In July 2022, Y-DNA results came back from the lab for a new Morgan test-taker. The individual concerned (PM) lives in Australia and thanks to extensive genealogical work by his 1st cousin-in-law (LM), we can now verify that the Y-DNA signature of the Morgan family has been passed down unchanged since the 1650s. This new discovery represents another significant step in our endeavours to uncover the history of the Morgan's of Limerick.
Back in 2017, I made a major breakthrough on my own Morgan line and connected it to the Morgan's of Old Abbey & Dunmoylan in Co. Limerick (see previous blog post here). These Limerick Morgan's were the subject of years of research by Professor John Wardell in the early 1900s, prior to the fire in the Public Records Office in 1922 that destroyed much of the primary documentation. Thankfully, Professor Wardell's notebooks survived as well as his transcriptions of many of the wills, probate and land deeds associated with the family. This breakthrough on my particular Morgan line added 8 generations and 23 additional ancestors to my family tree. And that is quite a breakthrough!
The next question to address was: is family lore true - that the Morgan's of Limerick are indeed related to the Morgan's of Tredegar? The latter were a very powerful landowning Welsh family that gave rise to countless members of parliament and included barons, lords, and viscounts. Their seat was Tredegar House just outside Newport in Wales, and they are the ancestors of a host of famous people.
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| Famous descendants of the Morgan's of Tredegar (from famouskin.com) |
To address the above question, we undertook Y-DNA testing of various known descendants of the Morgan's of Limerick and the initial results are discussed in this article here. These results established the Y-DNA signature of the Morgan's of Limerick and indicated that it had been passed down unchanged to Morgan descendants living today since at least 1774. The new results now push that timepoint back to the 1650s. Here's how ...
The earlier results showed an exact match (GD 0/37) between GM & JM. These indicated that the Y-DNA signature had been passed down unchanged to both descendants from their common ancestor - Edward Morgan, born 1774, who married Jane Dwyer (making GM & JM, known 4th cousins).
The new results (from PM) were also a match to GM & JM (GD 4/37) and indicated that the Y-DNA signature had been passed down with only minor differences to all 3 descendants from their common ancestor - James Morgan, born about 1655, who married Susan Allen (making PM a documented 7th cousin once removed to GM & JM). These results also lend support to the validity of the genealogical research. The lines of descent are summarised below.
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| Direct Male Line descendants of the Morgan's of Limerick (click to enlarge) |
There are two other Morgan's in the diagram above who also share the same Y-DNA signature (namely I-M223). This suggests that they too descend from the Morgan's of Limerick but we do not know exactly where they fit into the wider family tree because they have Brick Walls in the early 1800s. It is possible that Big Y testing will help clarify this question and for that reason we are encouraging these Morgan descendants to do the Big Y test. In November 2022, two people undertook to do the test (GM & PM) and we are hoping that others will join them soon.
The Big Y results will also reveal if the Morgan's of Limerick are related to other I-M223 Morgan's within the Morgan DNA Project. Currently, there are 67 distinct genetic groups within the project. The Morgan's of Limerick are Group 60 and there are two other groups who carry the I-M223 signature - Group 7 and Group 21. In addition, there is a single Morgan individual in the Ungrouped section who is also I-M223.
Several of the 22 members of Group 7 have done the Big Y test and this reveals that this group has the following ancestral SNPs:
- I-M223 > P222 > CTS616 > CTS10057 > L702 > S22311 > L703 > S12195 > S21579 > Y5670 > Y5671 > Y5672 > Y6998 > BY159 > FT6428 > FT6496 > FT4915 > FT4930
Neither member of Group 21 has done Big Y testing but using the Nevgen Haplogroup Predictor, their downstream SNP could be one of the following:
- I-M223 > P222 > CTS616 > CTS10057 > L702 ... (and maybe subsequently > S22311 > L703 > S12195 > BY166184)
- I-M223 > P222 > CTS616 > CTS10057 > Z161 ... (and maybe subsequently > CTS4348 > L801 > Z178 > Z165 > CTS1977 > Y4946 > Y5282 > Y11919 > M2379 > S8522)
The downstream SNPs for the Morgan's of Limerick have previously been predicted to be:
- I-M223 > P222 > CTS616 > CTS10057 > Z161 > L623
However, using the Nevgen Haplogroup Predictor, a different prediction is obtained:
- I-M223 > P222 > CTS616 > CTS10057 > L702 ... (and maybe subsequently > S22311 > L703 > S12195 > BY166184). For reference, the age estimate for BY166184 is at least 1850 BC.
Based on these predictions, there may be a match to either group. Only Big Y testing will clarify this point. But if there is a match, then this could indicate that one of these groups (7 or 21) may represent descendants of the Morgan's of Tredegar.
You can view a short 15-minute video about my initial breakthrough and the subsequent Y-DNA testing of the Morgan's of Limerick on this link here.
I look forward with anticipation to the new Big Y results.
