Seeing My Grandpa's Updated AncestryDNA Region Results Has Me Dreaming of Ireland

(Last September in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland)

A few months ago there was an update to AncestryDNA results.  They always send the message that our DNA doesn't change, but their information, samples, algorithms, etc, get better.  My percentages changed: 55% Ireland & Scotland, 37% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, 4% Sweden, 2% Norway, 2% Germanic Europe.  So I think this means I'm 55% Celtic and 37% Anglo Saxon.  Could be wrong.

I was excited to see what my maternal Grandparent results had changed to, did it better match what I know from research?  My Grandma A: 50% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, 31% Germanic Europe, 15% Ireland & Scotland, 4% Norway.  All her Iberian Peninsula, which was about 14%, gone.  My Grandpa R: 90% Ireland & Scotland, 8% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, and 2% Norway.  His 90% Ireland and Scotland are no surprise.

Then yesterday I got an email that said AncestryDNA has 150 new regions, 92 regions in Ireland.

I had to see what Irish regions my family taps into.

 

I personally only tap into one: East Cork & Waterford.  I might have to collect more crystal. :0)

 

My Mom taps into four: South West Munster, East Cork & Waterford, East Cork, and Iveragh Peninsula.  My Aunt Tam taps into those four plus North Munster.

 Then I looked up my Grandpa.  9 whole regions, all in the South of Ireland: South West Munster, Iveragh Peninsula, Beara Peninsula, East Cork & Waterford, North Munster, East Cork, West Cork, Killarney, and East Beara Peninsula.  The Mahoney's, in which I'm connected, originate in the south of Ireland, so these results match that.  My Mahoney line dead ends in Newfoundland, so having this regional confirmation is nice.  My O'Neil line dead ends in Maine, USA, though the clan history is more north Ireland.  The other Irish family names in my line aren't prominent enough to have a coat of arms or clan history.

 This is exciting, because the two times I've visited Ireland it was this region, and it felt like home.  It was wonderful.  Beautiful landscapes and very nice people.  Now I want to return and see so many places, mainly the Ring of Kerry, but traveling up the coast from Cork to Waterford would be fun as well.

Okay, I just want to go back to Ireland.