What's your legacy?

August is a quiet month in Ireland and I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of legacy - genealogical legacy of course.

If you’re like me, you’ve been working on your family history for a long time, and you’re probably very proud of that research. It may be that only a handful of family members are also interested, or maybe they’re just tolerating you talk about it! Do you have an heir? What about a digital heir? Most of us won’t have a monument like this guy, though he’d probably prefer if there wasn’t a bird on his head!

Daniel O’Connell monument in Dublin (my own photo)

I manage a lot of DNA kits. Some of those people are clients and I am working on a project for them. I have a data retention policy which means I remove my access after research is completed (although not immediately, in case of follow-up questions!) Some people are family members and they’ve taken a test at my request, so I permanently manage those kits.

With circa 50 million DNA tests worldwide taken over approximately 15 years, it’s hard to estimate how many of those people have already died. Sadly 2 family members who did tests for me have now left us. We’ve all experienced times when we message a match and never get a reply. There’s plenty of reasons for this:

  • They never saw it

  • They saw it when rushing out somewhere and forgot about it

  • They read it and decided not to reply (for a variety of reasons)

  • They are elderly and/or technically limited

  • But they may also be dead now

I don’t have kids but I have begun to encourage my young niece and nephew to be interested in their family history. This is in an age-appropriate fashion now and I’ll build on it as they get bigger.

What are you doing about your research? I’m leaving mine to a family history society I’m part of. Have you got a plan in place for the management of your DNA kits in future? I don’t have a perfect solution, but hope to prompt some discussion on the topic. Let me know your ideas.

You may have seen some media coverage about a man who has obtained Irish citizenship and that DNA tests were a factor in it. The headline was misleading. Firstly, 100% Irish ethnicity on a direct-to-consumer DNA test as sold by companies like 23andMe, Ancestry or MyHeritage, may not mean that you have recent Irish ancestry or that you are even Irish. Ethnicity estimates vary from company to company. Here’s a comparison of mine on the big 4 sites, as currently shown. These will change from year to year, but my ancestry stays the same.

Someone like former US President John F. Kennedy would likely have had 100% Irish ethnicity. All 8 of his great-grandparents were Irish. All his grandparents were born in America, as were he and his parents. There would be a lot of people in diaspora nations who could fit that pattern, but they wouldn’t qualify for citizenship. You must have a parent or grandparent who was Irish to obtain citizenship. In this reported case, the man in question used DNA evidence in America to get a court to recognise his biological parents, and then he applied using their records. The article says both parents were dead but then says that Ormond Quay Paternity Services (who are court-approved, unlike DTC tests) confirmed his biological paternity - though they do not say how given the father is dead - presumably half-siblings. Clearly DNA has played a role here, and I’m delighted for the person, but better reporting is required. I’d love to know the full details but it seems highly unlikely that that information would be forthcoming.

As the Olympics have come around again, I’m sharing an old article I wrote on a distant cousin of mine who competed in the 1948 Olympics. If sport is your thing, I hope you’re enjoying it!

Lastly for this month, if you’re near enough to Malahide, my popular beginner’s class in Irish genealogy will be starting again in September. Enrolment starts on 12th August.