460 (I-M223 + I-P37), today less than 10% of males with Irish and Scottish origins carry that marker. This corresponds to the 90% replacement of the human population that occurred approximately 4,500 years ago during the Bronze Age with the arrival of the Indo-Europeans carrying the R-M269 Haplogroup. The Indo Europeans appear to have arrived in at least 2 major waves, the earliest carrying R-L51, and the latter carrying R-DF13. It is the R-DF13 mutation and its descendant markers (R-DF21, R-FGC11134, R-Z1110_1, R-FGC5494, R-L513, R-Z39589, R-M222) that dominate Ireland and Scotland.

Little appears to have changed in the population of Ireland and Scotland over the next 2,000 years until the arrival of the Romans, and although they only temporarily occupied Scotland (50AD-150AD) and never invaded Ireland, they have left a significant Y-DNA genetic legacy (E-M35 + G-M201 + J-M304) among the Lowland Scots and the ‘Plantation’ Scots Irish (who arrived in Ireland from Lowland Scotland in 1610AD). The Y-DNA Haplogroup trees reveal that with the collapse of the Roman world, it was the ancestors of the Irish and Scots Gaels (see image a mix of Neolithic I-M223 and Indo-European R-DF13 (I-L1065/R-M222)) that filled the void. Although the Irish and Scots Gaels are today united by language, surnames (Mac/Mc), sport (Hurling/Shinty), Alcohol (Whiskey/Whisky), and mythology, genetically their ancestors were a mixed bunch. It appears that the male progenitors of the Gaels were corralled into Ayrshire in Southwest Scotland in Roman times (the ONLY area where all 3 Gael-associated Y-DNA mutations are found together). The Y-DNA Haplogroup trees reveal a massive expansion of those Gaelic Y-DNA markers and downstream mutations which begins with the Roman retreat from Scotland. The R-M222 Gaels of Southwest Scotland spread into Ireland and thrived and today their descendants account for 33% of the Irish male population (overwhelmingly found in the northern half of Ireland). In the process they forged the modern Irish identity and lay the foundations of its north/south divide. While I-M223 still dominates Southwest Scotland, some of those Gaels also crossed into Ireland where today they dominate the Y-DNA of males in Southeast Ulster. In contrast, the Gaels carrying the I-L1065 marker spread north into the Highlands and Islands where it has dominated ever since. In summary, there is no Irish origin of the Scots Gaels. In fact, the reverse is true, the ancestors of the Irish Gaels emerged from Southwest Scotland. (Disclaimer: I was born in Ireland and would love to claim an Irish origin for the Scots, I am also not genetically a Gael, my paternal ancestors are among the R-DF13 Indo Europeans of Southern Ireland).

Little changed for centuries (not much Anglo-Saxon DNA can today be detected in Scotland and none in Ireland) until the arrival of the Vikings in the 8^th Century AD carrying the I-M223 and R-M198 mutations. Today, a massive 10% of Scottish males carry Scandinavian Viking-associated Y-DNA markers compared to less than 2% of Irish males. Why the discrepancy? It appears that the Irish Vikings founded the first towns, and early towns/cities were for centuries a genetic dead end with massive turnovers in their populations (only autosomal DNA testing has detected the genetic legacy of the Vikings in the Irish cities they founded).

The next major population change occurred with the arrival of descendants of the Vikings, the Normans together with their French, Flemish, Breton, and by the time they got to Ireland it included their English and Welsh allies.  Surprisingly, the founding ancestor of the ‘Norman’ Royal Stewarts of Scotland share a distant link with the Indo European ancestors of the Gaels, it turns out that both groups were described by the Romans; the Dumnonii of Southwest England and the Damnonii of Ayrshire in Southwest Scotland (see image). The Dumnonii ancestors of the Stewarts would depart Southwest England for Northwest France in Anglo Saxon times giving rise to the Bretons of Brittany, and one Breton, the founding ancestor of the Stewarts, would cross into England with William the Conqueror.

Recently Ireland has experienced a new wave of settlers. In time, their descendants will, like the Vikings and Normans before them, be absorbed and contribute to the genetic makeup of the future Irish. Where will your DNA take YOU? Contact Irish Origenes for a FREE CONSULTATION Email: tyronebowes@gmail.com