McHale Y-DNA Surname Project- Background

Background

This project has been set up to identify the Y-DNA chromosome of the various McHale/MacHale lines that originated in Ireland and Scotland. Please visit the project's main website at McHale Family DNA for more project information and genealogical information on McHales and County Mayo, Ireland. A personal goal of the project administrator is to determine if there is a Y DNA relationship between the William McHale family of Cum and the other McHale families in Cum and surrounding townlands in Addergoole and nearby civil parishes. On a broader scale, it is hoped that this additional tool will help to identify related McHale families where paper documentation trails have failed. In Ireland there are virtually no written records earlier that the early 1800's. This makes it difficult to determine siblings of one's greatgrandparent's parents and connect families. This information along with the familial townland in County Mayo will allow us to map family relationships. In Ireland, McHales were primarily found in County Mayo. Many McHales settled in northeastern Pennsylvania in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, originally working in the coal mines. Others headed west and settled in Cleveland, Chicago and Colorado. Families lost touch with each other in the US as well as the family back in Ireland as members aged and eventually passed away. In my own case, my grandmother corresponded with McHale relatives in Ireland until her death. When that generation passed away, the connection was broken. Families also eventually lost contact with relatives who went further west. It is hoped that this project will allow us to find those connections again and to sort out different groups of McHales by their differing Y-DNA values. Additionally, the use of DNA for genealogy has the added benefit of allowing the study of how man has moved across the earth. Joining in the DNA genealogy studies provides more data to determine origins and connections between groups of people. At least one McHale in County Mayo Ireland will be participating. If you have a McHale relation in Ireland or Scotland (or England), please ask them to participate in this study.