Let it not be said I grow boring in mid life! I have long been on a quest to get further back on my father’s Irish side of the family, something he tried to do while living, traveling to Ireland, and doing research. This Irish side would be his paternal end…..and well, you know how many John Reynoldses exist in the 1700s in Ireland??? And Frances O’Reilly’s?? Yes, so my dead end continues, as it did for my father. Although he would be right-proud that I was able to put together his mother’s German side within one year of research, making a break through for his cousin Mary Burg, (and wasn’t she just thrilled!) It was an incredible find, to locate a genealogical site in Germany with our family documented in it. Of course it was all in German :) so, I had to use an on line foreign language translator to communicate with its owner. And it worked!
But the Irish side…..oh how I wish I could be that lucky. I’ve only gotten to the great grandfather for my father’s paternal side, (that brings us to 1798 with the birth of his great grandfather); where in contrast, I’ve made it to 1600s with the German maternal side.
My own mother’s maternal side consists of even more remote chances. With Eastern Europe and its records being so terribly destroyed during the World Wars, records in the Slovakian regions are hard to come by. I have a few immigration papers of my mother’s aunts, that arrived by ship through Boston, but little exists of any further origins into Slovakia, other than the names of the towns of Smizany and Uzofce.
So today, my son mailed off my package of DNA in a lab tube. Yes. Because there is this really cool system of giving a saliva sample, and it being processed through DNA technology, and the results sent to you, right to your web account you set up with the provider; in this case: I used 23andme.com as recommended by a friend who is in search of her biological family.
So, I am so interested in seeing what my DNA holds….what’s the strongest percentage of culture I carry…..is it German? Irish? Slovakian? and some Jewish? We have a Jewish end of the family on my father’s mother’s side – Russian.
I guess the lab will tell in time. I’ll let you know what I discover :)
3 comments:
I can't wait to hear your results and overall impressions! I've considered this before but was wary of sending my DNA out into the unknown -- but so curious to learn more about my own ancestry!
I can't wait to hear what you thought of this process! I have considered this but was wary of sending my DNA into the unknown. At the same time, I'm so curious to learn more about my ancestry! Looking forward to the results!
I know, I thought about that too, like maybe they are collecting us, to renew the face of the earth someday! naw! LOL But, really, I am at such a dead end with my mother's Slovakian side, and further into Ireland with my father's side....it will give your surnames of people on 23andme that you are related to through your DNA. How cool! So ...my specimen is there now being processed. I just log into my account and it will show "my results", "maternal line", "Ancestry composition"- like what percentage I am of: Irish, or German or Slovakian. Remember, it's only the maternal side, because I don't carry a Y chromosome -- to do the paternal, we will need my brother's saliva! :)
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