Manx Y-DNA Project Update
Wanted – Corlett, Clague, Cannell, Kneen, Corkhill, Shimmin and Brew DNA!! – and others
The Manx Y-DNA project was started in August 2010 (www.manxdna.co.uk) with the objective of trying to evaluate the different Y-DNA signatures of the 110+ indigenous Manx families in order to identify where and when these early families might possibly have originated, Ireland, Scotland or Scandinavia. The family origins, as understood from this DNA research, would then be matched and compared with the published views as developed by earlier Manx Gaelic scholars (AW Moore, JJ Kneen) through their linguistic research into the derivations of these old names.
The Y-DNA data of some 99 Manx men is now included in the project database. Full or partial results are available for 47 out of the 110 unique Manx families and represent some 55% of the Island population of these 110 families, on a weighted basis.
Progress so far has been good but many Manx family names are still as yet unrepresented and untested.
Some early piecemeal analysis has been carried out however and is showing some signs of revealing new information. Those inter-Manx family genetic comparisons done so far do not reveal any real shared common/single family origins for any particular Manx family, i.e. no two different family names have shown a single genetic profile and origin – at least within the last 1000 years. So we are seeing that all families so far are tending to show unique genetic profiles – and the results have unmasked and identified the real family origins of a couple of non-paternal events within the tested group.
This suggests that the population represented by the Manx family names is reasonably heterogeneous genetically over the last 1000 years at least. Some early genetic connections with identified Irish families/clans have already been seen. More information is available on the project website www.manxdna.co.uk
Many more men are required for testing – so if you are a Corlett, Clague, Cannell, Kneen, Corkhill, Shimmin or Brew – and many others! Then please consider applying to join the project. The project website shows the names which remain untested until now.
No external financial support is available for this project so individuals are required to pay for their own tests. The Manx Heritage Foundation and the Centre for Manx Studies have both been approached but have found themselves unable to provide any form of assistance.
However, if any philanthropic Manxman (or Manxwoman) would like to make a financial contribution to support the work of this worthy and ground-breaking project, which in time will tell us all more about our own early history, then this would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me either direct at Creer@one-name.org or through the project website if you have any questions.
Happy New Year!
John A Creer
