Clan MacRae DNA Project Website - Family Project Website

Clan MacRae DNA Project Website

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Group Administrator: Alice and Faye Fairhurst and Moore afairhurst@earthlink.net

Project Surnames:

Cra	Crae	Cray	Cre
Crea	Creay	Cree	Grath
Macara	Macarra	MacCra	MacCrach
MacCrae	MacCraith	MacCraw	MacCray
MacCrea	MacCreath	MacCree	MacCrie
MacCrow	MacCroy	MacGrath	MacGraw
Machrae	Machray	Machrie	Mackray
Mackre	Mackreath	Mackree	Macra
Macrach	MacRae	Macraith	Macrath
Macraw	MacRay	Macreath	Macree
Macrie	Magraith	Magrath	Makre
McCra	McCrae	McCraw	McCray
McCrea	McCreath	McCree	Mcgrath
McGraw	McRa	McRae	Mcraith
Mcrath	Mcreath	McRee	Mcrie
Ra	Rae	Raith	Rath
Raw	Ray	Rea	Reath
Wray	Wreath

Group General Fund:

Y-DNA Gift Certificate $30* - Kit 48952

08/01/06 - Eugene F. Rae donation....$100
08/01/06 - Total available....$100
02/04/08 - Kit 113629....($30)
02/04/08 - Total available....$70
05/02/08 - Kenneth A. Rae donation....$100
05/02/08 - Total available....$170

Project Background:

The MacRae/McRae genetic genealogy program was started in December 2005 to look at the roots of the clan. In doing so we may be able to prove or disprove some of the traditional genealogies of the clan. Since MacRaes have said to have both Scottish and Irish connections, the DNA project will illustrate the many strands of DNA that make up this name grouping.

Understanding DNA Testing:
Family Tree DNA provides information to help you understand DNA testing. Most people start by looking at projects which fit their surname. Across the top of every page are the words TESTIMONIALS, PRIVACY and FAQ. There are also excellent explanations of Y-DNA (male DNA) testing and mtDNA (female DNA) testing accessed from the left column. On the lower right column are articles which give you a deeper understanding of DNA. An excellent tutorial on DNA is found on the Blair Surname site called DNA 101.

Recommended books for understanding DNA are:
Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser, DNA & Genealogy
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner, Trace Your Roots with DNA.

Books featuring DNA in the British Isles and Ireland are:
Stephen Oppenheimer, The Origins of the British
Bryan Sykes, Saxons, Vikings and Celts (published in Great Britain as Blood of the Isles).

If you still have questions, contact:
Alice Fairhurst – afairhurst at earthlink.net or
Faye McRae Moore – fmoore4 at kc.rr.com

Please note that the FTDNA Surname Group Administrators are not FTDNA employees. They do not receive any form of financial payment or any other incentive or reimbursement. The administrators are members of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy.

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Project Background, Goals, Results and News are copyright of the specific Surname Project

Project Goals:

The purpose of the MacRae/McRae Surname project is:
• To identify others who are related and to bring together related people who may have scattered to many countries of the world.
• To assist MacRaes of any spelling and other historically related groups to find cousins; determine family location and movement; and, when possible, determine clan branch or cadet line.
• To help people prove or disprove theories regarding their family history or ancestry with an additional resource.
• To investigate through DNA the deep ancestral roots of the clan.
• To share with other DNA project managers information on Scottish and Irish genealogy.
• To determine if Clan MacRae has multiple progenitors of different ancestry, such as Celtic and Scandinavian.

Project News:

So far all clan members are in Haplogroup R1b which is thought to have spent the last Ice Age in the refuge of Spain and southern France. This is the most populous haplogroup in Scotland and Ireland. Our greatest need is to get more testers with paper trails back to the MacRaes of Kintail so we can get a solid identification of this group and separate it from other Pictish lines.

Project Results:

Report as of 9/28/2007:

Y-DNA Results:

Various Scottish clans are finding that they are descended from more than one progenitor. Such is the case with Clan MacRae. So far all of the people in the project are in Haplogroup R1b.

Haplogroups are DNA signatures that are used to look at migrations of man. A resource on this topic is Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry. To see research and graphics of the Y-DNA tree, go to http://www.isogg.org/tree/index.html

• Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b is the most prolific haplogroup in Europe and its frequency changes in a cline from west (where it reaches a saturation point of almost 100% in areas of Western Ireland) to east (where it becomes uncommon in parts of Eastern Europe and virtually disappears beyond the Middle East. This group is thought to have spent the last Ice Age in the refuge found in Spain and southern France.

The Celtic Pict group is the first group listed in the Y-Results page and also shown on the chart below. Within this group is kit 48952 which has a paper trail back to the History of the Clan MacRae by Rev. Alexander MacRae. Kit 48952 can trace back to the Farquhar MacRae (Torlysich branch "Black MacRaes"), 3rd son of Christopher MacRae who was Chief of the clan and appointed Constable of Eilean Donan Castle about 1511. The progenitor of this branch of Clan MacRae was Finnla Dubh Mac Gillechriosd who was alive in the 1400's. Kit 52288 may also be descended from the MacRaes of Kintail, but has no paper trail. Kits 4137 and 44769 have the surnames Stewart and MacLennan and these men may also be from the same stock as the early MacRae chiefs. The surprise is kit 36081. Perhaps a MacRae went north from Kintail or perhaps this is another Pictish line that went to Norway. Our Norwegian member hypothesizes that both could be descended from Harald Gille (1103?-1136), king of Norway.

The group named Haplogroup R1b in Y-Results are shown as scattered members in the chart below. We only have one pair in this group which may match (16464 and 67861). Kit 67861 is shown on the chart below, but kit 16464 would need to upgrade to 37 markers to see if this match holds up. This type of DNA signature is found in both Ireland and the Hebrides. The MacRae of Ross-shire's signature (N25213) is not close enough to definitely identify him as from the same progenitor as the MacRaes of Kintail. He believes the family may be descended from the 4th son (Finlay) of Christopher MacRae, Constable of Eilean Donan castle. With only 12 markers tested and 2 not matching the other Kintail MacRaes, it is also possible that his progenitor was from another line who gave allegiance to the chief of the MacRaes. The Rae family (50952) believes they descend from a member of the clan who gave allegiance to the chief, then decided to fight for Prince Charlie at Culloden. After the battle, he escaped to eastern Scotland.
Irish Type III or SW Irish is a DNA associated with the southern part of Ireland. The tradition of the McCraws is that the family came from the Isle of Skye. The immigrant William had eight sons and we already have proven a relationship through DNA testing which had a gap in the paper trail.

R1b Niall of the 9 Hostages - This McGraw (82697) is descended from the Ui Neill tribe of NW Ireland whose most famous person was the Irish King Niall of the 9 Hostages.

The following is a network which shows relationship between those men who have tested at least 37 markers.

mtDNA Results:

Four females with MacRae ancestry have tested. As expected, they are not related to each other on the straight female line which changes surnames with each generation. It is extremely unusual to find mtDNA matches even if the person has tested both HVR1 and HVR2 since with both tested the match can range back 700 years. All of the mtDNA haplogroups reported in these tests are found in the British Isles and are discussed in Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve. All of these haplogroups are also discussed in Spencer Wells, Deep Ancestry.

Two are in mtDNA Haplogroup H (also known as Helena). This haplogroup comprises 40 to 60 % of the mtDNA gene pool in Western Europe and as such is considered the most successful of the mtDNA haplogroups in reproducing itself. It also comprises about 20 % of southwest Asian lineages, 15 % of central Asian lineages and 5 % of northern Asian lineages.

One is in mtDNA Haplogroup J* (also known as Jasmine) which has a very wide distribution, being common in eastern and northern Europe, and is present as far east as the Indus Valley bordering Indian and Pakistan and as far south as the Arabian peninsula. mtDNA haplogroup J is largely considered one of the main genetic signatures of the Neolithic expansion and is associated with the spread of agriculture.

One is in mtDNA Haplogroup U* (also known as Ursula) which has a wide distribution. Most in mtDNA haplogroup U come from a group that moved northwest out of the Near East. Today they are found in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean at frequencies of almost 7% of the population.

DNA Test Results (mtDNA) for Project Members