About us
Welcome to the O'Shea yDNA Surname Project!
The O'Shea yDNA Project was set up in 2003, to help individuals find their male line O'Shea connections. The O'Shea yDNA Project is also exploring the history of the surname, using traditional yDNA STRs (markers) and the Big Y-700.
The O'Shea Surname Project has established that there are several unconnected male line lineages which have the O'Shea Surname. The project yDNA results chart has sub-groups for the O'Shea lineages present in the project.
The main sub-groups:
Updated May 2026
PLEASE NOTE:
The O'Shea yDNA Project volunteer administrators receive no monetary or any other compensation for services or expenses involved with the administration of the O'Shea yDNA Project.
Data obtained from the O'Shea yDNA Project must be attributed to the testees, project, project administrators, and Family Tree DNA as outlined in the Creative Commons License. Please notify the administrators when using data for public or private research.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
In the past, it was generally thought that the O'Shea surname started in County Kerry, Ireland about a thousand years ago.
The history of the surname is being explored using yDNA in the O'Shea yDNA Project.
We have found that the history of the O'Shea surname is far more complex than originally thought.
The O'Shea Surname Project has established that there are several unconnected male line lineages which have the O'Shea Surname. The project yDNA results chart has sub-groups for the O'Shea lineages present in the project.
The main sub-groups:
- O'Sheas in Kerry for at least 1000 years
- The Shea/Shee families from in Co. Tipperary and Co. Kilkenny
- O'Sheas from the Macroom-Millstreet area of NW Co. Cork. This group has been in the NW Cork for at least 500 years
- A small fourth group of O'Sheas with Kerry origins
- Other smaller groups (see results chart)
Check out our O'Shea blog at: http://www.oshea.wordpress.com
Updated May 2026
PLEASE NOTE:
The O'Shea yDNA Project volunteer administrators receive no monetary or any other compensation for services or expenses involved with the administration of the O'Shea yDNA Project.
Data obtained from the O'Shea yDNA Project must be attributed to the testees, project, project administrators, and Family Tree DNA as outlined in the Creative Commons License. Please notify the administrators when using data for public or private research.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/