P1E2: CLAN MACFIE:
By Fred Coffey
Some have believed that “Coffey” is
a variation of the names connected to this Scottish Clan. And Clan Macfie do recognize an “affiliated clan society”
in America with “Coffey” members. However to date
nobody has offered solid evidence of a connection.
“Macfie”
does have a y-DNA project, with some 155 members. We have compared the DNA
results for all of these members against all of the members of our Coffey
Project. There are no matches. Here is THEIR summary:
Main Bloodline Group 1: This is the dominant bloodline, or MacFie “haplotype” containing the largest number of
members. Fascinatingly, it contains all main surname spelling
variants, namely: McDuffie, McDuffee, McAfee,
McPhee, McPhie, McFee and McFie and all the Mac of variants thereof, thus
absolutely and conclusively proving that all were once the same name. One Duffie and three Catheys have
also matched within Group 1. This follows a number of
non-matches. At the moment, no matches have been
logged with Coffey, Coffee, McHaffey, Fee etc, although that is not to say this will not happen in
the future.
I did look for “Macfie”
and “Coffey” presence in Scotland in the 1841 census, particularly looking for
connections to the island Colonsay, which has
been identified as a “homeland” for Macfie/Coffey; Colonsay is in County Argyll. That 1841 census had
2,679 people with variations on the name “Macfie”,
with huge numbers of those in Argyll. However there
were only 30 people in the WHOLE country named Coffey, Coff,
Coffee, Coffie or Coffy.
And 20 of those were actually born in IRELAND. And NONE of the remaining 10
lived in Argyll.
We have seen no solid evidence of an
ancient “Coffey” presence in Scotland, and no evidence of a MacFie/Coffey connection. All the Coffee/Coffey families
identified in our DNA studies to date appear to have solid Irish origins.
See, however, the “County Down”
discussion under a separate tab. That offers a weak hint at a possible Scottish
Coffey connection, but with no Macfie connection.