Re: Bernard McFaden (McFadden) from County Tyrone

2017-03-21T21:01:26-04:00

Hi Glenn. I've been tinkering with group labels and the lineage page is not yet updated. The important thing is that I have you grouped with one other person in the project. This person has unfortunately not been able to trace their line back to Ireland yet, and so they wouldn't yet be of much assistance to you in that regard.

The reason they do not show up as a match is because they have only tested 37 markers, and five of the 37 are different from your results. At 37 markers, FTDNA only shows matches with four differences or fewer. This type of testing is tricky because each marker can go both up and down over time, or it can stay put. This means that it's common for people to have similar results by coincidence, especially at 37 markers, despite not being related in any meaningful way. Meanwhile people who may be related within a few hundred years can potentially have an unusually high number of differences and be omitted from your list of matches. The benefit of a surname project is that we can see everyone's results and overcome the limitations of the matching system. So despite having five differences at 37 markers, I believe this person likely shares a common McFadden ancestor with you.

As an example of what I'm talking about, I have 4800 matches at 12 markers. All 4800 people match my first 12 markers exactly, or have a difference of one. But my own uncle is not one of them because he happened to have a fairly rare two-step mutation in his first 12 markers. It's not until the higher levels that he shows up as a close match while most of the 4800 fall away.

Our project is still fairly small, but additional testers have been steadily trickling in. We currently have four people who have bought tests and are waiting for results. I anticipate that as more people join, we will find additional people who are of the same lineage as you. One thing hampering our efforts at the moment is that most testers are descended from immigrants. Participation from McFaddens/MacFadyens in Ireland and Scotland would help a great deal. I've been working on that, though it's difficult without being able to sponsor tests.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Statistics: Posted by Rob — Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:01 pm

Bernard McFaden (McFadden) from County Tyrone

2017-03-21T16:35:36-04:00

I have recently received my DNA results which have been added to the McFadden Project results page. I am now wondering what I can expect in my genealogy research. On the project lineage page I am grouped in R-M269 Group 6 with one other person. However I do not see that person listed in the results and I am ungrouped in the results. I would assume that if there was someone else in my group who has traced their ancestor back to Ireland then that would be valuable information in locating where my ancestor is from or at least narrow the search area.

My immigrant ancestor is Bernard McFaden (McFadden), b 1826 in County Tyrone. He initially immigrated to Canada and then to the US through Burlington VT, settling in Newton MA. His record of marriage lists his father as Andrew McFaden and his record of death lists Andrew and his mother as Ann Sprout both from Tyrone. I have searched Irish records on Find My Past but have not been able to find anything for Bernard, Andrew or Ann Sprout. It dismay hope that I will someday be able to find out where in Tyrone my paternal roots lie.

Regarding the spelling of my name, on almost all documents that were completed by someone else, the name is spelled McFadden. Interestingly page one of his naturalization document has McFadden but page two has McFaden. All of the entries in the Newton MA city directory consistently list Bernard and all of his sons as McFaden.

Glenn McFaden

Statistics: Posted by gsmcfaden — Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:35 pm

The McFadden Project Message Board

Re: Bernard McFaden (McFadden) from County Tyrone

Bernard McFaden (McFadden) from County Tyrone