Beyond the Emerald Isle: Surprising Revelations of McNally Ancestry from an iGENEA DNA Test
Family name McNally
My adventure started with a quest to uncover my lineage was filled with surprise and unfathomable turns. As a McNally, I anticipated discovering deep Irish roots, but the iGENEA DNA test revealed a far more complicated and nuanced historical tapestry, including unexpected Viking, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Iberian strands, compelling me to reassess the purported notion of pure Irish ancestry.
As a holder of the surname McNally, I always had a belief that I carried an array of Irish ancestry in my blood. Following my curiosity and seeking to find more about my roots, I took the iGENEA DNA Test, which opened a portal to revelations that completely changed my understanding of my heritage.
The first surprise was the pronounced Viking heritage that the test revealed. I had thought my forebears on the McNally side to be purely Irish, but stunningly, my Scandinavian roots were not just present but ran deep. The origins of the Vikings were primarily in present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, yet they established significant settlements in Scotland and Ireland, including descendants with the McNally name. This made me question my basic knowledge of my own history, and I decided to dig deeper.
Intriguingly, despite my assumptions, my DNA pie chart isn't solid green (representing pure Irish ancestry). Instead, it has a notable slice of blue, symbolizing the Norse ancestry. According to iGENEA, approximately 20% of my genetic makeup is Scandinavian, a truth that I found both bewildering and engrossing.
Equally unexpected was the revelation that an infinitesimal portion of my DNA is Ashkenazi Jewish. Although only constituting a negligible 1% of my genetic makeup, the presence of this lineage was truly a revelation, as I had no prior knowledge or reason to suspect any Jewish ancestry.
Unearthed too, amidst these swirling tides of genetic information, was evidence of a relatively strong Iberian Peninsula connection. I faced yet another surprise when the test indicated about 10% of my DNA is linked to Spain and Portugal, a geographic detour adopting another dimension to my McNally line, and a discovery that compelled me to reassess the purported notion of pure Irish ancestry.
D. McNally