DNA May Be Telling Me Something I Didn't Already Know

I would say about 99% of the time DNA has only verified something I had basically known already. Sometimes I've had only circumstantial evidence for ancestors living a couple centuries ago when record keeping wasn't very good. I've collected quite a bit of documentation during the over 20 years I've been researching my family. More specific places are now being included in our DNA results. Checking my mother's 23andMe ethnicity results I noticed they have predicted some specific areas in Ireland where she might have ancestry.

When I first saw this result I thought I had accidentally logged into my own account because I have recent known Irish ancestry, and my mother's Scots-Irish ancestry goes back 260 years and more. The place given as where she would most likely have had ancestors within the past 200 years was Limerick. This wouldn't fit well with her Scots-Irish ancestry. Then I remembered my mother's great-grandmother was Mary Ann Callahan (she married Richard Browning). She was the daughter of Jesse Callahan and Eve Urmy. I have proof of her birth stated in a War of 1812 record.

What always struck me about the surname Callahan is it didn't seem to be Scots-Irish. I always thought of the name as an Irish Catholic name. A Priest at our family Parish in Hacienda Heights surname was O'Callaghan. Also this family used the first name Dennis for many generations. A name I also associated with the native Irish population. Now I've found out the name Callahan is associated with a King of Munster and therefore common to that area. Limerick being in Munster would lend credence to my speculation that the Limerick prediction is associated with the Callahan family.

Dennis Callahan, father of Jesse b. 1795 Kentucky and grandfather of Mary Ann, on a 1795 Tax List for Mercer County, Kentucky

My own ancestors Jesse Callahan and Eve Urmy had a son named Dennis. We believe a Dennis who lived in Kentucky in the 1790's was Jesse's father because he later turns up with him living in Indiana, and Jesse states he was born in Kentucky.

What doesn't fit is the time period of 200 years. I suppose the 200 years that is stated for this result isn't exact and could be plus or minus a number of years? According to the "House of Names" a Dennis Callahan came to this country in 1680. I don't know if we are related to him? There aren't enough surviving records to take the family back any farther than the 1790's in the United States. One child in this family gave his father's birth place as Pennsylvania.

It was unusual for Catholics to come to America in the 18th Century and before.  If they did they would likely have settled in Maryland where Catholics were free to practice their religion. So possibly the Maryland Dennis Callahan was Irish Catholic?

There is also a Callahan Y DNA project at Family Tree DNA. It sounds like the Y DNA R-L513 Haplogroup is too old to draw any conclusions from? The Y DNA project may eventually produce some matches of Callahan's in Ireland? They could support the Limerick location if we had some Callahans with Limerick roots as matches.

My assumption has always been that the Irish Callahan's married into a Protestant Irish, likely Scots-Irish family, in Ireland. I guess it's also possible they came to America as Catholics and converted? Unfortunately it is likely to be impossible to prove the Callahan family came from Limerick beyond a doubt? I'll do some research but there are likely too many record losses in both places to prove this beyond a doubt. I do feel like it's probable this family had been in Limerick at some point. I'm somewhat confident because 23andMe's prediction of Galway ancestry was correct for me.

I was in Limerick in May. Here are some photos I took in and around Limerick.

New Community At Ancestry DNA/ And more specific locations

When I accidentally clicked on DNA Story, instead of matches, a message told me I had a new community at AncestryDNA (for an explanation about how DNA communities work click this link). The DNA ethnicity predictions aren't very good for my family so I don't check them often, but was now curious. I was excited, momentarily, that I might have an American (US) Community. No it's still French Canadian, and another that is Irish   

I had been placed in a community called "French Settlers Along the St. Lawrence". I'm now in a community that includes more specific locations. These communities would be correct because my family settled early in  Trois-Rivieres and Maskinonge. There is also a mention of Vermont & Massachusetts. I'm sure some distant cousins settled there, but my direct French Canadian ancestor, Pierre Masson, settled in Illinois. 

Old Community

New Community

New French Canadian Map with Specific locations

I'm also seeing more specific locations for Ireland. Previously I only had the broad location of Connacht, Ireland as one of my communities. Now I have more specific locations of West Roscommon, East Mayo & North Galway. My Mullen family lived in the Northern Galway Townland of Pollaturick. I was just there in late May. My ancestor Patrick Mullen, of North Galway, married my ancestor Mary Huvane/Huane, who was from Co. Mayo right over the county border. There are some Mullens in Roscommon who may be distantly related as hinted by DNA matches from there?

Like I said before I have no United States American Communities at Ancestry. I would wonder whether I had any actual DNA ties to any place in the United States if not for my mother who has these communities. She definitely has Midwest Ancestry (but so does my father, and coming from two parents I still don't have these communities?). She has the specific "Indiana Settlers" because her father was born in Indiana and his family had been there since the 1820's and before. Before settling in Indiana they came from places like Virginia and Tennessee. So we do have DNA ties to America. 

The communities are turning out to be much more accurate than the ethnicity estimates for my family.