Kennedy DNA Matches Keep Rolling In, But Still No Magic Bullet

Y-DNA matches continue to trickle in for our three male Kennedy testers but we still don't have the magic bullet that will crack the mystery of of where our David Kennedy came from, whether in Ireland or America.

Our line of Kennedys belong to Haplogroup DF21, a large haplogroup very common to Irish males. Even at 67 markers, we have numerous non-surname matches, so it is difficult at this point to focus in on any single match as a lead. At this point, we have no other high marker level matches with anyone named Kennedy.

We've had a couple of false alarms as other Kennedys (a surprisingly common surname) have reached out inquire whether we might be DNA matches to their male lines (so far we aren't), and our autosomal DNA testing has identified a potential lead among a group of Canadys from coastal NC, but that possible connection will need to be thoroughly researched before any conclusions can be drawn.

Although we have not yet done SNP testing on any of our male testers, I feel reasonably certain we will refine into the L1337 sublcade of DF21, and possibly even into one of the A93X subclades of L1337 (with X currently represented by 3, 4 and 5). So far, testers within this group trace their lineages back to western Ireland, which should come as no surprise to us.

Our next step may be an upgrade to define our terminal SNP and see if we do in fact fall into one of these predicted subclades. As more testers match us, and identify their families' points of origin in Ireland, we may be able to focus in on a single area that could provide clues to our own.

Pinpoints show known testers of subclade A935.