http://mctiernan.com/mctiernangrid.htm 4-22-2026

 

The MacTighernan DNA Test

McTernan / McTiernan / MacTiernan



The goal is to map all MacTighernans both genetically and geographically. The Gaelic name of MacTighernan is used for all of us regardless of our spelling. As of the date above, the 139 MacTighernans still fall into 20 separate DNA groups, eleven of which
 have only 1 MacTighernan. Those in the above chart with the same color are in the same DNA Group. The 139 testers live in 13 countries on 5 continents at the time of testing. You can see the total DNA testers in the above chart with the baselines of the 3
 main DNA groups being bigger nodes than the others. The T Group, T3 Group and the T2 Group are referred to as main only because at this point in time 104 of the 139 MacTighernans tested fall in these 3 groups, 50 in the T Group, 21 in the T3 Group,
 and 33 in the T2 Group leaving 34 McTighernans in other DNA groups that are not genetically related.  None of the 20 distinct DNA Groups of MacTighernans relate to any other DNA Groups. MacTighernans in 12 of the 20 groups are single by themselves
 in their own DNA group. Regardless of numerical size, all 20 DNA Groups are of equal standing. 





If you have at least a match of 24/25 or 23/25 meaning a 1 or 2 mutation event difference to the baseline of a specific DNA group you still genetically relate to them and the probability of a close relationship is good, however the results show mutations and more time has elapsed between the common ancestor for yourself and the others in your DNA group baseline. With a 3-mutation event difference, [22/25] you don't relate and are genetically outside of your closest DNA group as the 12 McTernans are. 

The general DNA rule is that if you have 3 mutations or rather 3 event mutation differences off the closest baseline you would not genetically relate and would form your own separate DNA group. Even though both Gene and Scott (AU) have 3 mutations off the T Group baseline, Gene is positioned in the T Group as his 3 mutations are all in one locus whereas Scott (AU)'s 3 mutations are scattered over 3 different loci thereby forming his own DNA Group, Ta. Gene's mutation is thought by the lab to be a radical mutation being 3 mutations different than the baseline but only in locus # 1. Gene matches the T Group baseline in loci 24 / 25. Locus or loci equals category / marker.  While JohnL is a 22 / 25 match to the T3d group baseline he is a cousin to Thady and a cousin to Sean in the baseline, so JohnL is positioned in the T3d group.  MichaelS is a 22 / 25 match to the T Group baseline, but he does match Michael-NJ 24 / 25 and Bob-CN & David-CN 23 /25 so he too is in the T DNA Group.

Dan-W and Roy Rice match the T2 Group baseline 22 / 25 and normally would form their own separate DNA group but because they both matches Jim-P in the T2 Group 24 out of 25 I have listed Dan-W and Roy Rice in the T2 DNA Group.

The below is no more than a guess that shows the correlated structure of our 20 DNA groups as they mutated down through time. Surnames came into use about 1140 and the MacTighernan lines below may descend from 7 different progenitors that lived over 2000 years ago or 70 generations back in time in the BC era. Remember all mutations are random and Y chromosome mutations occur once on average every 500 generations per locus [category / marker].

Although 91 of the 139 originates from Co Leitrim, no one DNA group comes from just one county. Therefore, as of now the origins of us all are spread over Cos Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon and Cavan with Gus, David (CN), Greg & Hugh being the exceptions. Gus', Terry's, Michael-NJ's & MichaelS' verbal family history says Scotland was their family's origin and David (CN) verbal family history states that his family comes from the Killarney Lakes region in Co Kerry.  James' family history says Co. Mayo was the family's origin. Michael (CN) & Hugh's family history says Co Cork was their origin. The origin of almost all MacTighernans is from the 450 sq. mile small green area on the map at left that falls in the area from N 53.48.35 to N 54.19.50 degrees to W 7.06.20 to W 8.43.48 degrees. Besides the  MacTighernans, Philip O'Rorke, who is The O'Ruairc of Bréifne and the O'Conor Don are also shown in the above chart. The O'Rorke family DNA test web site is at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/roark/.  The O'Conor DNA web site is http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/conner/disc.html. The Genetic and Geographic origin maps of all 139 MacTighernans testers are at this web site:   http://mctiernan.com/McTmaps.htm


Genetic diversity equals age. The more diverse genetic makeup of a population in a specific area, the older it is. In all the world, Africa has the most diverse genetic makeup. Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa has the most genetic diversity in all of Africa which is where the first humans exited to populate the rest of the world. Western Europe has the least diverse genetic population of all areas on earth. So, in Africa the population moved and in western Europe it did not, genetically speaking. The Geographic project sponsored by National geographic and IBM goes into this in great detail https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html  Kit FWRFL845CH <>

The remaining DNA question in our bunch is if one of us is off a specific baseline by 3 or 4 mutations or rather event mutations which implies that you are in a whole separate and distinct DNA group not genetically related to that group's baseline or your common ancestor is well beyond 2000 years or 70 generations back in time then that leaves the question of how we all ended up with identical surnames, if surnames only began in the mid 1100s. My guess is that way back in time before surnames came into use there existed in or around Cos Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon or Cavan a tribe or clan whose leader was called Tiernan or MacTighernan. In Gaelic, Tiernan means Lord and MacTighernan means "son of Lord". When surnames first started all the male warriors might have just taken the chief's name for themselves which might be a reasonable explanation or guess as to how we all ended up in 20 different and distinct genetic groups from one small area of Connacht, Ireland all with the same surname. or close variant

The MacTighernans are mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters as descending from the O'Conors, the past high kings of Ireland and from The O'Ruaircs who were kings of Drumahaire. The O'Conor family has started their own DNA test which is at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/conner/disc.html The O'Rorke family DNA test web site is at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/roark/. 

To date none of the MacTighernans tested genetically relate to either but a Michael O'Rourke from Dublin has scored a perfect 25 / 25 and a 34 / 37 marker match with the T Group baseline.  Michael O'Rourke has also scored 35 / 37 marker match with Mike-UK who is in the T Group but not the baseline.

Your position in this phylogenetic tree chart displayed above is really determined by how far away you are from other MacTighernans based on event mutation differences. In the polygenetic tree chart above, the angle or what side of the line you are on is of no consequence. Our genetic relationship is determined by event mutation differences which is derived from a formula used by the FTdna lab to determine the genetic distance between each of us. Twelve of the 20 DNA groups have only one individual which means by default they become the baseline for their group. In the previous chart the position of each individual is based on the genetic event mutation distance from each other. Our other web site http://mctiernan.com/dnatest.htm is also based on the new information on genetic event mutation distances as determined by the FT dna test lab.

 

 

MacTighernan DNA groups tested to date.
A score of 25 out of 25 markers is a perfect match and all the perfect matches form that group's baseline. 
23 or 24 out of 25 puts you in the same DNA group

Location of MacTighernan tester at time of test  

Identified

MacTighernans

DNA
Group

Perfect Match
( in baseline of each group)

Total in
Group

USA

57

214

T

28

50

Ireland

29

41

Ta

4

4

England

24

63

T2

20

33

Canada

8

11

T2a

2

2

Australia

5

36

T3

11

21

Indonesia

2

2

T3a

8

9

Zimbabwe

1

1

T3c

2

4

Iraq

1

1

T3d

2

4

Scotland

5

80

Tb, Tc, Td, Te, Tf, Tg, T3b, T3e, T4, T5, T6 & T7

1 in each of the
12 groups

12

Northern Ireland

4

18




New Zealand

1

5




South Africa

1

1




Spain

1

1




Wales

4




Japan


1

Total

 139


Switzerland

1




Thailand, Vietnam & Belgium

3




Total

 139

487

 





















MacTighernan DNA Haplogroups

DNA testing of the MacTighernan family has revealed that, with the exception of Warren, all individuals tested belong to the broader genetic group known as Haplogroup R1b1. This haplogroup is recognized as the most prevalent among European populations. It is believed that Haplogroup R1b1 spread throughout Europe as human populations returned and re-colonized the continent following the last glacial maximum, which occurred approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Notably, this lineage also encompasses the Atlantic modal haplotype. In contrast, Warren is categorized within the Q Haplogroup.

Since the Haplogroups are the branches and the Haplotypes are the leaves of the tree, if any of the MacTighernans were to belong to different branches, no matter how close their Y chromosome DNA test results were, the individuals are not related. With the exception of Warren, all MacTighernans, The O'Ruairc and the O'Conor Don are in the same Haplogroup therefore on the same branch.

This is the newer chart used now by the Family Tree DNA lab for haplogroup categories

Haplogroup

 MacTighernan tester's DNA haplogroup

older nomenclature

R-M269

130 MacTighernans over 20 DNA groups

R1b1a2

R-Z18491

Michael


R-M222

  Leo (T3 baseline)

R1b1a2a1a1b4b

R-M173

Gary, Charles, Paul-C, John-C, Edwin, David-NJ & JohnV

R1ada

Q-M242

Warren (T4 baseline)

 

 

This older chart below has info on the Haplogroup and the sub sections of the R1b1a2 and Q Haplogroup. 

 

 

R1b1a2

All testers are in this group except the ones below

All but below

95

R-Z18491

Michael &

T Group

2

R1b1a2a1a1b4b

Leo

T3 Group

4

R1b1a2a1a1b4

All in the T and T3 Groups

T & T3 Group

37

Q-M242

Warren

T4

1

R1b1a2

The O'Ruairc: Philip O'Rorke



R1b1a2a1a1b4b

The O'Conor Don: Cathal Crovderg O'Conor

Total



139

 

The branch R1b1a2e is primarily found in Northern Ireland and contains the Niall of the Nine Hostages' Modal Haplotype. A recent study by Brian Mcvoy was conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, which found that a striking percent of men in Ireland (and quite a few in Scotland) share the same Y chromosome, suggesting that the 5th-century warlord known as "Niall of the Nine Hostages" may be the ancestor of one in 12 Irishmen. Niall established a dynasty of powerful chieftains that dominated the island for six centuries.

The T3 Group baseline matches Niall's DNA 23 / 25 so they would descend from Niall, his uncle, a male cousin or his brother. The remaining DNA groups in the MacTighernan study are not even close. Details are at this web site: http://www.familytreedna.com/matchnialltest.html
                               

Q = Warren

 MacTighernan Testers County or Country of Origin

DNA Group

Leitrim

Sligo

Kerry

Ros-
common

Cavan

Mayo

Cork

Long-
ford

Scotland

Unknown

Total

T

35

1

1

1

2

1

9

50

Ta

2



1


1

4

Tb

1








1

Tc








1

1

Td

1








1

Te








1

1

Tf

1








1

Tg

1








1

T2

23

2

1




7

33

T2a

2








2

T3

12

5

2



2

21

T3a

6

2






1

9

T3b









1

1

T3c

2

1

1




4

T3d

4








4

T3e

1








1

T4








1

1

T5








1

1

T6








1

1

T7








1

1

Total

91

9

1

3

4

1

2

0

2

26

 139

TBR










3

3

in process at lab


1








1

1


R1b1a2 probably appeared during Maykop culture. It was an advanced Neolithic culture of farmers and herders, and one of the very first to develop metalworking, and therefore metal weapons. Stuck between two seas and the Caucasus, they imaginably traded actively around the Black Sea, notably with the other R1b people from northern Anatolia (those that didn't cross the Caucasus and might be the ancestors of the Hittites).

R1b1a2 is thought to have arrived in central and western Europe around 2300 BCE, by going up the Danube from the Black Sea coast. This corresponds to an archeological vacuum in the old Maykop homeland, so the migration must have been on a massive scale, maybe due to pressure from other (R1a) Indo-European people from the north. There might have been several consecutive waves across the Black Sea to the Danube, but the largest one between 2500 BCE (end of the Maykop culture) and 2300 BCE (beginning of the Unetice culture).

In fact, southern Germany and Austria taken together have the highest ity of R1b in Europe. Besides S21, the three major first level subclades of R1b1a2a1b (L21, S28, M167) are found in this area at reasonable frequencies to envisage a spread from the Unetice to Hallstatt homeland to the rest of western Europe.

The site is http://www.eupedia.com/europe/origins_haplogroups_europe.shtml click on the R1b and look at the English version

Excluding the DNA testers and their families, there are less than 400 additional MacTighernans identified living in Ireland and the 4 major immigration countries, USA, Australia, Canada and England. See http://mctiernan.com/dnatest.htm for MacTighernan breakdown by country.

Waiting for test kits to be returned TBR: SeanP, JohnB, Alan Mitchell & Allan

In process waiting for the lab results Gerry

The Great MacTighernan Mysteries,  http://mctiernan.com/10mysteries.htm

Our DNA raw scores, townlands of origin, DNA matches and ancestor lines for all 20 Groups are at http://mctiernan.com/dnatest.htm

A photo of the MacTighernans at the March 13, 2004 & March 15, 2003, Co Leitrim Society dinner in NYC http://mctiernan.com/NYCphoto.htm

The Rules of the DNA test and a good explanation as to what they indicate are at this web site; http://mctiernan.com/dnarules.htm

This https://owlcation.com/stem/Irish-Blood-Genetic-Identity web site and the other gives a very good view of the wider Irish DNA studies for 1750 Irish families, http://www.familytreedna.com/public/IrelandHeritage

To run the tree sequence use: median joining with myPH.ych to myPH.out to draw 

If you are a male McTernan / McTiernan / MacTiernan and want to participate in this family DNA study, please let me know.  If you own a bank, then I hope you would pay for the test.  If, like many of us, you are wondering who might pay the bills this month then I would pay the cost of the test as this is my only hobby.

Michael McTiernan    michael@mctiernan.com
N 38 23' 12"
W 75 3' 51"