2020 has been a successful year for the Kilcoyne Y DNA Project. I took over the group last March from a group of historians from the state of Maine. This group oversaw several dozen small Irish surname Projects, names which are found in the west of Ireland. After an interview with the group, they decided to hand me the Project as I could breathe some life into it.
Before the Maine group managed this project, the first administrator, a Coyne descendant, primarily had Coynes tested in the Project. We have determined that up until this point, there have been no Y DNA matches between the Kilcoynes and the Coynes. Because my maternal side are Kilcoynes who were rooted in County Sligo, I decided to genetically Y DNA map all the Kilcoyne families of western Ireland. Using the Griffiths Land Valuation as guidance, (https://www.nli.ie/en/griffiths-valuation.aspx) I documented all the families carrying the surname on specific townlands, then set out to find testers.
The Project has recruited 20 new Kilcoyne testers, and has added seven new and unrelated groups to the previous one. Of the 20 testers, we have had 4 from England, 7 from Ireland, and 9 from the states. Considering Family Tree DNA has a database that consists of it being over 90% American, the Project's international success speaks for itself. The Kilcoyne Family History Group on Facebook has certainly helped with this. Please continue to share this group with family members, if it generates interest in just one person, then it is worthwhile. https://www.facebook.com/groups/189583818973499
Below is the current map of testers found , based on the Griffiths. I recruited testers and built out their family trees. Then added them to the specific townland their family farmed in the 19th century. The black pins are untested lines, the colored ones are tested and placed in their respective group in the DNA Project . You can see that there are Kilcoyne groups living near each other that are unrelated to each other. This is of enormous help to the average family researcher who wonders if other Kilcoyne's nearby their family, are related.
As Y DNA results began to come in, I expected to see matching to similar sounding surnames. For instance, the Coynes. I did not see any Coyne matches but one name that was consistent in 3 different Kilcoyne's lines were the Coyle's and Kyle's. The three groups that saw matching to the Coyle's are the Gold, Blue and Light Blue. Due to the current level of testing in the groups, the only group that I could put dating estimates on was the Gold. It is determined the Kilcoyne's from Sligo shared a common ancestor with the Coyle's of Donegal between 1400-1600ad. New testing is underway so hopefully we can further understand where these families lived long ago. If I recruit the right testers, it's possible we can find out when the naming mishap occurred. If one even did. The Blue group from Louisburgh, is currently undergoing further testing so we will be able to date their match to the Coyle's as well. I will keep the Louisburgh family up to speed on that in the coming months.
In a few months, every Kilcoyne group in the Project will have a BigY700 tester. This is the most advanced DNA test there is, and will be very informative. This is an accomplishment as this test is very pricey.
Here is a nice graphic that explains the three periods of ancestry that I am interested in. Courtesy of David Vance.
There has been many successes for families in our project. One I can think of is an American who did not know his family roots in Ireland. It was believed to be County Mayo, but nothing was certain. The issue was his line arrived in England in the 1840's, and documentation was poor. A Y DNA test revealed this man shared the same exact y chromosome as those that tested into the Light Blue group from Achill Island. In this case we determined his family roots within just a few miles of where his family left nearly 200 years ago. Moving forward I anticipate if any Kilcoyne man takes a Y DNA test, that we can likely tie him into a specific geographic location in the west of Ireland.
The Kilcoyne Project has been a fun and worthwhile adventure. The pandemic freed up a lot of time for me this past year, so we may not keep up with the current speed moving forward, but progress will continue. Thanks to all those that saw the value in this and participated. It's been a labor of love.
The hunt goes on. 2021 will be a good year.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Michael
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