Ancestry results

Seanachai

Is it normal for an Irish person with no known Greek\Italian ancestors to get 8-10% in DNA ancestry results?

L1011

The results are based on what other people have put in, so you can get some complete outliers based on inaccurate data entered by others for instance.

Are you finding any matches either there or with obvious heritage from there?

Seanachai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118449065#Comment_118449065

One 3rd cousin in Greece, 6 in Italy, also 3rd cousins.

L1011

If you can see their public trees, look for clangers about location on your shared ancestors.

pinkypinky

I wouldn't lay any store in the ethnicity results. Focus on the matches as L1011 says.

Seanachai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118449671#Comment_118449671

I don't mind if I am part med but I'm going to go for a more comprehensive test.

OU812

Did you do a DNA test or is this just matching people in trees?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118451437#Comment_118451437

None of the tests have any better data than what possibly very fallible people have written down. Ancestry gives me super accurate locations... For one side of my family only. Because that's where most of the better research (and test volume) is

Jellybaby_1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118449859#Comment_118449859

Normally I would have agreed with you Pinky, however, my first DNA results around 2017-2018 told me I was 1% Polynesian. Oh how we laughed!! Turns out I have distant relatives in Australia and their relatives are all over the Polynesian Triangle. Irish emigrants ended up all over the place.

55Gem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118452153#Comment_118452153

But if the people you descend from didn't emigrate than you will not have any Polynesian DNA, your relatives descended from those who emigrated will. Unless of course you know of someone who came back from that area and you directly descend from them.

If not you are related to people with Polynesian DNA therefore the site you tested with added Polynesian to your result.

I expect the same has happened with Seanachai results as there are fairly close matches from Greece and Italy.

I'd be curious which company was used. I find Ancestry tend to have better Ethnicity for me but still it should be taken as a guide and bit of fun only.

Seanachai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118451447#Comment_118451447

DNA test with MyHeritage, it appears to be just a low cycle one that was promoted before Christmas.

OU812

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118454090#Comment_118454090

DNA doesn’t lie. I’d recommend a follow up test with ancestry to confirm details (there will be slight differences), then go looking for detail.

pinkypinky

What do you mean by 'low cycle'?

Jellybaby_1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118452748#Comment_118452748

In my case it was my great-aunt who emigrated and married a local chap and they had children and grandchildren who are now all over the place and some have done DNA tests by Ancestry. My own test was also by Ancestry.

VirginiaB

I think Ancestry has the best results as they have the largest database--but it's still ethnicity done with a broad brush or how could our results change every time they update their ethnicity estimates? And sorry to repeat this, but I have a great-grandfather from northern Spain--Asturias on the north coast. Ancestry originally had me as 13% Iberian (great-grandparent equals 12 1/2% so just about right) and now I'm down to zero. They do not test in Spain, my cousins there tell me so they have little to compare my results with. Yet I do have some Spanish (without any Irish, Scottish DNA) matches, not including my known close American cousins whose Spanish has also disappeared from Ancestry's DNA.

And off-topic but Ancestry doesn't even have many Spanish records, very odd considering how much of the Western Hemisphere is Spanish-descended, not to mention Spain itself. And the records are there in Spain, going back centuries. The few we have gotten are a gold mine of detail. Sorry for my OT rant!

Seanachai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118454923#Comment_118454923

I'm going by the explanation in the link below, maybe cycle is the wrong term.

https://sequencing.com/blog/post/what-30x-and-04x-whole-genome-sequencing

pinkypinky

Right - none of the DNA tests used for genealogy are whole genome sequencing tests.

Bannasidhe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118457897#Comment_118457897

My Ancestry test came back 100% Cork. Not Irish. They had it narrowed down to Cork.

And yes, I am from Cork. But I know for a fact that My GG Grandmother was from Jersey, her father from Yorkshire. GG Grandfather was born in London to a father from Limavady and a mother from Limerick. Not exactly 100% Cork.

Then they updated and I became 2% Scottish, 2% Munster, 94% Cork.

I'm back to 100% Cork in their latest update.

Uploaded the file to Heritage and they say Eastern Europe and Middle East make up 8% - but it's a different part of the Middle East to my mother's 9%. And her sister is 4% Italian but poor Mam hasn't a sniff of Med in her DNA.