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Family lore vs Gedcom results

  • 22-12-2018 8:46am
    #1
    zmgakt7uw2dvfs
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭


    In my family it's widely regarded as a fact - an obscure fact, but a fact nonetheless - that one of my mother's great-great grandfathers was also the great-great grandfather of my dad.

    Civil marriage records do indeed reveal that both great-great grandfathers had the same name and were from the same parish -- though the townland is different.

    However, using the "are my parents related" feature on gedcom, the results say that my parents are not related. I am baffled.

    What say the genealogists here?


Comments

  • #2
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,616 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    You need to do more work on each side. Get further supporting facts. What do the church records show? The mothers' names, etc. If it is true, then the matches who come from that branch should have more DNA than you would expect for the level of connection (e.g. if they were 3rd cousins but there was a larger than expected amount of cMs. This might indicate a double connection).

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • #3
    pedroeibar1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,108 ✭✭✭pedroeibar1


    It's only four generations back on both lines. I'd be more inclined to believe the DNA result.


  • #4
    srmf5
    Registered Users Posts: 311 ✭✭srmf5


    My grandfather's parents were second cousins of each other. My grandfather's sister has taken a DNA test and on GEDmatch it does come up that her parents were probably related within the last several generations. In that case it's going back to common 2x great grandparents while in your case it's going back to 3x great grandparents. Your parents would have been third cousins. There is about a 10% chance of sharing no DNA with any given third cousin. I have a third cousin once removed who my mum shares 82.8 cM while I share no DNA with this match. It could be a case that your parents may not have shared much DNA to start with and could have passed on DNA to you that didn't overlap. A way to resolve this, if possible, is to get a DNA test for both your parents and see if they match. Were the different townlands listed near each other? It would be strange that a family lore would make up the fact that parents were related since, if anything, people would be more likely to try and hide it.


  • #5
    srmf5
    Registered Users Posts: 311 ✭✭srmf5


    Also just in the case of my grandfather's sister, her matches descended from the couple who are her 2x great grandparents twice don't appear any closer than expected. If anything they all look slightly more distant such as a 3rd cousin coming up as a 4th cousin and a 2nd cousin once removed as a 3rd cousin. There's nothing unusual in that matching but they just look like ordinary 3rd cousin matches, etc. with nothing to make you think that she's related to these matches through two lines.


  • #6
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,616 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    How come are the names involved? I mean, if we're talking about 2 people called, say, Michael Ryan, in Tipperary, then they could easily be not related and just the same name by coincidence.

    When it comes to common names, these things do happen. I have 2 totally unrelated ancestors both called Elizabeth Murphy.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



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  • #7
    Ipso
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    Couldn’t the randomness of the DNA recombination through each generation result in different amounts of DNA being passed down the different lines.


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