The FGC14605 SNP (aka Y11410) and FGC14595  occurred around 1200 years ago.   I’m not certain that this group will ever be able to find a common ancestor that lived as far back as the 8th Century, but it is very possible that we can find a common ancestor who lived in the 13th Century.  One of our goals is to determine if we are descended in anyway from the famous Spira rabbinical line of Rabbi Samuel Spira who was born around 1345 in Speyer,

Shabtai Klonimus of Italy had a son Kalonimus who moved to Speyer, and his offspring took the surname SPIRA. So it’s quite interesting that a large number of the males in this haplogroup have the surname SPIRA or some variation like SHAPIRO or SPIER!   Additionally, quite a few of both SPIRA & SPIER have an oral history that they came from Spain.   Kalonymous of Speyer had a son Rabbi Samuel SPIRA who married into the famous TREVES family of France and they also spent many years in Spain.  It’s very likely that his family returned to Germany after the Spanish pogroms in the late 14th Century. At any rate, his son Rabbi Shlomo lived in Landau an der Pfalz, Rheinland.    So not only does this fit with the oral history of some of the men in this group, but it is very apparent that there are several men in this group of Spanish origins such as SALIDO and ORDONEZ.  This suggest that there are branches that fled Spain to the new world to escape religious persecution. 

So how can we validate this story though DNA and recreate the Spira family tree?  This really is possible,  and thanks to the eight men who have already done Big Y, the history and the DNA are starting to align.  Please take a look at the "results"  page to learn more about how this is possible.