Results
Participant's Earliest Known Ancestors With Y-DNA Markers
To see the raw data of marker results and our participants' earliest known ancestors by matching subgroups, and a map showing the locations of the ancestors, click Y-DNA Results in the left hand menu. The best way to enlarge the Y-DNA marker results window is to right-click and select "Open Frame in a New Window" (i.e., not by clicking on the "Enlarge Results Window" link).
Matching Lineages
We have nine distinct genetic lines. One subgroup has four participants, another two, and the others one. As the database grows and matches continue to appear, they will be included in a subgroup that shares their DNA. New participants with no matches will establish an additional genetic line and wait for matches as more people join.
Haplogroup Results - Deep Ancestry Going Back Thousands of Years
Bowes (and variants) in both England and Ireland can have either English or Irish "deep ancestry" (earlier history than most paper trails document). According to their haplogroups (determined with the standard DNA tests), our current participants have their early origins in:
1. a predominantly Western European haplogroup (R1b, with all our R1b participants being more specifically R1b1b2), and
2. a predominantly Nordic/Viking haplogroup (I, with most of our I participants more specifically I1).
R1b1b2
R1b is the most common haplogroup in Europe. There are 12 further subclades to R1b1b2. One indicates Northern Ireland origins (R1b1b2a1b5), another is associated with northwest Ireland and Niall of the Nine Hostages (R1b1b2a1b6b), another British Isles (R1b1b2a1b4), and the remaining nine continue to be studied for their geographic associations. R1b1b2 testers who take the subclade test and do not fall within a subclade receive the designation R1b1b2* and thereby rule out origins associated with the known R1b1b2 subclades. As scientific knowledge progresses, new subclades may be identified which these testers may match. [FTDNA]
Wikipedia on R1b |
Wikipedia on R1b1b2
Two of our R1b1b2 participants fall within the Western (Classic) Atlantic Modal Haplotype, considered the largest haplotype (specific set of markers) of R1b. (R1b1b2 Groups 3 and 5 on the Y-DNA results page).
Wikipedia on the Atlantic Modal Haplotype |
Four Atlantic Modal Haplotype Clades
To seek more specific information about their haplotype, participants who have tested R1b1b2 can order a deep clade test through their personal page at FTDNA following the link for "Haplotree."
I and I1
The Haplogroup I and I1 lineages are nearly completely restricted to northwestern Europe. These would most likely have been common within Viking populations. One lineage of this group extends down into central Europe. [FTDNA]
Wikipedia on I |
Wikipedia on I1
Irish lineages of this Nordic haplogroup have their own adventure ahead when it comes to determining their surname ancestors' history. See the
Bowes (and variants) One-Name Study Profile for a discussion about historical events that may have influenced how these Viking families came to Ireland (scroll to "Origins" and "~~~ English and Others to Ireland ~~~."
Some whose lineage is from Ireland have been concerned about participating in our project because they are attached to the notion that they have Gaelic roots and have romanticized that connection. They don't want to learn their ancestors may have come to Ireland from England, perhaps even as the "oppressor." The Bowes One-Name Study encourages researchers not to judge a person for the activities of their forbears centuries ago, or to exalt "membership" in one haplogroup over another. In fact, the Gaelic Irish were a warring bunch among themselves, so whose the "better"? DNA studies are a vehicle for learning more about one's family history, but in truth, we share an infinitesimal amount of actual DNA - across the DNA spectrum of Y-DNA, mtDNA and autosomal DNA - with forbears who lived centuries ago. Also, one can be genetically of one background and culturally of another. Even that's putting it too simply. We are in fact our own genetic and cultural melting pots to various degrees. Even if one's Irish surname proves Gaelic in origin, given Ireland's turbulent history there is no doubt other blood mixed in through other family lines. All of our pasts have savory and unsavory elements, but our family histories continue to be written by the ways individuals live their lives today. Meanwhile we enjoy shedding light on the mysteries of our individual pasts, and, in the end - if we've done enough research - finding out how alike we are.