We hope that over time our DNA Project may shed light on these theories and help to establish specific lineages–if there are any–that have the roots portrayed in one or both of these accounts. Two lines of thinking are emerging about how we might identify Corca DNA:
1)
According to the Nolan DNA study, the Corca people are defined by DYS385a/b=11/17-18:
Evidence presented in this study of O’Hullachain (O’Nolan), O'Cobhthaigh (O'Coffey), and O'hAodha (O'Hea) or Egan at R1b1c [R1b1b2] DYS #385a and 385b of 11 and 17 supports the contention that these Corca Luighe (Corca Laoidhe) surnames inherited these values or inherited the mutation from 11 and 16. Further analysis suggests this process also relates to R1b1c [R1b1b2] DYS #385a and 385b at 11 and 18. That is that an R1b1c [R1b1b2] 11 and 18 male either inherits those values or inherits [develops] the mutation from 11 and 17. Consequently, the R1b1c [R1b1b2] O’Driscoll at 11 and 18 in the O'Driscoll Erainn study either inherited those values or inherited [developed] the mutation from 11 and 17.
The ancestors of the R1b1c [R1b1b2] O’Driscoll at 11 and 18 must have then gone through this generational mutation process from 11 and 14 [at the founding of R1b1b2], 11 and 15, 11 and 16, 11 and 17, to 11 and 18. R1b1c [R1b1b2] of 11 and 18 at DYS #385a and 385b, therefore, represents a direct lineage of its 11 and 14 ancestors. O’Driscoll was the ruling clan of the Corca Laoidhe. Surnames of the Corca Laoidhe, O’Hullachain (O’Nolan), O'Cobhthaigh (O'Coffey), and O'hAodha (O'Hea) or Egan, at R1b1c [R1b1b2] DYS #385a and 385b at 11 and 17, therefore, exhibit a genetic relationship [with] the ruling clan of the Corca Laoidhe, which has now mutated to 11 and 18. [1]
Bennet Greenspan, president of FTDNA, reported in 2006 that "the 11,17 at 385a/b is not common for R1b males and is distinctive enough that it acts to tie them together ... For example only 105 men in our entire database share an 11,17, which 882 share an 11,16 and 5445 share an 11,15, and 22704 has an 11,14 so you can see how rare it is…” In 2007 he added that "the # is now 138, but our opt in matching system only approves that people who are an exact match or -1 (for 12) or -2 (for 25) can be shown to each other so I don’t have a legal permission to display, carte blanche, all of those samples for any research project, but I do think that a relationship at some level is highly likely." [2]
2)
The Driscoll DNA Project coordinator provides this feedback:
I'd say there is about 50% chance that Haplogroup R1b - Clade: South Irish with DYS385b greater than or equal to 16 defines the Corca. An equally viable choice seems to be Haplogroup: I2a - Isles2 at least for the O'Driscoll who are said to be the chief line. I'm of the opinion that in their day the Corca were nearly as heterogeneous as they are today. This would be due to a variety of factors including [non--paternal events] and familys switch allegiance as new warlords move in and take over a locale.
Keeping in mind that we still have only a small glimpse into possibilities for Corca DNA, as of September 3, 2010, none of our participants have these markers. In fact, to date there is only one genetic match between one of our DNA subgroups and someone with ancestry in Cork, but this subgroup came to Ireland much later. Stronger evidence currently exists for a founding Irish line with early origins in Leix/Laois/Queens although we do not know whether this line stems from Corca people who are known to have migrated into the Midlands in early times.
Two confounding factors are:
1)
It was common for members of the same sept not to be genetically related.
The Irish prefixes of Mac (son of) and O (grandson or descendant of) gave rise at an early date, to a set of fixed hereditary names in which the literal patronymic meaning was lost or obscured. These surnames originally signified membership of a clan, but with the passage of time, the clan system became less distinct, and surnames came to identify membership of what is called a 'sept' of people all living in the same locality, all bearing the same surname, but not necessarily descended from a common ancestor. Adoption of the name by people who did not otherwise have a surname and by their dependants was not uncommon. [3]
2)
Due to the nature of succession in Gaelic society (tannistry), it is not unusual for a successor chief not to be the son of the departing chief. This can introduce a different Y-DNA signature to the name, although it would presumably belong to and match a Corca cluster.
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1. “Of the Nolans (Nola)” URL: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nolenancestry/page12.html Date Accessed: 4 September 2010.
2. Ibid.
3. Need cite.