FAQ
Q. Which DNA test should I get?
A. Ideally a Basic Y-DNA test to get you started.
Q. Does it matter which Prunty* relative I test?
A. The older the generation, the easier it will be to find a common ancestor, but any Prunty will add to the project and is very welcome.
Q. I'm not a Prunty, can I participate in the group.
A. Yes, if you have an interest and passion for Prunty research, you are welcome. Idealy submit a Mr. Prunty Y-DNA sample if you can. If not, you may still be able to link to a sample provided by another member through the genealogical record, autosomal or maternal DNA.
Q. Are we related to Padraig Ó'Phroinntigh/ Ó'Prontaí the bilingual 17th century poet and alleged grandfather of Patrick Bronte?
A. Padraig lived by all accounts in Fermanagh but is known to have been a scholar and spent time in Drogheda, where Hugh Bronte, his alleged son, also spet time after leaving his adopted home. Hugh worked in Lime Kilns as he made his was to County Down and today Drogheda is twinned with Bronte in Sicilly in Hugh's honour. There are many Pruntys in Fermanagh today. Most famously, Joe Pat Prunty of Prunty Pitches on Prunty road, and author of an autobiography. As he is a Prunty there is a good chance he was related to some of us but not all, as there is genetic variance between us today. That said, if Padraig is the grandfather of Patrick Bronte then he is one of the Banished Brothers.
Q. Who were the Banished Brothers?
A. The story goes that Hugh Prunty* Sr (Patrick Bronte's great grandfather) lived whith his family on the Prunty Farm in the ancient setting of the Boyne Valley. One day while selling cattle he found and adapted a young boy called Welsh. Welsh grew up under Hugh's wing, as his other sons are said to have given Welsh a hard time. Many years later, Hugh and Welsh were selling cattle, but this day only Welsh returned, with all livestock sold, a new suit with news that Hugh had passed away. That night, Hugh's daughter Mary, who also had a soft spot for Welsh, was forced into an engagement with him. Her remaining brothers where told to leave the Prunty farm and land they had grown up in. The brothers are rumoured to have spread accross the country to Longford, Fermanagh etc. Years later Mary and Welsh, who had trouble conceiving, adapted one of those brothers' children, possibly from Fermanagh. This boy would become Hugh Prunty, father of Patrick Bronte and would leave his new home after the arrival of Mary's first born at the age of 15. It is due to the legend of the banished brothers that so many Pruntys have an origin story linked to the Brontes.
Q. Are we related to Patrick Bronte and his son, Branwell and three daughters, Emily, Charlotte and Anne?
A. Not all Pruntys can be recently related as there is distant genetic variance amoung us. However, anecdotal evidence and physical evidence points to the fact that Patrick Bronte did identify at Pat Prunty while in county Down before moving to Cambridge and eventually Haworth. The story goes that Patrick and his father Hugh signed their surnames as Bronte to produce a birth cert for Patrick's Degree in Cambridge University where Patrick is said to have seen the advantages in adopting the Bronte variant. This variant is also supposed to have been adapted by Patrick's siblings, who's lines remain today in Rathfriland in Co. Down and afar. There is a heritage trail in Co. Down Ireland which I would highly recommend.
Q. Are we descendant from the Brontes?
A. Unless you are of the Bronte line, you are probably not descendant. The Bronte sisters's line ended with them. That said, there are rumours of Branwell's descendants however I'm not aware of a line that exists today.
Q. Did Barnabus Prunty travel from County Down?
A. I don't know, anything is possible. It's important to keep an open mind, we know that John Prunty Sr existed that would be a line we could use to establish ancestral DNA locations or point of origin.
Q. Was Barnabus related to the Brontes? If he came from county Down there is a high possibility but Hugh was the first of the Prunty's recorded in County Down. Before that Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh all had Pruntys* but it's a possibility. More participants from both lines will help answer this.
Q. Are we Vikings?
A. Some of us may be. Wick in Scotland is very northerly and fits with the scandanavian lineage of the Pruntys. More Scottish members are needed to explore this connection further as too few have tested to establish this as of yet.
Q. Are we Irish?
A. To be Irish is to be an imigrant. There is a fantastic mural in Padraic Mac Pearsa's heritage center in Connomara, that depicts waves of settlement and invasion throughout Irish mythology and history. 10/12,000 years ago ice sheets receeded exposing the Emerald Isle and with that it's first people. The most common haplogroup in present day Ireland is R-M269 which is the dominant Prunty* haplogroup. Having said that, the first settlers were not of that haplogroup, nor were the Celts, so to be Irish is to herald from Ireland whatever your genetic variance. Many many Pruntys herald from Ireland.
A. Ideally a Basic Y-DNA test to get you started.
Q. Does it matter which Prunty* relative I test?
A. The older the generation, the easier it will be to find a common ancestor, but any Prunty will add to the project and is very welcome.
Q. I'm not a Prunty, can I participate in the group.
A. Yes, if you have an interest and passion for Prunty research, you are welcome. Idealy submit a Mr. Prunty Y-DNA sample if you can. If not, you may still be able to link to a sample provided by another member through the genealogical record, autosomal or maternal DNA.
Q. Are we related to Padraig Ó'Phroinntigh/ Ó'Prontaí the bilingual 17th century poet and alleged grandfather of Patrick Bronte?
A. Padraig lived by all accounts in Fermanagh but is known to have been a scholar and spent time in Drogheda, where Hugh Bronte, his alleged son, also spet time after leaving his adopted home. Hugh worked in Lime Kilns as he made his was to County Down and today Drogheda is twinned with Bronte in Sicilly in Hugh's honour. There are many Pruntys in Fermanagh today. Most famously, Joe Pat Prunty of Prunty Pitches on Prunty road, and author of an autobiography. As he is a Prunty there is a good chance he was related to some of us but not all, as there is genetic variance between us today. That said, if Padraig is the grandfather of Patrick Bronte then he is one of the Banished Brothers.
Q. Who were the Banished Brothers?
A. The story goes that Hugh Prunty* Sr (Patrick Bronte's great grandfather) lived whith his family on the Prunty Farm in the ancient setting of the Boyne Valley. One day while selling cattle he found and adapted a young boy called Welsh. Welsh grew up under Hugh's wing, as his other sons are said to have given Welsh a hard time. Many years later, Hugh and Welsh were selling cattle, but this day only Welsh returned, with all livestock sold, a new suit with news that Hugh had passed away. That night, Hugh's daughter Mary, who also had a soft spot for Welsh, was forced into an engagement with him. Her remaining brothers where told to leave the Prunty farm and land they had grown up in. The brothers are rumoured to have spread accross the country to Longford, Fermanagh etc. Years later Mary and Welsh, who had trouble conceiving, adapted one of those brothers' children, possibly from Fermanagh. This boy would become Hugh Prunty, father of Patrick Bronte and would leave his new home after the arrival of Mary's first born at the age of 15. It is due to the legend of the banished brothers that so many Pruntys have an origin story linked to the Brontes.
Q. Are we related to Patrick Bronte and his son, Branwell and three daughters, Emily, Charlotte and Anne?
A. Not all Pruntys can be recently related as there is distant genetic variance amoung us. However, anecdotal evidence and physical evidence points to the fact that Patrick Bronte did identify at Pat Prunty while in county Down before moving to Cambridge and eventually Haworth. The story goes that Patrick and his father Hugh signed their surnames as Bronte to produce a birth cert for Patrick's Degree in Cambridge University where Patrick is said to have seen the advantages in adopting the Bronte variant. This variant is also supposed to have been adapted by Patrick's siblings, who's lines remain today in Rathfriland in Co. Down and afar. There is a heritage trail in Co. Down Ireland which I would highly recommend.
Q. Are we descendant from the Brontes?
A. Unless you are of the Bronte line, you are probably not descendant. The Bronte sisters's line ended with them. That said, there are rumours of Branwell's descendants however I'm not aware of a line that exists today.
Q. Did Barnabus Prunty travel from County Down?
A. I don't know, anything is possible. It's important to keep an open mind, we know that John Prunty Sr existed that would be a line we could use to establish ancestral DNA locations or point of origin.
Q. Was Barnabus related to the Brontes? If he came from county Down there is a high possibility but Hugh was the first of the Prunty's recorded in County Down. Before that Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh all had Pruntys* but it's a possibility. More participants from both lines will help answer this.
Q. Are we Vikings?
A. Some of us may be. Wick in Scotland is very northerly and fits with the scandanavian lineage of the Pruntys. More Scottish members are needed to explore this connection further as too few have tested to establish this as of yet.
Q. Are we Irish?
A. To be Irish is to be an imigrant. There is a fantastic mural in Padraic Mac Pearsa's heritage center in Connomara, that depicts waves of settlement and invasion throughout Irish mythology and history. 10/12,000 years ago ice sheets receeded exposing the Emerald Isle and with that it's first people. The most common haplogroup in present day Ireland is R-M269 which is the dominant Prunty* haplogroup. Having said that, the first settlers were not of that haplogroup, nor were the Celts, so to be Irish is to herald from Ireland whatever your genetic variance. Many many Pruntys herald from Ireland.