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The Dorsey/Darsey/Darcy/Dawsey/Dossey/D'Arcy
 

Surname Project


Using DNA Analysis
 


 To Define and Verify Family Lines and Connections 

Established 2002
This project is organized, administered, and paid for by family members
for the purpose of linking ourselves to the past.

While we have no commercial interest in any DNA testing company
we highly recommend testing at Family Tree DNA

Project Results and Discussion

30 June 2009

 

Lineage IV

From Tipperary to Australia and America

Two participants who trace their lines to County Tipperary in Ireland share a 23/25 marker match with a few quite unusual marker values.  Their results are presented in Table IV-1.  The first row of results in this group is from a descendent of Thomas D’Arcy who was born on a farm near Lorrha in County Tipperary about 1820 1  and arrived in Sydney, Australia on February 18, 1848. 2  The second member of this group can make his earliest connection to John Dorcey, who was in the County Tipperary (North Riding), the Barony of Lower Ormond, the Civil Parish of Kilbarron, the Townland of Lisquilabeen between 1834 and 1852. 3  This John Dorcey immigrated to Michigan in the mid 1850’s only to be killed in the final days of the Civil War. 

These two match on 23 of 25 markers with a two-step difference at DYS439 and a one-step difference at DYS458.  Both of those markers are thought to mutate more frequently than some of the others.  For their mismatched at DYS439, one has one repeat more than the modal value and the other one has repeat less.  (This suggests possible one-step mutations in both lines rather than one two-step mutation in one line.)  The lower value 11 is found in about 15% of R1b haplotypes and the higher value of 13 is found in about 10%. (This is in contrast to the modal value of 12, which is found in almost 74% of individuals in the R1b Haplogroup.) 4  

They also share particularly unusual values of 8 for DYS 459a and 9 for DYS459b—values that are found in only about 2% and 12% of R1b populations respectively. 5   Similarly, their values for DYS numbers 464a, b, and c are very unusual.  Their genetic distance from the various other Irish and American Dorsey/D’Arcy/Dorcy/etc lines is from seven to 15 steps.

With their remaining markers matching the very common Atlantic Modal Haplotype and in spite of the five very unusual markers, these two have a number of matches with other surnames in the Family Tree DNA database.

The descendant of Thomas D’Arcy closest matches are 23/25 marker matches with only four, not surprisingly, Irish surnames--O’Brien, Hart, Everett (Graham), and Callahan.  It is perhaps the values of 13 at DYS 439 and 16 at DYS458 which are found in only about 10%  and 18% of R1b men respectively that sets him apart. The descendant of John Dorcy who has somewhat more typical values for these markers has exact matches with five different surnames, again typically Irish names, Hogan, Casey, Bryan, West, and Donohoe.  He has 23-24/25 marker matches as well with 25 others. 

Ancestral Information *DYS Allele Number
  393 390 19 391 385 385 426 388 439 389 392 389 458 459 459 455 454 447 437 448 449 464 464 464 464 460 H4 YCA  YCA  456 607 576 570 CD CD 442 438
          a b       1   2   a b             a b c e     IIA 11b         Ya Yb    
                                                                           
Lineage IV Mode 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12   13 13 16   8 9 11 11 25 15 19 29 13 13 15 17                        
Thomas D'Arcy Ire > Australia 1848 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 13 13 13 16 16 8 9 11 11 25 15 19 29 13 13 15 17                        
John Dorcey Tipperary,Ireland > MI mid 1850's 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 11 13 13 16 17 8 9 11 11 25 15 19 29 13 13 15 17                        
Table 1
Source:  Dorsey DNA Project Results reported by Family Tree DNA and the University of Arizona  2001-2009
Markers in red have shown a faster mutation rate than the average, and therefore these markers are very helpful at splitting lineages into subsets, or branches, within a family tree.  If you match exactly on all of the markers except for on or a few of the markers that have been determined to mutate more quickly, then, despite the mutation this mismatch only slightly decreases the probability of two people who match 11/12 or even 23/25 not sharing a common ancestor.

 Lineage IV DNA results connect them with a group of Irish surnames that have been designated as the Irish Type III Cluster.  For more information about that group, see the very nicely done Irish Type III website at http://www.irishtype3dna.org/   As geneticists and historian continue to join forces to map out the lines of descent of the Irish people, we hope to learn more about this interesting cluster and our Dorcey/D’Arcy members’ place in it.

Because these two project members can place their earliest known ancestor in the same area of Ireland in the early 1800’s, it would make sense for them to upgrade to the 37 marker test to find out whether this match strengthens and to attempt to recruit fellow D’Arcy/Darcy/Dorcey participants with known roots in Tipperary.  The American family believes there might have been a family member who came to Michigan about the same time as their ancestor but then returned to Ireland only to immigrate to Australia later.7   Though most likely a coincidence, they share a same somewhat uncommon first name.
Endnotes

 1  Bernie D’Arcy, “RE:  D’Arcy”, email message to Nancy Custer, January 3, 2006.  “Age is calculated from his age of 61 at death on 17th Aug 1881”.  He arrived Sydney 18th Feb 1848. He was the only D'Arcy on the ship.

 2  Bernie D’Arcy, “RE:  D’Arcy”, email message, “He arrived Sydney 18th Feb 1848. He was the only D'Arcy on the ship.”

 3  Wayne and Maureen Hannah, The Descendants of John Dorsey, Civil War Soldier, (Shelton, WA: privately published, 1996) p 3.

 4  Whit Athey, “STR Allele Frequencies for Haplogroup R1b” http://www.worldfamilies.net/Super%20Western%20Atlantic%20Modal%20Haplotype.htm accessed  February 22, 2006.

 5  Whit Athey, “STR Allele Frequencies for Haplogroup R1b.”.

 6  Whit Athey, “STR Allele Frequencies for Haplogroup R1b.”

 7 Wayne and Maureen Hannah, July 2003, personal communication to Nancy Custer.

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