P1F3: “MUNSTER” DNA GROUP:
The following graphic shows the
current members of this group. On the left are the tested people, followed by
the ancestral genealogy provided by each. If you have not already done so, you
may want to read the associated web page on “Coffey Geography”, to put this in
context of the overall “Coffey” presence in Ireland:
“Munster” is an ancient region of
southwest Ireland, which included what are now the modern Counties Kerry and
Cork. The above group are genetically similar to each other, with
many people who KNOW their ancestors came from these counties. So we've started calling all the people with matching y-DNA
the "Munster" group.
These Munster men are all clearly
related, but there is an unusual amount of diversity within the group. I think
Munster was an ancient Coffey homeland, and time has allowed a lot of DNA evolution,
yielding a lot of diversity. This slow DNA evolution may have gradually divided
the male lines into two separate groups as marked above. The major difference
between the two sub-groups is for the STR marker “DYS449”. The first group
above has “DYS449=30”, and four of the men therein identify their family origin
as “Kerry”. The second group has “DYS449=29”, and two of the men there identify
their family origin as “Cork”.
For Munster, the total population of
“Coffey” can be found per the 1911 Census: The total number of Coffey
individuals was 2092 (ignoring any spelling variations), and the breakdown was
Kerry (811), Tipperary (320), Cork (302), Waterford (274), Limerick (244), and Clare
(141).
Looking to the FARMER population for a
family name is believed to be an indicator of population origins, because
farmers are often bound to the land, which is traditionally handed down to the
oldest son in a family. The younger brothers in a family might have to go
elsewhere to make their way. There is a large population of “Coffey” farmers
in Kerry, particularly on the Iveragh Peninsula.
However in 1911 there were relatively few Coffey
farmers originally from Cork, and many of the ones found
there may be explained by migration from Iveragh to cities in neighboring Cork. I looked at the male Heads of
Household in Cork in the 1911 census: There were indeed relatively few farmers,
and most of the Heads had other diverse occupations. Of the 67 family heads, 7
were born in Kerry, 3 in Limerick, and 2 in Tipperary.
Based in part on this logic that even
those who identify their origin as “Cork” might have had original roots in
Kerry, we have chosen “Michael” on the above chart as a reference against which
to compare the other members of this group. Michael is a farmer, and he still
lives in Kerry, near Killarney National Park, on Iveragh. Also his DNA profile is, on average, more similar to the
average of the other group participants, and thus may be a closer match to the
original group MRCA (Most Recent Common Ancestor). Further, his closest match
is to Aedan, the second line
on the above chart. Aedan also still
lives in Ireland, has the longest known genealogy of any participant, and
traces his ancestry back to the immediate vicinity of Michael’s home.
There may be another route to explore
this group’s origins. There are several FTDNA groups interested in Munster DNA
and “SNP” testing that could ultimately provide more definitive science-based
information about family lines, and better define the origins of this
group. Aedan and several
others have joined these projects:
There are the Munster Irish and Corca Laidhe Projects,
which have a geographical focus on this area. While the Munster Irish project
categorizes participants in the tribes to which they historically belong,
the Corca Laidhe Y-DNA
results places our people in their “CTS4466 South Irish” group. There is also
a haplogroup group
which has similar objectives, but focuses on
the haplogroup rather than the
geographic area -- the R1b-CTS4466 Plus Project. In this latter project,
our Coffey people are in the “A153+” All members of our Munster
group are encouraged to join if they haven't already.
Within this Coffey group there are two
non-Coffey surnames, Brancky and Ross. Brancky is easy, because that reflects a KNOWN adoption. But “Ross”
is not so obvious. The Ross family has been making the guess that an early
“Coffey” got in trouble with the law, and changed his
name to “Ross”. However it may also be possible that
his line came from Ireland, already using the name “Ross”: The name is
Scottish, but it is found in Ireland, including Cork, and the Ross family’s
Coffey DNA could have been picked up in Ireland. Here’s what Dr. Bowes has to
offer:
There is one more match that we are
now convinced represents Coffey DNA, but the genealogy is unknown and is not
entered above. There is a very close match to a “Spencer”, with a short genetic
distance to several Coffey (see later discussion). There are no good
matches to any other Spencer, and the test person does not know his family
origin. However the Spencer name is fairly common in
Cork, and there seems to be little doubt that his line has picked up Coffey
DNA, either in Ireland or after immigration to the USA.
In addition, this Munster Group has an
unusually large number of NON-surname matches on FTDNA. Many of the matches
identify family origins in the same vicinity. For example, we have surnames
“Callahan” (Waterford), “Holland” (Cork), “Howay” (Tipperary), “Ready” (Kerry), “Daley” (Limerick), “Murray” (Munster),
and “Flynn” (Kerry). I suspect this mix simply reflects a very ancient Coffey
presence in an ancient homeland, with many opportunities over hundreds of years
for other family names to pick up Coffey DNA. The converse is also true, per
the “Coffey Geography” paper – there are quite a few people in Cork with the
Coffey name, but DNA that does NOT match Coffey.
AEDAN AND MICHAEL COFFEY: Note that one of the above members, Aedan Coffey, has an exceptionally long, and apparently well
researched, genealogy. And there are some projections that go well beyond even
what is shown in the first chart above. Further, Aedan, and his best match Michael, are the only members of this
group that still live in Ireland. We have expanded the discussion about Aedan, and you may want to look at the following link:
The chart at the top shows, with
dotted lines, some of the ways that Michael and Aedan’s genealogy may connect to a MRCA. It is quite unlikely
to be any more recent than the dotted lines, because Aedan’s family line has been isolated from Kerry for the last
several generations. FTDNA’s “Time Predictor” calculates about a 75%
probability that the connection will be in one of the ways shown by the dotted
lines. (Note that this probability assumes the MRCA CANNOT be
in less than 6 generations, which is different than assumed for the next table
to be discussed.)
It was thought that Michael and Aedan might just be within the range of an autosomal DNA
test, which can SOMETIMES spot connections beyond 5 generations. However we ordered FTDNA’s autosomal “Family Finder” test,
and no match was detected.
ALL OTHER MATCH COMPARISONS: The FTDNA Time Predictor can be applied to any comparison of
any member of this group against any other member. The following table allows
you to pick any two members, and get an idea of how closely they match:
This table will take a bit of
explanation: Across the top are listed the names of each of the members. And on
the right are the same names, along with the y-DNA test they ordered and their
sample number. You can pick any name across the top, and then find where it
intersects one of the other names on the right.
Aa an
example, pick Aedan Coffey at the top, and Michael Coffey on
the right. They intersect with a code of “2/5/9”. That should be
read as “they have a genetic distance of 2, there is a 50%
probability their MRCA is within 5 generations, and
there is a 90% probability within 9 generations. (Note this
appears different versus the earlier comments about Aedan/Michael. Earlier I assumed it was IMPOSSIBLE for the
distance to MRCA to be less than 6 because of known genealogy. That kind detail
is too difficult to include here for every pair!)
Next example, look at where Daniel
Dominic Coffey and James Michael Coffey intersect,
and we see a code of “8/7/12”, and that it is shaded blue,
indicating it is based on a 111-marker comparison. At 111 markers, their
genetic distance is 8, the 50% probability is at 7generations,
and the 90% probability is at 12 generations.
Look at the column for Alan
Dale Coffey. He is very distant from ALL of the other “members” of this
group. Also his genealogy (see top chart) is more
consistent with descent within our Edward Coffey Group. The Edward Coffey Group
includes several “Edward Connection” members who picked up non-Edward DNA at
some point. I think it was just coincidence that the DNA Alan’s line acquired was VERY distantly related to this
Munster Coffey Group. See discussions under “Edward” and “Edward Connections”.
At the other extreme, compare Paul
Leo Brancky to James Michael Coffey. This is shaded
yellow, because it represents a perfect match at 67
markers. As explained earlier, Paul was adopted. Paul and James don’t know
where there families come
together, but each traces back to an Irish immigrant. If they ever figure it
out, their MRCA is likely to have lived quite close to the time when their
respective ancestors left Ireland!
(I didn’t update the table, but Paul Brancky has now upgraded to 111-markers, and both have done
the atDNA test. At 111 markers, they have a genetic
distance of 2. But they do NOT show an atDNA match,
which could normally detect a match within 5 generations. If we say there can
be no match within 5 generations, then FtDNATiP says
there is a 40% chance of a match within 6 generations, 80% within 8
generations, and 94% within 10 generations.)
Oh, there’s a name on this
table, D. R. Spencer, that doesn’t appear on the graphic at
the introduction. That’s because Mr. Spencer has never given me his genealogy;
He doesn’t know it, and was surprised when his matches
came up Coffey. However this table
shows he has a PERFECT match at 67-markers to Robert Eugene Coffey,
whose great-grandfather was an Irish immigrant. They have both tried the Family
Finder test, which does not reveal a match, so their connection must also be
just beyond the range of Family Finder?
NON-SURNAME MATCH TO “MURRAY”:
There is one more name on the above
table, one Richard Murray. Richard has reasonable matches to
several of our Coffey members. Further, he has more than one hundred 111-marker
matches to other surnames that are at least as good as his best Coffey match. I
chose Richard as a “representative” of what might be found if we had the skill
and data to pursue all the non-Coffey possible matches.
Like many of the Coffeys,
Richard is a participant in the “R1b-CTS4466 Plus Project”, mentioned earlier.
Richard did the newest “Big-Y” test, and his Haplogroup is reported as “A6464”. Three of the Coffeys did the older
“CTS4466 SNP Pack”, which reports their Haplogroup as “A153”. I suspect that the difference between A153
and A6464 may just be a matter of the test used, and if one of the Coffeys did the “Big-Y” they
might also be A6464?
Bottom line is that there is a large
population of people, mostly in the Munster area, who are distantly related to
each other per y-DNA testing, and who now have a multitude of surnames. Do they
ALL ultimately descend from the Coffey line? Well, if you believe the following
50-generation pedigree, that perhaps could be possible! (This is the
pedigree that leads down to Aedan, on the above chart.)
http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/CoffeyIthe.php