Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, I wrote a post about my DNA ethnicity results. It seems appropriate to run it again today. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I never felt much of a connection to March 17 until I had my DNA tested through Ancestry DNA. Then I discovered in that test that I’m 38% Irish. (That’s my pie chart in the picture.) I knew that Ireland was in my family tree, but I haven’t researched much that far back to realize that it was an important part of my heritage.
Growing up, Irish roots were never mentioned. All that came up was vague mention of England, though in reality our heritage wasn’t much discussed. That’s probably because there were no immigrants recent enough for my parents or grandparents’ to have known them. We always just felt American.
When I had my DNA tested, it was in an effort to meet cousins and further my genealogical research. (Understanding those results is an ongoing project.) The ethnicity component of didn’t even enter my mind. But today, St. Patrick’s Day, it feels nice to have a kinship with my Irish forebears, though I’m still learning about who they were.
If you’re curious about your own DNA, Ancestry DNA is having a sale–10% off kits through March 19, 2017.
If you’ve had your DNA tested were you surprised by the ethnicity results?
Your GGGrandparents James Brown andwife Martha Simpson were both born in Ireland