Saturday, September 09, 2006

Bloodlines - Niall Noigiallach of the 9 Hostages

Apparently i'm 1 of 3 million roaming the earth...

The research was carried out by a PhD student, Laoise Moore, at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity. Ms Moore, testing the Y chromosome that is passed from fathers to sons, examined DNA samples from 800 males across Ireland.

The results - published in the American Journal of Human Genetics - showed the highest concentration of related males in north-west Ireland, where one in five males had the same Y chromosome.

Dr Bradley said the results reminded the team of a similar study in Central Asia, where scientists found 8 per cent of men with the same Y chromosome. Subsequent studies found they shared the same chromosome as the dynasty of Genghis Khan.

"It made us wonder if there could be some sort of Genghis Khan effect in Ireland and the best candidate for it was Niall," he said.

Dr Bradley's team then consulted genealogical experts who provided a contemporary list of people with surnames that are genealogically linked to the last known relative of the "Ui Neill" dynasty, which literally means descendants of Niall.

The results showed the new group had the same chromosome as those in the original sample, proving a link between them and the Niall descendants.

"The frequency [of the Y chromosome] was significantly higher in that genealogical group than any other group we tested," said Dr Bradley, whose surname is also linked to the medieval warlord. Other modern surnames tracing their ancestry to Niall include Gallagher, Boyle, O'Donnell, O'Reilly, O' Rourke and O'Doherty.

via: smh.com.au

more info at the wiki entry: Niall_of_the_Nine_Hostage

and the dna ancestry project: http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/ydna_intro_famous.php?id=niall