Background
McCarthy/MacCarthy is one of the most common surnames in Ireland today and is prevalent throughout Counties Cork and Kerry. Through migration over the past four hundred years, McCarthys now reside in many countries throughout the world.
In October 2002, the McCarthy Surname Study was started through Family Tree DNA, Inc. (FTDNA) of Houston, Texas, U.S.A. The McCarthy Surname Project will attempt through Y-DNA analysis to compare individuals with surnames common to the McCarthy Clan and to identify any genetic markers which might single out groups of McCarthys or their immediate predecessors. These surnames include but are not limited to the following: McCarthy, MacCarthy, Macarthy, McCarty, and McCarter.
Apart from facilitating family connections among McCarthys throughout the world, it is hoped to identify the yDNA profiles associated with both the leading families of the various MacCarthy septs (Mór, Reagh, of Muskerry, of Dunhallow, Glas etc.) identifiable in the ancient histories as in use from ca. 14th century and more recent agnomens adopted to distinguish one McCarthy family grouping from another e.g. Cnoic, Crimeen, Cruig, Daunt, Farshing, Guidagh, Norsa, Rabagh, Sowney.
As more data becomes available, the findings of this and other projects for surnames which the ancient histories and genealogies indicate derive from first millenium A.D. Eóghanacht origins can be compared with the content of these writings.
This webpage contains the following articles:
McCARTHYS IN ANTIQUITY
Original - 10 May 2010.
Last updated – 05 April 2012.
1 Introduction
The following is written by an amateur genealogist and historian with a view to providing useful information for members of the McCarthy Surname Study, some of whom may be more knowledgeable, some beginners. The author will be happy to review, and correct where justified, any perceived errors. A modicum of understanding of DNA diversity is assumed: please refer elsewhere on the FTDNA website or to the most helpful ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) website for the science of SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms), the phylogenetic tree, STRs (Short Tandem Repeats), DYS (DNA y-chromosome Segment) values / alleles, the distinction between a haplogroup (of which clade or subclade are used to indicate subdivisions in the following) and haplotype, and their use in genealogy.
2 Brief history
The earliest evidence of homo sapiens in Ireland is from ca 8,000 B.C, when it is believed he entered present day Co. Antrim from south-west Scotland, either by boat or via the landbridge still remaining as the last ice age closed and the sea levels were still rising. Throughout the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods (ca. 8,000 - 2,000 B.C) it seems probable that the inhabitants of Ireland were, as those of Britain, the descendants of those who had retreated towards the Iberian, in particular, and Italic peninsulas during the last Ice Age and the peoples who already occupied these warmer climes, along with any new waves of migration from south-east Europe. YDNA haplogroups E1b1, I1, J1 and J2 could have abounded. Megalithic tombs were rare in the extreme south of Ireland, suggesting that the south of Munster was more thinly populated than the north in the Neolithic Age.
By the beginning of the Bronze Age, however, if not well before, the first carriers of yDNA haplogroup R (in the form of R-M269) were reaching the Atlantic shores of Europe at the end of their centuries- or even millennia-long trek from Anatolia and the Caucasus. One of its most frequently found subclades in Ireland, that of the SNP R-L21, is believed to have originated in the Rhineland ca. 2,000 B.C. The haplotype associated with this SNP, or those in its lineage immediately preceding it, is known as the Atlantic Modal Haplotype (AMH). The progeny of the “father” of R-L21 came to dominate the tribal lands of, Gaul, Britain and Ireland. The discovery of rich copper deposits in south-west Munster increased the influx of migrants and traders into this region during the Bronze Age, and with them, by whatever route, no doubt came the expanding family of R-L21 along with other haplotypes to be found in the areas of their provenance, the trickle of newcomers from Britain and Continental Europe continuing through the Iron Age, the Viking invasions, and up to and beyond the 12th century A.D. Norman invasion, each new arrival being assimilated into Munster culture and society.
The most difficult aspect of Irish genealogy for many is the lack of parish records much before 1815 in rural areas and the later 1700s in the major towns. However, although following a paper trail back through the 18th century may be impossible for many, what lies beyond is a unique store of genealogical information stretching back many centuries. It was the custom of the peoples who occupied Ireland 2,000 or so years ago to designate a member of each community (or “tribe” or “family”) who would learn, remember and recite its genealogies. Early in the first millennium, these began to be written down. In due course the earliest writings were lost, but successive copies retained the information, albeit flavoured with mythology, distorted by inventiveness or corrupted by political correctness. Certainly from the time of early Christianity in Ireland (the 5th century A.D.), when monks began to take on the role of the scribe, the genealogies were woven with biblical connections, placing them in a context which tied together all strands of known history. But whether fact or fiction, we do have a lineage claimed to have produced the leading McCarthy families and which goes back before these earliest written genealogies.
The McCarthy name itself derived from Cárthach, the King of the Eóghanachta of Cashel, who was killed by the Lonergan clan in 1045 (ref 1), and pedigrees have been published displaying the many branches of the family deriving from his grandsons Tadhg (Timothy) and Cormac – there was possibly also a brother Donncha (Denis) - dividing in subsequent centuries into a number of “septs”. Cárthach's son, Muireadhach mac Cárthaigh (son of Cárthach), was the first to adopt the surname of McCarthy (as it is most commonly anglicised these days).
Written sources from about the 12th century onwards indicate that this McCarthy family derived from the Eóghanachta of southern Ireland, who are claimed to have also spawned the McAuliffes (from the above Tadhg), McGillycuddys, O’Callaghans, O’Donoghues, O’Keefes, O’Mahonys, O’Sullivans and others. The Eóghanachta took their name from the third century A.D. Eóghan Mór (Eugene / Owen the Great), son of Olioll Olum, King of Munster. However it is suggested that the identity “Eóghanachta” only came into being following the era of Eóghan Mór’s gt gt grandson (Conall) Corc, in the 5th century A.D. On the death of King Olioll Olum, his kingdom was allegedly divided into Desmond (south Munster), ruled by Eóghan Mór (or a son thereof), and Thomond (north Munster), by Eóghan’s brother, Cormac Cas (from which the term dál gCais, or Dalcassian, is derived to describe its peoples). However many consider this story has been fabricated at some stage to provide the image of a unified population. Certainly the genetic signatures of those who it is suggested have 'Eóghanacht' and 'Dalcassian' y-DNA haplotypes (see references to SNP L226 and Irish Types II and III below) are not consistent with common ancestry as little as 1,500 years ago. The case for maintenance of a continuing blood line in the Eóghanacht, Dalcassian or other similar lineages lies in the primogeniture practiced under Brehon Law, which continued until the dismantlement of the Gaelic order at the end of the 17th century. Each new king, chieftain or chief was supposed to be elected from within the blood line. Thus each of the various McCarthy septs, such as the senior line of McCarthy Mór, who eventually migrated to Co. Kerry, McCarthy Reagh (Riabhach) based at Carbery, the Dunhallow McCarthys, in north-west Cork, McCarthys of (East and West) Muskerry, and McCarthy Glas of Gleannacroim (in the vicinity of Dunmanway), are shown on ancient pedigrees as tracing back to Cárthach and Muireadhach. However, at the time of the latest update of this page, yDNA testing is suggesting that some of these septs do not share a male bloodline with a common ancestry as recent as the first millennium A.D.
3 Diversity among McCarthys
As indicated on the Results page, SNP testing and predictions reveal that about 10% of McCarthys belong to haplogroups E1b1b1a (E-M78), I1, I2a, I2b1 and R1a1, with the remaining 90% falling in haplogroup R-M269 (FTDNA’sR1b1a2), but notably, so far, none others. Like R1b1a2, the I* clades prevail not only in Ireland, but also in Western Europe, I1 being prominent in Scandinavia, and I2a in several locations in Southern Europe. E1b1b1a is believed to have appeared in N. W. Greece about 8,500 years ago and its subclades have strong Mediterranean/ Adriatic connections (ref 2). Each of these other haplogroups had gone their separate ways before the last ice age, so clearly their members cannot be traced to the same 3rd century male ancestor as those of R1b1a2, even if they may by that time have been living side by side in the same population group.
Haplogroup R1b1a2 (R-M269) was founded in the same era as E1b1b1a – experts believe in the region of the Caucasus or Anatolia. Three or more SNPs later (“deeper”) along a lineage derived from M269, the phylogenetic tree divides into the parallel branches identified by SNPs R-P312 / S116 (Note 1) and R-U106, and among the various subclades under SNP R-P312 is that defined by SNP R-L21 / S145, currently relabelled R1b1a2a1a1b4 by both FTDNA and ISOGG. The progenitor of this subclade is estimated by some to have lived in Mainland Western Europe around 2,000 B.C. Although deep clade testing is required of a number of R-M269 McCarthy members, it is possible that all within this 90% of all McCarthys share common ancestry in this R-L21 progenitor (along with 70% or more of other Irish men). However, significant differences in their haplotypes are proof of divergence soon after, and thus that these R-L21 McCarthys too comprised a number of different lineages each with their own origins – common ancestors - long before the time of King Olioll Olum.
The Trinity College, Dublin, Irish DNA project of around 2003/04 by D G Bradley and B McEvoy identified through STR testing that many O’Neills and carriers of other surnames common in north-west Ireland appear to descend from two particular common ancestors, and that calculations of the time to the more distant of these was consistent with him being the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages (ca. 400 A.D.). But others of these same modern-day surnames clearly did not share these ancestries. A similar situation exists for the name McCarthy and its variants. A McCarthy surname pertaining to a bloodline other than that of Cárthach, King of the Eóghanachta of Cashel, could arise from, for example:
•Soldiers, serfs, or slaves or hostages taken in battle and who remained with their captives, all under the tutelage of a McCarthy king, chief of chieftain, adopting this surname.
•Rape of McCarthy womenfolk by invading forces.
•Other illegitimacy.
•Adoption (e.g. by a chieftain of a sister’s orphaned children).
•Raiders such as Vikings being absorbed, a century or two after they settled in Ireland, into the group which became the McCarthy family as they became “gaelicised”.
•Stepsons taking the McCarthy name of their new stepfather (early deaths of husbands or wives, and thus remarriages, were common).
•The sons of Cárthachs other than he who died in 1045 forming their surnames in a similar manner (although there is no explicit evidence of this).
Some of the above are referred to as NPEs (Non-Paternal Events) in genetic genealogy.
4 McCarthys in disguise
Whereas many have gained the McCarthy surname by the aforementioned means, others have lost it through the use of agnomens to distinguish one McCarthy family from another and which subsquently supplanted the McCarthy name altogether. These agnomens could typically indicate a physical characteristic or disability in the founder, a location in which the family lived or a mother’s maiden name, and some could clearly lend themselves to other original surnames in different locations. And since the written form of names would vary according to the whim of the writer, interpreting the spoken word, further variations occurred as families migrated to parts of the world initially unfamiliar with Irish names. Thus a West Cork McCarthy family - known to the undersigned - which took Cremane as an agnomen in due course became the Creamer family following migration to London, with no hint any longer of its McCarthy origins. Similarly some nineteenth century baptism and marriage records refer, for example, to the surnames Farshing and Crimeen, but it is often clear from research that these are McCarthys.
References
1. Annals of the Four Masters (Micheál O’Cléirigh and others, 1632-36).
2. Eupedia website (http://www.eupedia.com/europe/origins_haplogroups_europe.shtml#E)
Notes
1. SNPs are denoted with a letter identifying the laboratory which discovered them plus the laboratory’s allocated reference number. Where two (or more) laboratories have made the same discovery, both numbers are quoted, in alphabetical order.
SUBCLADES OF R-L21
Original - 23 March 2012.
Last updated – 01 April 2012.
In the Results page on this website, the R-M269 McCarthys (see above) are divided into four main groups, and with the possible exception of one or two in Group D who need to take a deep clade test (or as a minimum, test for R-L21), all have tested, or are expected to be, positive for L21.
No more recent SNPs are known for those in Group A. Those in Group B will certainly be positive for SNP P314.2 (and thus also for DF21, its precursor) and may be positive for the most recent of SNPs in this lineage, L362, for which a few have tested. Similarly, those in Group C will certainly be positive for SNP DF23 and most probably also for a more recent SNP M222 in this lineage.
Thanks to the 1000 Genome Project and research in various laboratories, and a willingness of members of various projects to test for all manner of new sub-L21 SNPs detected in these programmes to promote the study of L21 peoples, knowledge of the structure of this branch of the phylogenetic tree is advancing rapidly. The latest confirmed developments are shown on the regularly updated ISOGG tree at http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_HapgrpR.html, which is more advanced than the tree shown on your FTDNA Home Page. However, the tentative position of many more SNPs, along with any significant STR mutations, is published and discussed on various fora, such as that associated with the L21 Plus (yDNA) Project at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RL21Project/ and a general genetic genealogy community at http://eng.molgen.org/ where you can drill down to the particular haplogroup / subclade or region in which you are interested.
At present DF21, DF23, L513, Z253 and Z255 are seen as the “big five” immediately sub-L21 SNPs – those with the most positive tests (whether through direct testing or testing of subsequent SNPs such as M222 and P314.2). However, they are still reckoned to account for only 60% of R-L21 people. McCarthy Group A (Irish Type II) is one of a number of branches without a known associated SNP in the remaining 40%; some other branches have SNPs but have relatively low returns of positive tests.
Whereas the aforementioned P314.2, L362 and M222 have quite distinct modal haplotypes, and those with SNPs L513 – found in at least one McCarthy kit – and L144 can usually be identified from some specific STR mutations, some of the immediate sub-L21 SNPs, such as DF21, DF23, Z253 and Z255 have few distinguishing mutations from SWAMH and have been found in a wide range of haplotypes. These are assumed to have occurred still in the Bronze Age, although a sufficient number of centuries after L21 to allow the progeny of the “founder” of L21 to build a variety of lineages which have survived to the present day. Testing for such SNPs may thus still be of value in determining one’s branch of the L21 tree for members of McCarthy Group D. If found to be positive for any of these, there are, in some cases, further downstream SNPs which might also be considered for testing, and of course the closer one gets to the Iron Age or beyond, comparison of the origins of others in the same subclade and postulation of the path of one’s ancestors become more meaningful.
REFERENCES FOR McCARTHY GENEALOGISTS
Original - 30 March 2012
1. Genetic Genealogy
Further to those of general interest in “Subclades of R-L21", above, the following references have more specific relevance to McCarthy genealogy.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RP314Project/ provides discussion of specific interest to members with the McCarthy Group B modal haplotype.
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/MunsterIrish/ is the home of the Munster Irish DNA Project. It is focusing on the pre-Norman occupants of the province of Munster, and thus will be of interest to those fascinated by their possible first millennium A.D. ancestry. It invites participants with prescribed surnames (including, of course, McCarthy and variants) identified in ancient genealogical tracts as belonging to Munster and who either have successfully traced their origins to the province or whose haplotype belongs to one of a small number of specified groups specifically or strongly associated with Munster. At present these are restricted to Irish Type II (aka South Irish, Group A of this McCarthy Study), the L362 subclade (McCarthy Group B) and Irish Type III (in which group, at present, there are no McCarthys at all). However, it is possible that some other modal haplotypes which form specific branches of other haplogroups /subclades may be added as research continues.
Other yDNA projects with specific interest in Munster genealogy are the Eóghanacht Septs Project at www.familytreedna.com/public/Eo´ganachtsepts and the R-L21 South Irish Project, at http://southirish.com/
2. Eóghanacht and McCarthy History
An excellent review of studies of Eóghanacht history, relevant to the aforementioned Munster Irish Project, is presented under the Desmond DNA Project website at http://mysite.verizon.net/timdesmond/files/dna_eoganacht.htm. This site also has some useful links to other pertinent websites.
“Desmond” is an anglicisation of the Irish for South Munster and is generally the area in which the MacCarthys held sway for many centuries. The Kingdom of Desmond Association website, at http://desmondasn.webs.com/, has much information on McCarthy history and an excellent reference list of its literature. Closely associated with this site is the MacCarthy Clan Foundation, at http://www.mccarthyclan.org/pages/index.php. At the end of the 1990s, the Clan MacCarthy Society fell from grace when a then claimant to be entitled to call himself the MacCarthy Mór, along with a string of other titles, was accused of being fraudulent. This eventually led to the discontinuation of the whole practice of the granting of such “courtesy titles” by the Irish Genealogical Office. These two new sites are unconnected with the now defunct Clan MacCarthy Society and are attempting to restore and build on some of the valuable contributions the latter nonetheless made. They persevere with the concept of a modern day McCarthy Mór as being from the family who can claim the closest descent by primogeniture to the last true MacCarthy Mór appointed by tainistry in times of the gaelic order, Donal MacCarthy Mór (d 1596). Although this claim is based on research of genealogy literature and archives – and in particular the work of the author of the “The MacCarthys of Munster”, published in 1922 by a member of the family of the present claimant - rather than, at present, yDNA analysis, their interests have much in common with the goals of this McCarthy (yDNA) Surname Study.
N. McCarthy