My Ancestry.com DNA Results: Not Really Surprised, and A Little Surprised!

Not Really Surprised

I got my DNA results from the test that I did through Ancestry.com. I wasn’t really surprised on my genetic results.  My father was born in Ireland, and his side was basically 100% Irish as far back as we can tell. My mother's maternal side is also 100% Irish, as all four of her maternal great-grandparents were born in Ireland. On her paternal side, all but one set of her great-grandparents were born in Ireland. Her paternal grandmother was Lucy Rachel Henderson, and we have traced her family back pretty far. Some of her ancestors were in the US in the late 1600's, and some came from England and the Alsace-Lorraine Region (Germany or France, depending on the time period). If you look at the percentages, they are pretty accurate from what I have found of my family history!

- The genetic breakdown they say for Ireland are primarily Ireland, Wales and Scotland, with some England and France. 

- The Europe West breakdown is primarily Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein, but also found in England, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic. 

- Great Britain's breakdown is primarily England, Scotland, and Wales, but also in Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy.

No Native American

Sorry, kids! No Native American on my side. We will have to test your father to see if there is any Native American from his side.

  

A Little Surprised!

The part that I was a little surprised about was that there were so many DNA matches with people who either had a private tree on Ancestry.com, or had no tree at all associated to their account! That makes it so you can't find the match, and isn't very useful to you.

The only way you can see a private tree is by emailing them and asking them to grant you access to their tree. I have emailed people to get access to their trees because we have a strong DNA match. Most people are fine letting you see their tree, and are very nice about it. I was surprised though by two people who flat out refused access, and said they looked at my tree and don't see where we are a match, so they wouldn't let me see their tree. Maybe if I see their tree, I would see something that might lead me to where one of my ancestors or one of their ancestors came from, or I may be able to figure out something that would lead me or them in the right direction. Very frustrating where they can see my tree, but I can't see theirs. :( 

Still Worth It

All in all, I found my results very interesting, and I am digging into them. There were many public trees I could look at. I am corresponding with, and even talking to some nice people who are related in some way, however distantly. It's interesting, and hopefully I can give them some insight, as well as getting some insight myself! I have made some definite connections. More later.