Ancestry DNA Has A New Update: Separating England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales

Ancestry DNA has a new update which separates the British Isles.  There used to be only two ethnicities: England and Scotland/Ireland.  Now England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are all separated.   And alas I have all but Wales.

This is what I am now, before it changes again.  In the brackets are my ranges, as Ancestry does this whole "1,000 Estimates" thing using probabilities, a reference panel, and what is known.  The percentages are derived by algorithms based on current knowledge and information.  Essentially this information is subject to change, because DNA research is still imperfect.  This is what the algorithm assigned me: England (30-36%), Ireland 35% (0-43%), Scotland 19% (0-20%), Germanic Europe 6% (0-20%), Norway 4% (0-5%).

Now, this is what the system gave me.  Once upon a time I was able to see the whole list of ethnicities and what they tested, and even if the system didn't assign an ethnicity to me, doesn't mean I don't have it.  I used to be able to click on a random Ethnicity and see if it was all 0%, or if there was a small percentage bracket.  For instance my Mom is Ireland 56% (42-63%) and my Aunt is Ireland 50% (34-55%), yet my Grandma didn't register as having any Irish.  If I was allowed to see the full list of ethnicities and then click on Irish, I could see what the tested bracket percentage said.  My Grandma has Irish in her family tree, though it's possible they emigrated from Scotland (as she registers 37% Scottish), but with my Mom having 56% Irish with the percentage bracket she does, there's no way my Grandma doesn't have a small percentage of Irish.

Also, I was hoping to have some Welsh in my DNA, so that I could be British Isles Divergent (nerd reference).  Apparently I don't have any, though my Dad is 2% Welsh (0-13%), Mom is 1% Welsh (0-7%), my brother Steven 5% Welsh (0-11%), and my Grandma Stuff. is 4%.  I have gone down my Dad's family tree on the Family Tree website, and there is Welsh there, some of which are royalty (which I take with a grain of salt, but it's fun).  I've found Welsh elsewhere.  It's a little, but there's a paper trail.  Proof that our DNA is a hint of linage, but not a true representation of our heritage and family history.  DNA is simply what we inherit. 

The most interesting discovery is between my Grandpa R and Grandma A.  We always assumed my Grandpa had a lot of Scottish.  He was obsessed with Scotland, yet he only has 5% (0-14%).  Ironically my Grandma A has more with 37% (0-37%).   It's just funny.  Though my Grandpa was 91% Irish (71-95%), connecting with 9 regions all through the south of Ireland, from Kerry to East Cork.

It's all fun.  It's interesting comparing the results of my family.  My Grandma's brother, my Great Uncle, had France 3% (0-7%) and Spain 1% (0-1%) show up in his results, so that's interesting.  And even though Steven is the only one of my siblings to have Wales show up in his DNA, he only registered 6% Scottish (0-13%), whereas my brother Michael is 33% Scottish (2-35%).  Steven is 47% Irish (22-54%).  It's just interesting how similar, yet different we all are, even with the same linage.

So I've spent the weekend nerding out over Family History. :0)

PS. I don't care what they say, I'm still British Isles Divergent.