Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:
It’s Saturday Night again –
Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.
1) This Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day. Are you a descendant of Irish ancestors? Who are your most recent ancestor(s) who were born in Ireland? Do you have DNA Irish ethnicity? Have you performed any Irish genealogy research?
Where’s My Irish?
Have you tried to use your DNA ethnicity results to figure out where your ancestors came from? When the 1% Irish showed up in Ancestry Ethnicity results, I started wondering who my Irish ancestor was.
Since my tree is basically colonial America, I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to figure out my ethinicity. However, watching Diahan Southard’s RootsTech 2024 session, You Can Do the DNA #2: Get Your Best Ethnicity Estimate, suggested that I might try to figure this out.
Working with the idea that a child only inherits 50% from a parent, I can figure out which generation to look at for my 1% Irish.
Thus, my Irish ancestor may be in the 7th generation – among my 4th great grandparents.
When I recently found the emigration record for David Ralston, his mother Anne and his siblings, I found that they emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland aboard the ship, Strafford in 1803.
Thus, I thought I’d found my Irish ancestral line: my RALSTON line. When I checked Google to learn more about the RALSTON surname, I found a link to a Clan Ralston site, only to discover that the RALSTON surname is SCOTTISH. Since County Tyrone is in northern Ireland, my Ralston ancestors probably migrated from Scotland to Ireland before migrating to the United States. Thus, my RALSTON ancestors probably are not my Irish ancestors.
When I checked my mom’s ethnicity, I found that she is 2% Irish.
My Ralston line is on my dad’s side of the tree. Knowing that my mother’s ethnicity results indicate that she is 2% Irish, that suggests I need to be looking for my Irish ancestry on my mom’s side of the tree. Knowing these ethnicity numbers along with the history of the RALSTON surname, I no longer think I’ve found my Irish.
Raulston/Ralston is Scots-Irish. Remember, too, that 1 or 2% ethnicity estimates might be bogus. My Irish is 6% and I’ve never found any clue pointing to an Irish ancestor.
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