The Story of My YThe Story of My Y

By Peter Biggins, Kit #127469, R-BY3164

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This is the story of my Y chromosome ancestry from Africa to Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia. Then the story goes back west to Central Asia, Western Asia, and Southwest Asia, and Western Europe. From there, the story goes on to England and Ulster. The story ends in North America: Ontario, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and Connecticut.

In 2008, Daniela Moneta started a Biggins Y-DNA project. Daniela, a professional genealogist, started the project as part of her efforts to learn more about her ancestor Eleanor Biggins who was born in 1798 in Middlesex, England. Daniela found my Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots on the Internet and asked me to have my Y-DNA tested. I was skeptical because of the cost and doubtful that I would learn anything, but my wife Marilyn encouraged me to do it. I learned a lot, but I am not sure that Daniela did.

In 2009, I received an email from Josiah McGuire. He said that surnames we have matches with are said to descend from "Colla da Chrioch" as stated in the Irish Pedigrees by O'Hart. He started the Clan Colla Null 425 Project at FTDNA to attract Clan Colla descendants. I agreed to be a co-administrator and was the first one to join the new Clan Colla project. I started a Web page called DNA of the Three Collas. We then found two geneticists with our Clan Colla DNA and asked them to join us in administering the Clan Colla project: Patrick McMahon who had studied genetics at Trinity College Dublin and Tom Roderick who was on the Emeritus Staff at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, and was a member of the Human Genome Project.

Y-chromosome DNA can do several things for the genealogist:

  • Y-DNA can sometimes extend a family tree back a few generations. This has not happened for me yet, but I have found a group of ten men with the same or similar last name who have a unique Y-DNA mutation, a SNP named R-BY3164. Four have found the SNP in Big Y SNP testing. All have the STR predictors of the SNP: 19=15, 413b=24, 561=16.
  • In some cases, Y-DNA can tell us which tribe or sept our ancestors came from in the last one or two thousand years. This has happened for me. I share the Y-DNA (SNP Z3008) of men with a combination of surnames that ancient pedigrees trace back to the Three Collas, who lived in 4th century Ulster.
  • Y-DNA tells us our male ancestry back to "Adam."
This story addresses the deep ancestry of Peter Biggins through the use of Y-chromosome DNA, tested by Family Tree DNA. Y-DNA is passed down from father to son, much like surnames. By testing a living male, we can learn about the deep ancestry of his paternal line. This testing also applies to his sons and their sons, his brothers and their sons, and his paternal male cousins.

Definitions

  • DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid, a chemical consisting of a sequence of hundreds of millions of nucleotides found in the nuclei of cells. It contains the genetic information about an individual. In 1953, they discovered it was shaped like a double-stranded helix. In 2003, they finished first sequencing of the human genome.
  • Y-DNA. A portion of the human genome that only males have, called the Y-chromosome.
  • SNP. A single nucleotide polymorphism, a mutation in Y-DNA that happens when a single nucleotide (A, T, G, or C) in the genome sequence is altered. For me, at position 8556635, an A has mutated to a C. If someone else has this mutation, there is a good chance we share a common ancestor.
  • Haplogroup. A haplogroup is a SNP shared by two or more testers. Family Tree DNA discovered in 2015 that I shared the A>C mutation at position 8556635 with another person named Bigham and named the mutation BY3164. Haplogroups allow the creation of a tree with branches, like a family tree in genealogy. Major branches are represented by the letters A through T. See Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.
  • STR. An STR is a Short Tandem Repeat, or count of repeats at a physical location on the chromosome. STRs are used to predict SNPs and haplogroups.

Michael Sager of FTDNA maintains a Public Y-DNA Haplotree. Tester surnames are shown if two or more kits allow public project profile sharing and have the same surname spelling. Learn about the tree at their: Learning Center.

My Y-chromosome ancestry is represented by male ancestors who experienced Y-chromosome mutations, or SNPs, over many years based on Big Y data from Family Tree DNA's new Discover More, which is in Beta testing.

Data is as of January 2023.

Peter's Patrilineal Pedigree: 44 Branches from Adam

My Y Map
The Estimated Migration Route of My Y from A-PR2921 in Africa in 232000 BC to R-BY3164 in Ulster in 1350 AD. Source: Discover More.
Branch
(Haplogroup-SNP)
Real Rough Year and Place Comments
A-PR2921 232000 BC
Southeastern Nigeria
Branches to
  • A-L1087
  • A-L1090 ↓
A-L1090 150000 BC
Eastern Nigeria
Branches to
  • A-V148
  • A-V168 ↓
A-V168 125000 BC
Northeastern Nigeria
Haplogroup A's oldest sub-clades are exclusively found in Central-Northwest Africa, where it, and consequently Y-chromosomal Adam, is believed to have originated. The clade has also been observed at notable frequencies in certain populations in Ethiopia, as well as some Pygmy groups in Central Africa. Branches to
  • A-M31
  • A-V221 ↓
A-V221 120000 BC
Sudan
Branches to
  • A-L419
  • BT-M42 ↓
BT-M42 85000 BC
Sudan
Ancestral to all non-African haplogroups. Branches to
  • B-M181
  • CT-M168 ↓
CT-M168 63000 BC
Western Ethiopia
Branches to
  • DE-M145
  • CF-P143 ↓
CF-P143 63000 BC
Northern Ethiopia
Branches to
  • C-M216. African, Southern and Eastern European, Native American, Siberian, Japanese, Australian Aborigine
  • F-M89 ↓
F-M89 46000 BC
Southeastern Iran
Branches to
  • F-F15527
  • GHIJK-F1329 ↓
GHIJK-F1329 46000 BC
Southern Iran
Branches to
  • G-M201, found in the Caucasus region. DNA of Ötzi, also called the Iceman, who lived between 3400 and 3100 BC
  • G-M201, found in the Romani people and the Khmer people
  • HIJK-PF3494 ↓
HIJK-PF3494 45000 BC
Southern Iran
Branches to
  • H-L901
  • IJK-L15 ↓
IJK-L15 44000 BC
Southern Iran
Branches to
  • IJ-P124
    • I haplogroup, represents up to one-fifth of the male population of Europe, being the continent's second major Y-DNA haplogroup behind haplogroup R. Our son-in-law Roger Byrne has I haplogroup DNA: I-M223, M284, L126, Y4751, BY3619, Y63570 (1036 AD), based on his Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA. Roger's great grandfather was William Byrne, born in Albany, New York. I-M284 is one of the most ancient Y lineages in Scotland, but it is also found in Ireland.
    • J haplogroup, includes Jewish, Arab, Persian, Kurd, Lebanese, Turk. J1 M267 and J2 M172, includes a large portion of contemporary Jewish Kohanim. According to the Bible, the ancestor of the Kohanim was Aaron, the brother of Moses.
  • K-M9 ↓
K-M9 43000 BC
Western Pakistan
Branches to
  • LT-L298
  • K-M526 ↓
K-M526 43000 BC
Bangladesh
Branches to
  • K-M2308. Branches to O-M175, which is very common among males in China, Korea, and Southeast Asia
  • K-YSC0000186 ↓
K-YSC0000186 42000 BC
Bangladesh
Branches to
  • MS-Z31109.
  • P-PF5850 ↓
P-PF5850 42000 BC
Northern Burma
Branches to
  • P-FTC1
  • P-P295 ↓
P-P295 42000 BC
Northern Burma
Branches to
  • P-F20148
  • P-FT292000
  • P-M45 ↓
P-M45 34000 BC
Northern Burma
Branches to P1, then
  • P-FT344716
  • P-P284 ↓
P-P284 34000 BC
Northern Burma
Branches to
  • P-FT344715
  • R-P226 ↓
P-P226 30000 BC
Eastern Mongolia
Branches to
  • Q-M242
  • R-M207 ↓
R-M207 26000 BC
Southern Siberia
Originated in North Asia just before the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500-19,000 years ago). This haplogroup has been identified in the remains of a 24,000 year-old boy from the Altai region, in south-central Siberia

Branches to
  • R-M479
  • R-M173 ↓
R-M173 20000 BC
Eastern Kazakhstan
The majority of representatives of haplogroup R are in its branches
  • R-M420. Viking. Sometimes called R1a. Distributed in a large region in Eurasia, extending from Scandinavia and Central Europe to southern Siberia and South Asia. There is a significant presence in peoples of Scandinavian descent, with highest levels in Norway and Iceland, where between 20 and 30% of men are in R1a1a M17/M198 (6600 BC). Vikings and Normans may have also carried the R1a1a lineage westward; accounting for at least part of the small presence in the British Isles. McDonalds descended from Lords of the Isles had previously been thought by some to be descended from Colla Uais, but a group descended from the Lords of the Isles, including chiefs and chieftans, has been found by Clan Donald DNA project to have R1a Norse DNA. There are, nevertheless, a significant number of McDonalds with Clan Colla DNA, some of whom are descended from Colla da Crioch, but most of whom appear to be descended from Colla Uais
  • R-M343 ↓
R-M343 17000 BC
Uzbekistan
Sometimes called R1b. The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Western Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. It is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe. R1b also reaches high frequencies in the Americas and Australia, due largely to immigration from Western Europe. See Eupedia R1b. Family Tree DNA: R1b M343 Project. Branches to
  • R-BY14355
  • R-L754 ↓
R-L754 16000 BC
Uzbekistan
Found in Villabruna 1, who lived circa 12,000 years BC (north east Italy). Villabruna 1 belonged to the Epigravettian culture

Branches to
  • R-FTE1
  • R-L761 ↓
R-L761 15000 BC
Uzbekistan
Branches to
  • R-PF6323
  • R-L389 ↓
R-L389 15000 BC
Uzbekistan
Branches to
  • V1636
  • P297 ↓
R-P297 12000 BC
Uzbekistan
Branches to
  • R-M73
  • R-M269 ↓
R-M269 4350 BC
Southern Russia
The most common European haplogroup, greatly increasing in frequency on an east to west gradient. Branches to
  • R-PF7562
  • R-L23 ↓
R-L23 4250 BC
Southern Russia
Branches to
  • R-Z2103
  • R-L51 ↓
R-L51 4000 BC
Ukraine
Branches to
  • R-PF7589
  • R-P310 ↓
R-P310 3300 BC
Ukraine
Branches to
  • R-FT377377
  • R-FT186340
  • R-FT123498
  • R-L151 ↓
R-L151 3000 BC
Ukraine
Branches to "Saxon" and "Celtic"
  • R-U106, Saxon. Z381 branches to
    • R-Z301. My maternal grandfather William F. Drueke has this DNA: U106, Z301, L48, Z9, Z30, Z2, Z7, CTS10893, A6389, BY3323 (323 BC). My great great great grandfather Johann Drüecke was born in 1743 in Elspe, Westphalia, Germany. Westphalia is part of Old Saxony. Based on my maternal cousin Paul Drueke's Y-DNA test at Family tree DNA. Most of Paul's Y-DNA matches at FTDNA are from England. The Saxons invaded and settled the south and east of England from the early 5th century up to the Norman conquest in 1066.
    • R-Z156, Z306, Z304, DF98, S18823, S22069, S8350, Y17443, BY3238. House of Wettin: King George V, Edward VII, George VI
  • R-S1194
  • R-A38053
  • R-P312, "Celtic" ↓
R-P312 2850 BC
Southern Germany
P312, "Celtic," is the most common haplogroup across much of Western Europe. See Family Tree DNA: R-P312 Project. Branches to
  • R-DF19. Born in southern Scandinavia or possibly the northern Germanic coastal region
  • R-L238
  • R-A9063
  • R-Y18211
  • R-BY25512
  • R-Z29970
  • R-Z29913
  • R-Z46516, R-ZZ11
    • DF27 Gallic & Iberian. My wife Marilyn's father has this DNA: DF27, Y5058/A641, Y5061, BY61861, FT79210 (950 AD). This is based on the Y-DNA of her second cousin, once removed, Michael Patrick Carroll. Her great grandfather Edmond Carroll was born in 1835 in Ballyneety, County, Limerick, Ireland. Michael matches men named Ryan, O'Dwyer, Lee/Leary, Gorman, and Kennedy, as well as Carroll. According to ancient pedigrees, these men descend from Breassal Breac who lived in Leinster around 200 or 100 BC. They settled in the 13th or 14th century in County Tipperary and County Limerick
    • U152 Italo-Celtic
  • R-Z290 ↓
R-Z290 2700 BC
Southern Germany
Branches to
  • R-BY22760
  • R-L21 ↓ Atlantic Celtic
R-L21 2600 BC
Southern England
Named in 2005 by Thomas Krahn in honor of the late Leo Little. Atlantic Celtic. Born at the beginning of the Bronze Age. In their 2011 book The Scots, A Genetic Journey, Alistair Moffat and James F. Wilson say L21 "could be said to be the most emphatic signal of the Celtic language speakers of the British Isles. It is found in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and it is almost certainly characteristic of those farming communities who may have spoken early forms of Celtic languages in the centuries around 2,000 BC." Family Tree DNA: L21 Project. Branches to
  • R-A5846
  • R-S552 ↓ Atlantic Celtic
R-S552 2600 BC
Southern England
Named by Scotlands DNA. Discovered at FTDNA in 2021. Branches to
  • R-F4006
  • R-DF63
  • R-BY11894
  • R-BY24776
  • R-BY2994
  • R-FT21374
  • R-BY65267
  • R-DF13 ↓ Atlantic Celtic
R-DF13 2500 BC
Northern England
Named in 2011 by an anonymous member of the DNA-Forums.org genetic genealogy community. Named S521 by ScotlandsDNA and CTS241 by Chris Tyler-Smith. There are many branches and subbranches of DF13, some of which are:
  • R-L513, S5668
    • Z16340, FGC9798, FGC9784, FGC9795, FGC9811 Airghialla 2, Manus McGuires. Manus McGuires had once been thought to be part of Clan Colla, but they have different SNPs. Joseph A. Donohoe V (1941-2011) called them Airghialla 2 and compared their DNA with Clan Colla, which he called Airghialla 1. See Two McGuire Septs
    • A7, Z17623, S5970, S5962/L193 Scottish Borders. Many surnames with this marker are associated geographically with the western "Border Region" of Scotland. A few other surnames have a Highland association.
  • R-FGC11134, FGC12055, Z3026, Z16250, A114, CTS4466 South Irish. South Irish, Brian Boru, and Ely Carroll had previously been thought by some as descended from a common ancestor, Olioll Olum. DNA testing has proven otherwise, as they all have different SNPs. DNA testing shows that two other historical pedigrees, Eoghanachta and Brian Boru, are not related to Ely Carroll.
  • R-FGC5494
  • R-ZZ10
    • Z16423, Z255, L159 Irish Sea. Appears to be associated with the Kings of Leinster and Diarmait Mac Murchada; Irish Gaels belonging to the Laigin. It can be found in the coastal areas of the Irish Sea including the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, as well as Norway, western and southern Scotland, northern and southern England, northwest France, and northern Denmark.
    • Z253, L226, FGC5660, Z17669, ZZ31, FGC5628, FGC5623, FGC5659, ZZ34, DC782, Y5610 (1030 AD), Brian Boru. Our son's uncle-in-law has Y5610 DNA. Family genealogist Maureen O'Brien traces their heritage back to Michael O'Brien, who was born in Doneraile in 1815. Doneraile is in County Cork, just south of the border with County Limerick. Maureen's father Leo O'Brien is shares Y5610 (1030 AD) with Conor Myles John O'Brien of Dromoland Castle who traces his ancestry back to Brian Boru. Brian Boru was born circa 940 in what is now County Clare and died in the Battle of Clontarf, north of Dublin, on April 23, 1014. L226 DNA type also is called Dalcassian and Irish Type III. See DC782 Brian Boru DNA and Irish Type III DNA.
  • R-Z39589
    • L1335 Scottish Cluster
    • DF49, Z2980, Z2976, DF23, Z2961, Z2956
      • FGC6545 Hy Maine Kelly. Hy Maine and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor, but they have different SNPs. There are Kellys with Clan Colla DNA, but they are likely from another Kelly pedigree called Clankelly.
      • Z2965, M222 Northwest Irish (Niall of the Nine Hostages). My wife Marilyn's great grandfather Daniel McDonald has this DNA: M222, S660, S588, S603, FGC23592 (676 AD), BY18200. Her great great grandfather, Daniel McDonald was born in 1813 in Ireland or Scotland. Based on my wife Marilyn's third cousin, once removed, Michael McDonnel's Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA. Michael's FGC23592 DNA is associated with a group called Cenel Moain (S603, FGC23592), a subset of Cenel Eoghain (S660, S588), a subset of Northwest Irish (M222).
        Northwest Irish (Niall) and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor.
    • DF41, S775, L745 High Stewards. This family started out in Scotland when the first of the line, Walter Fitz Alan (1110-1177) was appointed High Steward of Scotland under King David I. His descendants became Hereditary High Stewards of Scotland. The two most important branches of the family are the Scottish Royal Stewarts, represented by descendants of King Robert II of Scotland (grandson of Alexander Stewart); and the Stewarts of Lennox, with some Scottish descendant lines plus the English Royal Stuarts, who descend from Alexander Stewart's younger son, Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl. See Stewart FTDNA Project
  • R-BY23434
  • R-BY39001
  • R-BY192942
  • R-BY146002
  • R-FTT9
  • R-DF21. ↓ About 10% of all L21 men.
R-DF21 2350 BC
Northern England
Named in 2011 by an anonymous member of the DNA-Forums.org genetic genealogy community. Named S192 by ScotlandsDNA. See Family Tree DNA: DF21 Project. There are four branches from DF21:
  • R-Z30233, which includes L1403 Seven Septs of Laois, FGC5780 Cain/Byrne.
    Includes Rathlin 1 Man: A December 2015 study by scientists at Queens University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin identified the DF21 SNP in the bones of a man uncovered in a Bronze Age cist to the rear of McCuaig's Bar in Church Bay on Rathlin Island. Church Bay is connected by a 25-minute ferry ride with Ballycastle in the Glens of Antrim. Rathlin Island is 11 miles from the coast of the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. His bones were carbon-dated back to 2025-1885 BC.
  • R-FGC3213, which includes L362 McCarthy, S5456 Galway Bay and S190 Little Scottish Cluster (from which Alex Williamson descends)
  • R-S5488, which includes Z16281 Ely Carroll. There were several illustrious descendants in colonial America. Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) signed the Declaration of Independence. Daniel Carroll of Duddington (1764-1849) built a home for himself in 1791 which was torn down by Pierre L’Enfant to build the U.S. Capitol. Daniel Carroll I I of Rock Creek (1730-1796) signed both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. John Carroll, S.J. (1735-1815) was the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States and founded Georgetown University and Georgetown Preparatory School. Testers include a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton and a descendant of Daniel Carroll of Duddington.
  • R-Z16267, which is mostly Clan Colla ↓
R-Z16267 2200 BC
Northern England
There are three branches from Z16267:
  • R-BY23573 shared by McRory from Scotland and Woolley
  • R-PH129/S7858 shared by Fergusons from Ireland and Scotland
  • R-F24434 ↓
R-F24434 2200 BC
Northern England
Found by FTDNA in 2019. There are two branches from F24434:
  • R-FGC23381 shared by Rudelli from France, Harbour from England, and McDonalds from Scotland
  • R-Z3000 shared by Colla descendants and their cousins, by far the larger branch ↓
R-Z3000150 AD
England
2,300 years after F24434

Named by Mike Walsh in 2013. Z3000 is one of a large block of 26 SNPs that occurred over about 2,000 years with no known branching. Shared by all Collas who have tested. See Family Tree DNA: Clan Colla 425 null project. See Alex Williamson's Big Tree

As a result of STR mutations during this long stem of SNPs, four key STR markers can be used to predict the Z3000 SNP:
  • 511=9
  • 425=0
  • 505=9
  • 441=12
There are five branches from Z3000:
  • Z29586 shared by: Baty, Owens, McGuire 4
  • Z16270 shared by: Carroll 1, Casey, Paden, O'Guin, Larkin 1, Lawler, Roberts, Roderick, Adams, Calkins, Morris, Godwin, Davie, McGuire 2, Almond
  • SK195 shared by Hones, Conley
  • Z3006 ↓
R-Z3006300 AD
England
There are four branches from Z3006:
  • BY3160 shared by Smith 2, McKenna 3
  • A14073 shared by Cain, Troy, Brady, Cusick
  • Z3008, about two-thirds of Z3006 ↓
R-Z3008475 AD
Colchester or Wales in England
Probably the SNP of the Three Collas: Origin of the Three Collas. The Three Collas lived in the timeframe of Z3008 man. They fought in the Battle of Emain Macha in 331 AD.

This DNA is shared by testers with ancestral names that match names in ancient pedigrees of men descended from three Colla brothers who lived in the 4th century in a part of northern Ireland called Airghialla or Oriel. In 1998, Donald M. Schlegel, suggested in his article "The Origin of the Three Collas and the Fall of Emain" in the Clogher Record that the Three Collas were Romanized Britons from the Trinovantes, a celtic tribe from Colchester, the oldest recorded Roman town in England. They received military training from the Romans and eventually went to Ireland as mercenaries in the service of the King of Ireland.

There are no branches yet identified with Aedh Colla Menn descendants.

There are several branches of Muredach Colla da Crioch descendants:
  • BY3163 shared by: McKenna 4, McKenna 1, Neal, Cooley, McGinnis, McGroder, McKenna 2, McDonald 4, Farrell
  • A14079 shared by: Hart, Monaghan, Shannon, Higgins, Collins, Glennon
  • FT14355
    • Z16274 shared by: McMahon 1, Callen, Curby, Hughes 1, Carroll 2, Hughes 2, Kern, Murphy, Clarke, McQuillan, Gartland, Kelly 1.
      Two McMahon 1 testers trace their ancestry back to Faolan MacMathghamhna and Colla da Crioch
    • FGC41930 shared by Duffy
    • BY39825 shared by McDonald 3
Carrell Colla Uais and his first six descendants are
  1. Carrell Colla Uais; about the year 392, Muredach Tirech, king of the Connachtach, sent the Collas against his ancient enemies, the Ulaid; over an extended period of perhaps eighty years, the Collas and their descendants fought several battles against the Ulaid
  2. Erc, his son
  3. Carthend: his son; Carthend was given land east of the present city of Derry on the east side of the Foyle, the valley of the River Faughan, today Tirkeeran Barony, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
  4. Muredach, his son (also likely had S953)
  5. Amalgad, his son (also likely had S953)
  6. Aed Guaire, his son (also likely had S953 and ZZ13)
  7. Colman Muccaid, his son (also likely had S953 and ZZ13)
For more on these descendants, see The River Faughan.

There are several Y-DNA branches of Carrell Colla Uais descendants:
  • F4142 shared by MacDougall, White
  • S953 ↓
R-S953500 AD
Tirkeeran Barony in Ulster
Named by ScotlandsDNA in 2013

Originated most likely with Carthend, 3rd in the Colla Uais genealogy above

There are three branches from S953:
  • Y9053 shared by Østerud, Moen
  • BY2869 shared by Connally
  • ZZ13 ↓
R-ZZ13600 AD
Tirkeeran Barony in Ulster
Originated most likely with Aed Guaire, 6th in the Colla Uais genealogy above

There are two branches from ZZ13:
  • BY24138 shared by Boylan, Donohoe
  • FT14481 ↓
R-FT14481750 AD
Ulster
Originated most likely with Conal, 9th in the Colla Uais genealogy above

Named by FTDNA in 2019.

There are five branches from FT14481:
  • BY39827 shared by McAuley, Beeman
  • BY103517 shared by Larkin
  • A945 shared by McGuire
  • A938 shared by McDonald 1, McDonald 2, King, Martin.
    Five McDonald 1 testers trace their ancestry back to Lt. Brian McDonald (MacDonnell), McDonnell of Antrim, Somerled, and Colla Uais
  • BY3164 shared by Biggins/Beggan ↓
R-BY31641350 AD
Ulster
Named by FTDNA in 2015 when it was found to be shared by Bigham N86783 and Biggins 127469. It is now considered the DNA of the 12 testers in the Biggins subgroup. Five have done Big Y and were found to have the BY3164 SNP. The first three also share FT17167 and BY142544. The first two also share BY142544. The subgroup has unique STRs: 413b=24 and 561=16. The surnames of the 12 are all derived from beag, the Irish word for little. Surnames were adopted in Ireland for the first time in the 11th and 12th centuries. Historian Peadar Livingstone reported the name Beggan in southern Co. Fermanagh and northern Co. Monaghan. See Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots and Family Tree DNA: Biggins Project.

The 12 testers are:
  • Biggins 629651. Ancestor James Biggins was born in 1790 in County Monaghan and emigrated to Western Scotland sometime in the 1820s or 1830s, settling first in Renfrewshire, then Galston, Ayrshire, then Lanarkshire
  • Little 896940. Ancestor James Little was born in 1798, County Cavan. He emigrated in the 1840s to Derby, Connecticut, worked in the iron mill
  • Biggins 146867: Ancestor James Biggins was born in 1822 in County Monaghan and lived across the road from my ancestor Patrick Biggins in Will County, Illinois
  • Beaghen N34030. Ancestor Francis Beaghen was born in 1850 in Ireland and emigrated in 1860 to Brooklyn, New York
  • Beggan 166169. Ancestor was born in Clones, Ireland, near the Fermanagh/Monaghan border. Tester Gerard died in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, in 2018.
  • Beggan 190653. Ancestor John Beggan was born in County Fermanagh. Tester Adrian grew up in Meath, lives in Dublin
  • Biggin 559385. Ancestor Thomas Biggin was born in Castle Carey, Somerset, England, and emigrated to Australia aboard the James T Foord in November 1849
  • Bigham 91030. Ancestor emigrated to Fairfield, Pennsylvania, before the Revolutionary War. The Griffiths Survey of 1848-64 shows 99 of 120 Bighams in County Down, Ireland
  • Bigham N86783. Ancestor Hugh Bigham was born in 1750 in Ireland and emigrated to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, before the Revolutionary War
  • Little 69648. Ancestor Patrick Beggan was born in 1779 in County Cavan. Tester John's great grandfather changed his name from Beggan to Little. John's father James Little was born in 1898 and nicknamed "Jimmy Beggins" as a child. He emigrated to Ayrshire, Scotland. John himself was born and raised in Ayrshire, emigrated to Canada for fourteen years, and then to Perth, Australia
  • Little 906555
  • Biggins 127469 ↓ - me
Unnamed SNPUnknown date
Ulster/Canada/USA
I, Peter Biggins, FTDNA kit 127469, have several SNPs that I do not share with any others who have done Big Y so far, but I may share some with one or more of the non-Big Y testers listed above in the BY3164 Biggins subgroup. These unnamed SNPs, and the all that came before them, are probably shared by my sons and their sons, my brothers and their sons, and our male Biggins cousins and their sons. My known Biggins ancestry is:

Pedigree of Peter Biggins, 407 AD to 650 AD, on the River Faughan

Based on Y-DNA testing, we share the early part of the ancient pedigree of four McDonalds: 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald, They trace their ancestry back to Colla Uais. The shared pedigree goes back to around 407 AD. Sometime after 650 AD, the ancestors of Biggins/Beggan branched off. During the 5th century the ancestors lived on the River Faughan in Tirkeeran. The land was named after their ancestor Cathend, grandson of Colla Uais.

Any genealogy that goes back 16 centuries is not going to be as solid as one that goes back two or three centuries. Nevertheless, we think the attempt is worthwhile. You can judge for yourself. The source for the pedigree is The Ancestors of the McDonalds of Somerset, by Donald M. Schlegel, 1998. Sources consulted by Schlegel include: Book of Ballymote (ca 1400), Book of Lecan (Early 1400s), Nat. Lib. Scot. MS 72.1.1 (1467), Monro (1549), Harleian MS 1425/190-191 (ca 1620), Annals of Clan Macnoise (1627), Geoffrey Keating (ca 1634), O'Clery (mid 1600s), and Book of Clanranald (ca 1715).

  1. Carrell Colla Uais, brother of Muredach Colla da Chrioch and Aedh Colla Menn; about the year 392, Muredach Tirech, king of the Connachtach, sent the Collas against his ancient enemies, the Ulaid; over an extended period of perhaps eighty years, the Collas and their descendants fought several battles against the Ulaid and took other lands from them, while remaining subject to the descendants of Muredach Tirech
  2. Erc: his son. Had two brothers: 1. Brian; 2. Fiachra Tort; called "ri sliab a tuaid," king of the northern mountain; had three sons: Carthend, Fiachra, and Amalgad
  3. Carthend: his son; Carthend was given land east of the present city of Derry on the east side of the Foyle, the valley of the River Faughan, then called Dulo Ocheni but later named Tir-Keeran (Carthend's land) after him, and still today bearing that name as a barony; subject to the Kings of Ailech, who were descendants of Eoghan and Conal Gulban, the sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages; had six sons by one or more wives and another six by bondswomen
  4. Muredach, his son
  5. Amalgad, his son
  6. Aed Guaire, his son
  7. Colman Muccaid, his son

For more on these ancestors, see The River Faughan.


Collas with R-BY3164

Five Collas
Five Collas, Lake Champlain, 2023..
Six Collas
Six Collas, Five Mile River, Darien, Connecticut, 2016.
Two Collas
Two Collas, Darien, Connecticut, 2015.
Nine Collas
Nine Collas, Mill River, Lusby, Maryland, 2014.
Five Collas
Five Collas, Lake Champlain, 2014..
Seven Collas
Seven Collas, Cape Cod, 2010.

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