I have just completed a review of what has been achieved and learned in the Study during the course of the last five years.

Key headline findings from the study so far are:-

• In the period immediately after the Scandinavian occupation of the Isle of Man (800-1265AD) a quarter of the male population were of Scandinavian or North European origin.
• Unexpectedly, a number of male Manx lines with different family names were found to be related and share common male ancestors in the period before hereditary family name adoption.
• The unique Y-DNA signatures of more than 70 (out of 125) Manx family lines have been identified and knowledge about their early origins gained.
• Kelly from the Isle of Man is really so! All those familiar family names (e.g. Curphey, Bridson, Kennaugh etc) which we consider to be typical of and unique to the Isle of Man are shown to be indeed so.
• Different variants of the same original Manx family name, which are popularly assumed to be equivalent, e.g. Callister and Collister, etc are indeed the same family.
• Most Manx families show a single male genetic origin, as would be expected of such small families.
• Every one in eight men tested in the study did not show the genetic profile associated with the rest of his family.
• The names of some early Manx emigrants changed/evolved after they left the Island in the 1700-1800s.
• The close-relatedness of the Manx community genetically is a notable feature of the Isle of Man, as might be expected. Y-DNA testing indicates that a number of male lines are connected from early times. However autosomal DNA testing provides further anecdotal evidence of this characteristic amongst a small population of people with Manx ancestry.