My Patrilineal Haplogroup

One aspect of the 23andMe DNA test that I did not mention in my last posting, is that they identify your matrilineal (mitochondrial) DNA haplogroup and, for males only, your patrilineal (Y) DNA haplogroup. 

 

The Y haplogroup is useful in identifying your ancestry on the male line, which, theoretically at least, should follow your surname.  i.e. all of my male line ancestors, since surnames were introduced, should have the surname "Cosgrave" or some variant of this.

 

My primary interest in my male line DNA is to try and determine if my Cosgrave ancestors, from the Belfast area of Antrim, Ireland, were long time Irish or if they were Plantation Scottish settlers.  They were Presbyterians / Unitarians, suggesting a possible Scottish connection, but I have been unable to verify this from paper records to date.

 

23andMe identifies that my Y haplogroup is R1b1b2a1a2f*, so what does that tell me?

 

Exploring further on 23andMe, I learn that "R1b1b2 is the most common haplogroup in western Europe, where its branches are clustered in various national populations. R1b1b2a1a2b is characteristic of the Basque, while R1b1b2a1a2f2 reaches its peak in Ireland and R1b1b2a1a1 is most commonly found on the fringes of the North Sea".  So, I am not really any further ahead.

 

I did a number of online searches and found that although R1b1b2a1a2f* sounds very detailed, it is a very broad category, and I will need to do further testing to narrow down my result any further.

 

23andMe focusses on autosomal DNA testing, so I searched for other possible Y-DNA testing companies, and decided to test with FamilyTreeDNA.  When the kit arrived, I swabbed my cheek, submitted the test kit, and sat back to wait for the result....