Ancestry has recently completed its Irish ethnicity regions update and now offers 92 distinct regions in Ireland. This has resulted in my being able to identify some areas on my maternal grandfather’s side (William Hellyer Geake). My mum, aunt and two of their first cousins have tested at Ancestry and here are the findings.
My Mum’s Irish Ethnicity Results
My Aunt’s Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 1’s Irish Ethnicity Results
Cousin 2’s Irish Ethnicity Results
Note: The Scottish connection is because Cousin 2’s mother was Scottish
Here are maps of the regions:
Connacht with sub-regions of North East Mayo & North West Sligo, North Connacht and North Mayo
Central Ireland with sub-regions of North Leinster & East Connacht and North Leitrim & East Sligo
The region known as North East Mayo & North West Sligo shows up in all of the cousins’ results and yet I cannot trace an ancestor from this region. The only Irish connection I have is currently tenuous – one of the cousins’ mutual great-grandmothers married their great-grandfather in Shanagolden, Limerick, in 1871. Her maiden name might have been Burgoyne or Congdon and I cannot be certain that she was definitely Irish. Her husband, John Gale Hellier, was in the Royal Navy and was from Tavistock in Devon –
www.hibbitt.org.uk/familytree/fam1847.html.
It’s remarkable that such a lot of Irish DNA has filtered down through the generations considering the three other shared great-grandparents were all Devonians and having only Devon ancestry going further back in time. The cousins’ other known family lines do not involve Ireland and so it cannot be easily explained.
[Please see the updated information below as the facts have changed.]
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[UPDATE June 2025: through DNA, I have since learned that my great-grandfather, James Geake, was not the son of his recorded parents and that he had strong genetic ties to Sligo in Ireland. The mystery continues but the surname Kilmartin/Gilmartin from that area crops up numerous times amongst our family’s DNA matches. Read about the DNA discovery here.
Later research, backed up by DNA, revealed that Mary Ann was the daughter of James Condon/Congdon and Louisa Reed. William George Henry Burgoyne was her step-father. Mary Ann’s maternal grandparents appear to have originated from Ireland, perhaps from the Cork area. More on this here.]
