DNA signature [21 November 2013]
Just wanted to point out that the DNA signature associated with Niall of the Nine Hostages is not necessarily thought to originate with him. Niall and his half-brother had the same father, so they would still have nearly the same DNA signature. So the pre-DNA theory of the Cowan origins can still hold true. Not that is certainly is true, just pointing out that it can be.--Mcfaddenproject 14:20, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
- Thank you. From a genealogical perspective, that's almost certainly true. Niall had a father, and his YDNA would have been very close if not identical, to his. Presumably Nial had brothers, uncles great uncles, who would also have shared a similar YDNA. It really isn't very accurate to picking one person from that group, all of whom had very similar if not identical YDNA signatures, and say "this is the founder". But of course, that's what people are doing. Since we are dealing with something that's close to being mythological, it probably doesn't matter from a genealogy perspective. Perhaps the takeaway is that there was a family line that was very successful in leaving descendants…more so than many other lineages…and if you share the YDNA signature, then there's a connection in there somewhere to a identifiable connection to Niall. Whether that connection is direct line ancestry or more indirect, is another matter. Q 16:36, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
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