Wednesday 14 January 2015

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to the new blog for the Farrell DNA Project.

The DNA project has several objectives but one of the primary aims is to identify people who are close genetic cousins to each other so that these people can collaborate, share genealogical information, and thus help each other to break down the Brick Walls in their own particular family tree research.[1] If sufficient members join, it will hopefully be possible to determine the origins of the Farrell surname and its evolution over time.

This project is hosted on FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) and you can easily access it by either googling “Farrell FTDNA” or simply following this link here …
www.familytreedna.com/public/FARRELL DNA Project/

The project is open to anyone with a suspected Farrell ancestor, especially anyone whose surname is Farrell or one of its many possible variants, including any of the following names … Faddle, Farell, Farlee, Farley, Farr, Farris, Farral, Farrel, Farrell, Farrelly, Farrol, Fearghail, Ferrall, Ferrally, Ferrell, Ferrill, Frawley, McFaddle, McFarell, McFarley, McFarral, McFarrel, McFarrell, McFarrelly, McFarrol, McFearghail, McFerrally, McFerrell, McFerrill, McFrawley, O’Faircheallaigh, O'Faddle, O'Farell, O'Farley, O'Farral, O'Farrel, O'Farrell, O'Farrelly, O'Farrol, O'Fearghail, O'Ferrally, O'Ferrell, O'Ferrill, O'Frawley


Current Status

As of December 2014, the previous Project Administrator, Jim Denning, has retired and the new Project Administrator is Maurice Gleeson. I would like to say a big thank you to Jim for his many years of work on this project. 

Click for larger image

The membership has grown under Jim’s guidance and direction to 137 participants. The primary focus of the project is the Farrell surname and its inheritance along the direct male line (your father’s father’s father’s line). Hence Y-DNA is of particular importance and of the 137 members, 88 have undertaken a Y-DNA test, broken down as follows:
  • 111 markers – 12 members have bought this test
  • 67 markers – 32 members
  • 37 markers – 23 (this is the minimum recommended)
  • 25 markers only – 5
  • 12 markers only – 16
A Y-DNA-37 test is the minimum recommended for reliable allocation to a particular genetic family and all members are encouraged to upgrade to at least this 37-marker test. 


How to upgrade

If you wish to upgrade from 12 or 25 markers to 37 markers or higher, just click on the blue Upgrade button on your FTDNA Homepage and then click on the appropriate Upgrade Price button on the right and follow the instructions ($99 for upgrading to Y-DNA-37 from Y-DNA-12).




How to join the project

If you have already purchased a Y-DNA-37 test, you can join the project by simply clicking here and choosing Option A … 

New members can join the project by clicking here and purchasing a Y-DNA-37 test (there is a discount of $20 off the usual price if you buy it here, so you get it for $149 instead of $169) … https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?&group=Farrell&vGroup=FARRELL%20DNA%20Project




Recent changes

Following a review of the current status of the project, there has been some changes to the way the Project Webpage looks. Firstly, statistical data has been added to the home page of the project website on FTDNA. This gives a very useful overview of the status of the project and the current membership. Also, information on the MDKA (Most Distant Known Ancestor) for project members is now visible on the Y-DNA Results pages (in both the Classic View and Colorized View). 

But the most significant change is the rearrangement of the project members to reflect recent additions to the project and new Y-DNA data. As a result, 8 distinct genetic families have now been identified. Subsequent blogs will discuss the criteria for allocating members to these new groups and we will take a much closer look at each of these 8 individual genetic families.


Any questions?

If you have specific questions about the Farrell DNA Project, please post them below in the Comments section, or post them below my announcement for each new blog post on the Farrell Clan Facebook page. I will answer all questions either individually or devote a blog to each one (so that everyone can benefit from the answer).

Maurice Gleeson
14 Jan 2015


[1] A complete list of the revised objectives of the DNA project can be found here … https://www.familytreedna.com/public/FARRELL%20DNA%20Project/default.aspx?section=goals




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