Quotation from an ancient bard in The History of Ireland written c. 1634 by Geoffrey Keating (1569-1644). Translated into English from the original Irish by John O'Mahony, 1857.

Origin of The Three Collas. Z3000 is a Y-DNA mutation born circa 150 AD in England. Z3000 has two main branches:

• Z16270 born circa 200 AD in England, which is the Y-DNA of distant cousins of The Three Collas.
• Z3008 born circa 450 AD in England and found in The Three Collas who migrated to Ulster in Ireland.

Two Ancient Genealogies. Several Z3008 testers have connected their genealogies with ancient genealogies of The Three Collas.

• 7 McDonald testers trace their ancestry back to Somerled and Colla Uais.
• 2 McMahon testers trace their ancestry back to Colla da Crioch

Matching Sets of 20 Names. In October 2020, the same 20 surnames were found:

1. 20 surnames of 232 out of 466 testers with Z3008 Y-DNA, and
2. 20 surnames among the many mentioned in ancient genealogies of The Three Collas.

Abridged Z3000 Big Y SNP Tree

Table of Contents

Background, 1998-2022

Clogher Historical Society, 1998. In 1998, The Three Collas were identified as Romanized Britons by Donald M. Schlegel. His findings were includeded in an article entitled "The Origin of The Three Collas and the Fall of Emain," which was published in the 1998 Clogher Record, Volume XVI, Number 2, pages 159-181. Schlegel lives in Ohio. The Clogher Record is published by the Clogher Historical Society at St Macartan's College in Mullaghmurphy, County Monaghan, Ireland.

In 1998, Donald Schlegel proposed An Alternate Explanation of the Origin of The Three Collas. He starts by saying that the Collas are perhaps the only instance in prehistoric or early historic Ireland of three brothers having each a personal name, a name in common, and an epithet. The implication is that such a naming convention must have been imported, and the obvious source is the Roman Empire. He suggests they were not descended from Irish Kings but instead were Romanized Britons, originating in the Celtic tribe named Trinovantes from nearby Colchester in southeastern England, where the Romans estabilshed their first colony. They received military training from the Romans and eventually went to Ireland as mercenaries in the service of the King of Ireland. Donald presented this theory in the 1998 Clogher Record. It is one of the many articles he has had published in the Clogher Record, a local history journal published annually since 1953 by the Clogher Historical Society at St. Macartan's College in the townland of Mullaghmurphy on the outskirts of the town of Monaghan, County Monaghan.

See The Clogher Record, "The Origin of The Three Collas and the Fall of Emain," by Donald M. Schlegel, Volume XVI, No. 2, 1998, pp. 159-181. Also see The Clogher Record, "Reweaving the Tapestry of Ancient Ulster," by Donald M. Schlegel, Volume XVII, No. 3, 2002, pp. 689-749.

The first part of this alternative explanation is consistent with DNA results. Traditionally, The Three Collas were considered to be descended from the same ancestors as Niall of the Nine Hostages. DNA testing of present-day descendants of the Niall and the Collas, however, indicates that they were not related.

• Descendants of The Three Collas have a unique DNA, Z3008
• Descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages have a very different DNA, M222
• Their common ancestry goes back to L21, which was born in 2550 BC.

The second part of this alternative explanation has not been verified yet by DNA. We have not found a family that matches Clan Colla DNA and traces itself back to the area around Colchester. Nothing is known of the Trinovantes as a tribe with certainty after the rebellion of Boudicca about 60 A.D., so it is not possible to trace any family back to them using DNA analysis.

There are, however, two families who descend from cousins of The Three Collas and trace themselves back to towns that had Roman settlements in Wales near the border with England. These towns are near the Roman legionary fortresses of Caerleon and Chester, the two fortresses by which the Romans controlled Wales.

• The Roderick family traces itself back to southern Wales near Caerleon, where a legionary fortress existed until about 280 A.D.
• The Calkins family traces itself back to Chester, England, on the northern border with Wales, where a legionary fortress existed until around 400 A.D.

Fanily Tree DNA. In 1999, Bennett Greenspan had entered semi-retirement and was working on his family history. He contacted Dr. Michael Hammer at the University of Arizona. Greenspan discovered that academic labs did not offer testing directly to the public and that in general direct to consumer testing for genealogy was not commercially available either. Their conversation inspired him to start a company dedicated to using genetics to help solve genealogy mysteries in early 2000 called Family Tree DNA.

In 2003, the first persons with Colla DNA were tested by FTDNA: Thomas McKenna, kit #6419; Dewey Neal, kit #7206; William Neal, kit #7207; William Hughes, kit #7996; Thomas Roderick, kit #8551.

McMahon Genealogy. In July 2008, Patrick McMahon of Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland, and his brother Eugene McMahon of Dundas, Ontario, Canada, published a 172-page genealogy entitled The McMahons of Trohanny. It takes their McMahon ancestry back to the 1600s and discussed the early History of the McMahons in Fermanagh and Monaghan. Patrick had his DNA tested at FTDNA in 2009 and became an administrator of the Clan Colla Project. Patrick spent his career working as a geneticist/operational analyst for the British Ministry of Defence. He has an advanced degree in genetics from Trinity College Dublin. He and his brother Eugene have traced their family back to Faolan MacMathghamhna (Felim/Phelan MacMahon), who lived in County Monaghan in the early 12th century (see 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon). Patrick also has done an in-depth analysis of the Origin of The Three Collas. Patrick grew up in Hampstead Park, Glasnevin, Dublin, and now lives in Gorey, Ireland.

An Unusual Test Result. In July 2008, Daniela Moneta started a Biggins DNA project at Family Tree DNA. She found Peter Biggins through this website and asked him to join the project. With some skepticism, he had his Y-chromosone DNA tested for 67 markers. Results showed that he was of Atlantic European ancestry and matched up well with people named Biggins or Beggan. That was interesting but expected. Results also showed a good match with people named McGuire, Carroll, McDonald, McKenna, and McMahon. Furthermore, they all had an unusual null value for STR marker 425. He described the results on his Web page: Biggins/Beggan Irish Roots.

His Web page related a conversation he had with Gerard Beggan, whom he had met in September 2007 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan. Gerard told him that in 1969 Rev. Peadar Livingstone (1932-1987) told him that Beggan was a branch of the Maguire family. Peter had found Gerard's name on the Web site of Al Beagan. Father Livingstone was a renowned scholar in both the Irish language and local history. He wrote comprehensive histories of two counties in Ireland, The Fermanagh Story in 1969, and The Monaghan Story in 1980.

An Email from Josiah McGuire. In March 2009, Peter received an email from Josiah McGuire. Josiah was getting reports that he was matching up with Peter and found his Web page. Josiah said, "I think it is really quite amazing and very interesting that Peadar Livingstone thought the Beggans had their origins from the Maguires, and here, of all things, are some fairly close matches that may confirm this."

Josiah's email went on: "I have been watching and studying the 425 nulls between the Carrolls, McMahons, McKennas, and McGuires since I had my markers upgraded to 67 markers in 2006. I suspected that we probably shared a common ancestor, but very few researchers took my comments very seriously. These surnames and several others who I also have matches with are said to descend from "Colla da Chrioch" as stated in the Irish Pedigrees by O'Hart." In 2007 Josiah computed modal values for the DNA of The Three Collas.

In June 2009, Josiah started the Clan Colla Null 425 Project at FTDNA to attract Clan Colla descendants, encourage upgrades to the 67-marker test, and promote Clan Colla research. Peter agreed to be a co-administrator and was the first one to join the new Clan Colla project.

Participation in the Biggins DNA project has turned out to be worth far more than Peter had anticipated. It confirms that the names Biggins, Beaghen, Beggan, and Little are based on the Irish word for small, beag, as mentioned in Irish surname books by Patrick Woulfe (1923) and Edward MacLysaght (1969). And it confirms what Professor Peadar Livingstone had told Gerard Beggan in the 1970s--that Beggans are related to Maguires. But most importantly, the DNA project established a connection with ancient Irish history. Beggans were no longer just a humble people with a name based on the Irish word for little. With big names like Carroll, McMahon, McKenna, and Maguire, Beggans were descended from The Three Collas who lived in the 4th century and established the ancient kingdom of Oriel in Monaghan and Fermanagh.

McDonald Genealogy. In November 2008, genealogist Vaden McDonald tested the DNA of Frank Everett McDonald, kit #133546, who was known to be descended from Lt. Brian McDonald, Somerled, and The Three Collas. Vaden was hoping his DNA matched Frank, but found out it did not. In 2010, Vaden joined Frank to the Clan Colla project and reported that Frank "lives in Salem, VA and is considered to belong to the Lt. Brian McDonald Line. He went on to say that his "research on the Lt Brian McDonald line showed he was a descendant of Alastiar Og McDonald, 5th Lord of the Isles. His sons were exiled to Ireland after the Battle of Bannockburn by Robert the Bruce in 1095."

Following Vaden McDonald, Elbert Leo "Mick" McDaniel III, a member of our McDonald 1 subgroup, has found five other McDonald testers who tie in to the tree of Lt. Brian McDonald. Paul Duffy has provided valuable information on the McDonalds of Antrim and Leinster. Donald Schlegel has been most helpful in connecting the Frank Everett McDonald's genealogy with Colla Uais.

Corroborating Evidence. While Josiah was researching Clan Colla DNA, others were independently coming to the same conclusions.

In February 2008, Kevin Carroll, administator of the Carroll DNA Project, posted this news: "We think that a group of our participants may have hit the Jackpot! They may be related to the O'Carroll Princes of Oriel (Monaghan and Louth). This Kingdom located in the North of Ireland was founded by the three Colla brothers around the year 327 AD. Wow! Will keep you posted on this as we get more news."

In December 2008, the McQuillan Clan Association announced "DNA Project Sheds New Light on McQuillan Connections." Specifically, they said that "our first "cluster" shows recent shared ancestry for Monaghan & Fermanagh McQuillans. The close match between these three McQuillans reveals the first localized McQuillan haplotype cluster to emerge in our study. This cluster also shows a relationship with some Cullens, and perhaps with the McMahons of Monaghan."

In August 2009, Joseph A. Donohoe V (1941-2011) reported on the DNA of descendants of The Three Collas in his Breifne Clans DNA Reports BCP Report 5, Part 7 and BCP Report 5, Part 8. He independently identified the Clan Colla group that was identified by the Clan Colla project started by Josiah McGuire in June 2009. He called it Airghialla 1 because he was not sure it was Clan Colla. He said he was "not fully persuaded yet of the validity or applicability of the Colla tradition, particularly in view of the great number of traditionally Colla surnames not represented here." As part of his study, Joseph established a modal DNA for Airghialla 1 called WHYAA. It is the same as the DURRQ modal used here, which was established by Josiah McGuire in December 2007. To test the validity of Airghialla 1, Joseph came up with a second group called Airghialla 2. As part of his study, Joseph established a modal DNA for Airghialla 2 called 9U5BW. In comparing Airghialla 1 and 2 on page 184 of the report, Joseph says that Airghialla 1 "appears to have been prominent in the South Tyrone – North Monaghan area from the sixth century, if not earlier," while Airghialla 2 "rose to historical prominence later . . . in the ninth century." He concludes that Airghialla 1 "would appear to be the best candidate" to represent the DNA of The Three Collas. Joseph himself is not Airghialla 1 or 2. He is a descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, also called R-M222 or Northwest Irish.

DNA has confirmed ancient Irish history, but it has also shown that the history is wrong in some areas. For example, The Three Collas were said to be related to Niall of the Nine Hostages (R-M222). The DNA of the descendants of the Collas, however, does not match the DNA of the descendants of Niall. Other historical pedigrees now known not to have the Y-DNA of The Three Collas are Manus McGuire (R-FGC9798), Hy Maine Kelly (R-FGC6545), McDonalds of Keppoch, Sleat, Glengarry, and Clanranald (R1a-YP326). One of the largest and earliest FTDNA projects is Clan Donald. They had an interest in Clan Colla from the start because most McDonalds were thought to be part of Clan Colla. In February 2004, the Clan Donald project issued a press release saying they had identified an R1b group as Clan Colla (see Clan Donald 2004 press release). This group is now generally known as the Scottish Cluster rather than Clan Colla and is identified as R-L21>L1335>L1065. Clan Donald now identifies this group as the R1b-L21 Red-Black subgroup and refers to it as "a very common L21+ group in Scotland." In March 2004, the Clan Donald project announced that an R1a Viking DNA identified "descendants of Somerled, ancestor to many MacDonalds, MacDougalls, and MacAllisters, including our Clan Chiefs." The R1a DNA that includes these Clan Chiefs is now generally accepted and is known as YP326>FGC11896. See Grafting of Clan Donald.

2011 FTDNA Conference. Thomas Roderick, 1930-2013, one of the original contributors to this webpage and one of the original members of the International Human Genome Organization in 1988, helped us get our story across at the 2011 FTDNA Conference in Houston, Texas:

The Clan Colla Null 425 Project stems from the discovery that in haplogroup R-L21 there is a single subset carrying a null at DYS 425 and probably unique or nearly unique values at 2 or 3 other loci. What is important is that this haplotype clearly is associated with only one grouping of Irish clans and surnames, each of which by historical records emanates from The Three Collas, a successful aggressive clan flourishing 300-400 AD. We are looking for evidence that this null is associated with other families with different ancestry and as yet have not definitively found it. This gives us an estimate of the time of the mutation to the null a little before 300 AD.

From the other markers, we find (using 67 Y markers) the genetic distances among the Colla Group and Colla Modal DNA range between 1 and 11, and have an average of 6. Of the 232 people, 218 or 94% of the group have a genetic distance of 3 to 9.

These data are consistent with our estimate of the timing of the null mutation.

One great advantage of this grouping is that it is well defined molecularly, therefore confined, small enough and yet old enough to make genealogical sense coordinating molecular and historical evidence. By more detailed analysis we can get better understanding of specific genealogical relationships among clusters of the several clans and many surnames.

Big Y SNP Tree. In November 2013, FTDNA introduced Big Y, which tested a large portion of the Y chromosome. Clan Colla project members began receiving test results in November.

In April 2014, Alex Williamson started his Big Tree, which included Clan Colla. We started our Clan Colla BIG Y SNP Tree based on his tree. In 2019, FTDNA started it Big Y SNP Tree.

In 2018, Big Y was replaced by Big Y-500, a combination of Big Y, Y-111, and 389 STRs from Big Y data. In 2019, FTDNA replaced Big Y-500 with Big Y-700, which provides more uniform coverage within a much broader and targeted region of the Y and an increased number of STR markers.

In 2018, Patrick McMahon, a geneticist and an administrator of the Clan Colla DNA Project, concluded that the SNP Z3008 was the DNA of tThe Three Collas and that those with Z16270 DNA were "cousins" of The Three Collas. He sent an email to all Project members reviewing the origin of and establishment of The Three Collas. Patrick put the review together with his brother Eugene, who is a historian. They cited historian Donald Schlegel, who had provided valuable information on the history of The Three Collas in "The Origin of the Three Collas and the Fall of Emain," Clogher Record, 1998.

In 2022, FTDNA started Discover, which includes an estimated date for every SNP using an aging method developed with Iain McDonald.

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Timeline

Below is a timeline for Clan Colla DNA and ancient pedigrees. The timeline focuses on two the most well-known of our Colla subgroups: McDonald 1 and McMahon 1. For each we have testers who can trace their ancestry back to a Colla. Dates for SNPs are rough estimates.

Source: Fermanagh-Monaghan Transborder DNA & History. Presented by Cathal McElgunn at Genetic Genealogy Ireland in Belfast, February 16, 2019.

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Origin of The Three Collas

On May 17, 2018, Patrick McMahon, Administrator of the Clan Colla 425 null Project, sent an email to all Project members reviewing the origin of and establishment of The Three Collas. Patrick, a geneticist, put the review together with his brother Eugene, who is a historian. Patrick and Eugene have traced their family back to Faolan MacMathghamhna (Felim/Phelan MacMahon), who lived in County Monaghan in the early 12th century (see 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon). The review was based on "the Colla genetic position and the few pre-history snippets of information that are available."

Several people commented on the review. Their comments follow the review.

Commentary

The foregoing review was distributed to members of the Clan Colla project by Family Tree DNA on May 17, 2018. Following is an exchange of emails among members.

June 2 Comments by Ron Hendrickson on The Origin and Establishment of the Collas Thank you for the opportunity to respond more fully to the May 2018 review portion regarding who may be considered a Colla descendant. I collected tMRCA age data for the pertinent SNPs using Alex Williamson’s The Big Tree SNP Age Analysis , with results shown in the grid displayed at bottom. Seminal SNP Z3000 is shown in red. Major clade Z16270 and its children (representing Colla family Carroll et al.) are shown in green. Major clade Z3006 and its children (representing Colla family McMahon et al.) are shown in purple. Sub-clade Z29586 and its children (representing Colla family Owen et al.) are shown in blue. The Big Tree SNP Age Analysis calculates with 95% certainty (95% Confidence Interval) that a SNP occurred within a particular date range. The second column represents the date range for each noted SNP. The third column is the statistical center (median) of the date range along with the likelihood that the SNP occurred at exactly the mid-point. This age analysis was used to create a visual representation (see attached CollaSNP95%.pdf) of the date range for Z3000 (red), as well as the date range for its descendant clades Z16270 (green), Z3006 (purple), and Z29586 (blue) from 500 BC to the present. The yellow bar is roughly the lifetime of the Colla brothers. The grey columns focus on Early, Median (middle), and Late in the SNP date ranges. Some observations: Early: If all SNPs occurred early in their date range, Z3000 was created during the 4th century BC and the splits establishing the Carroll et al. sept and the ancestor to McMahon sept had already occurred well before the Colla brothers appeared on the scene. Median: SNPs arising during the median period more closely resemble the sequence proposed in Patrick’s May 2918 review. SNP 3000 occurred during the 1st century AD and the major sub-clades of Z16270 and Z3006 had already been established before the Colla’s arrival. One or two of the brothers (Colla Uais & Colla fo Crich?) could have been the source for 8501873 (Carroll et al.) and/or Z3008 (ancestor to McMahon). Both families have deep roots in Ulster. The Ui Cerbaill (Carroll) rose to prominence in eastern Airgialla as chief of Fir Fermaige in 1043 AD. By 1100 AD the family expanded its control to south Monaghan and Louth and parts of Armagh, Meath and Down. Donnchad Ua Cerbaill was installed as king of Airgailla in 1125 AD and is remembered for expanding the diocese of Clogher and moving its cathedral chapter to Louth, as well as establishing monasteries at Louth (1142), Mellifont (1142), Knock (1148) and Termonfeckin (1148). The kingship passed to his son and grandson until Muircheartach Ua Cerbaill was blinded and hanged by English in 1193 AD. [1] Although inherently unreliable as historical records, several medieval manuscripts include pedigrees recording Donnchad Ua Cerbaill's ancestor as Colla to Crich. [2] The Mac Mathghamhna family (McMahon) were based in the north of Monaghan and ruled the kingdom of Oriel (Irish = Airgialla) from the 13th to the 16th centuries. [3] Regardless of the above, it is a mistake to use modern surnames alone to delineate historical geographical location simply because a name sounds Irish or English or European. My own name Hendrickson is a classic Swedish patronymic (i.e. Hendrick’s son), adopted in my family branch in the late 1600s in colonial America. Yet my biology clearly locates me in 4th century Ulster. Late: If all SNPs occurred late in their date range, Z3000 may have arisen as recently as 425 AD, intersecting with the Colla brothers lifetime in Ireland. The implication, of course, is that one of the brothers (perhaps Muredach Colla fo Crich) was the source of seminal Colla SNP Z3000, and further that all modern testers with that attribute are descended from him and may rightfully claim Clan Colla membership. It is clear to me that multiple possibilities exist for Colla descent. I do not advocate one theory over another, but I do believe that the official Colla Project stance must include all possible alternatives. Thank you. [1] B. Smith, ‘The Ua Cerbaill Kingdom of Airgailla’, in “Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170 - 1330” (Cambridge 1999), 10-27. [2] K. Simms, ‘The MacMahon pedigree: a medieval forgery’, in D. Edwards (ed.), "Regions and Rulers in Ireland, 1100 - 1650” (Dublin 2004), 27-36. [3] Because of the relatively late appearance of SNP 15578406-T-C, etc., which are derived from Z16273 (sub-clade to Z16278), the Carroll 2 group may represent the Clann Chearbhaill family which was allied with the Mac Mathghamhna family in the 14th century. Exhibits Alex Williamson’s The Big Tree SNP Age Analysis SNP 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL MEDIAN - LIKELIHOOD Z3000 348 BC - 425 AD 97 AD - 35% Z16270 139 BC - 553 AD 233 AD - 40% 8501873 10 BC - 840 AD 392 AD - 28% Z18003 744 AD - 1529 AD 1189 AD - 25% 19219990-A-T 1120 AD - 1770 AD 1500 AD - 27% Z3006 124 BC - 548 AD 248 AD - 40% Z3008 97 AD - 669 AD 407 AD - 50% Z16274 242 AD - 892 AD 575 AD - 37% Z16278 377 AD - 990 AD 696 AD - 37% Z29586 390 AD - 1331 AD 915 AD - 20% BY3248 832 AD - 1597 AD 1269 AD - 25% A14033 1256 AD - 1791 AD 1574 AD - 35% BY38670 1935 AD - 1965 AD 1950 AD -

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Colla Surnames

Many of the Y-DNA testers who have Clan Colla DNA have surnames that the ancient genealogies say are descended from The Three Collas. But there are also a number of names that are not found in the ancient genealogies. As shown on the Abridged Clan Colla Big Y SNP Tree, the modern list of DNA-supported Colla names include:

Beggan Boylan Carroll Clarke Collins Connolly

Cooley Devine Duffy Glennon Hart Higgins

Hughes Kelly King Larkin MacDougall Martin

McArdle McAuley McClain McDonald McGinnis McGroder

McGuire McKenna McMahon McQuillan Monaghan Murphy

Murray Neal O'Hara Reilly Waters White

Researchers like John O'Hart, The Four Masters, and Donald Schlegel include Colla Clan pedigrees gathered from historic sources. Their work has been to a large extent validated by DNA testing. There are errors, however, as to which Colla sired which surname. And there are surnames that are supposed to be descended from Clan Colla but have not shown up so far.

Many people do not know where their patronymic ancestor came from, which is not uncommon. Only a small number of those tested live in Ireland or Scotland. Most live in America. Many of those have resorted to DNA testing for the very reason that they do not know where there ancestors came from when the emigrated to America.

Many Colla name are not included among our testers. There are several possible reasons.

• Many Colla names are uncommon.
• Only a small number of people have had their DNA tested thus far.
• Some people may have lost their name because an ancestor changed his name or was adopted.
• Ancient pedigrees probably included surnames of people who were not really Colla descendants.

• There was a name change by an ancestor.
• They or an ancestor were adopted.
• The historical lists of Colla descendants were incomplete.
• The name is on an ancient pedigree but we have not found it yet.
• Their ancestors were descended from cousins of The Three Collas; and their surnames, therefore, evolved differently.
• In early Irish history there was the concept of “fostering,” where two powerful tribal leaders would place their infant son with the other family to seal a defensive alliance. It is likely that some of these sons took on the tribal name of the family with whom they were placed.

• The ancient pedigree erroneously included them as Colla descendants because they lived in the area of the Colla descendants.
• Most surnames have multiple septs.

Ireland was one of the first European countries to adopt hereditary surnames. At the end of his chapter on the Middle Ages in his 1969 book The Fermanagh Story, Rev. Peadar Livingstone (1932-1987) says on pages 23 and 24 that "Irish people in this era seem to have been obsessed with names. Long pedigrees are drawn up, giving the origins of most common families. As might be expected, most of the Fermanagh families trace themselves back to an Oriel origin. This, for the most part, is genuine enough. However, since an Oriel line ruled the country, it must have been popular to have Oriel origins. Some of the earlier Leinster Fir Manach must have been tempted to invent an Oriel connection where it did not exist." With that caveat in mind, we will take a look at the surnames of Clan Colla. See also Multiple-Sept Surnames.

Other on-line sources on Irish surnames and genealogy are:

• Patrick Woulfe's 1923 Irish Names and Surnames
• John Grenham's Irish Ancestors.
• Barry Griffin's Irish Surname Maps for the 1901 and 1911 Census of Ireland
• Michael C. O'Laughlin's The Book of Irish Families, Great & Small.
• 1901 and 1911 Census of Ireland The National Archives of Ireland
• Births, Marriages, Deaths
  • Irish Genealogy
  • Roots Ireland
  • Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI
• Property Tax Registers
  • 1848-1864 Griffith’s Valuation
  • 1823-1837 Tithe Applotments - Republic of Ireland - National Archives
  • 1823-1837 Tithe Applotments - Northern Ireland - PRONI (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland)
• National Folklore Collection dúchas.ie

Surnames from Hy-Maine have been removed from O'Hart's list of Colla surnames because DNA has shown them to have a different DNA. Hy Maine has the FGC6545 SNP, also known as FGC6550. See Hy Maine Modal.

• O Kelly, princes and lords of Hy-Maine, a territory in Galway and Roscommon. See O'Hart, page 684.
• Madden, lords of Siol Anmcha or Silancha, which ancient territory comprised the present barony of Longford, in the county Galway, and the parish of Lusmagh on the other (Leinster) side of the river Shannon, near Banagher, in the King's County. See O'Hart, pages 568 and 572.
• Traynor. See O'Hart, page 572-573.
• Naghtan or Norton, chiefs in Hy-Maine See O'Hart, page 603
• Hoolahan, chiefs of Siol Anmchada in Hy-Maine. Also Oulahan, a branch of Hoolahan, and variants Holland and Holligan. See O'Hart, page 487
• Leahy, chiefs in Hy-Maine. See O'Hart, Volume II, page 577

Several Colla names not listed by O'Hart are listed as Colla names by Peadar Livingstone or Edward MacLysaght:

• McAuley, a variant of McCawley, which is listed by Peadar Livingston in The Fermanagh Story (excerpt), page 436, as a descendant of Maguire.
• Biggins/Beggan/Beaghen/Little/Bigham, which was said by Peadar Livingstone to be descended from Maguire.
• Collins, a variant of Callan, which MacLysaght shows as an Oriel sept from Armagh/Monaghan.
• O'Donoghue, a variant of Donaghy, which is listed by Peadar Livingston in The Fermanagh Story (excerpt), page 426, as a descendant of Maguire.
• Smith, which is mentioned by Peadar Livingston in The Fermanagh Story (excerpt), page 444, as a variant of Gavin and Goan, descendants of the O'Gabhann sept, herenachs of Drummally in Fermanagh. Gavan is on the O'Hart list.

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Clan Colla Maps: Airghialla

Toward the middle of the 4th century the breakup of the kingdom of the Ulaidh (Ulster) began as an attack on Emain Macha, the capital of the kingdom for hundreds of years, by the Three Collas. They established a new kingdom known as Airghialla, later Oriel, forcing the Ulaidh into east Ulster.

Source: Ireland's History in Maps.

Peadar Livingstone Maps. Peadar Livingstone was a renowned scholar in both the Irish language and local history. He wrote comprenensive histories of two counties in Ireland: The Fermanagh Story (1969) and The Monaghan Story (1979). Included in each book was a map with surnames based on then present-day counts.

1969 map of surnames in County Fermanagh from Chapter 31, "Fermanagh Families," in The Fermanagh Story by Rev. Peadar Livingstone, Cumann Seanchais Chlochair, 1969. Names of Z3000 testers that appear on map: Beggan, Carey, Connolly, Devine, Hanratty, Kelly, McDonnell, Maguire, McCawley, McKenna, Monaghan, Murphy, Owens, Reilly.

1979 map of surnames in County Monaghan from page 51 of The Monaghan Story by Rev. Peadar Livingstone, Clogher Historical Society, 1979. Names of Z3000 testers that appear on map: Beggan, Boylan, Callan, Carroll, Clerken, Connolly, Duffy, Hanratty, Hughes, Kelly, Maguire, McGinn, McKenna, McMahon, Murphy, Murray, Waters.

Map of Fermanagh and Monaghan. Map showing how Fermanagh and Monaghan come together, togethwer with Cavan.

Map of baronies in Fermanagh and Monaghan in 1899. Source: Wikipedia

Ancient Map of Airghialla. The map to the right shows Airghialla (or Oriel), a territory in northern Ireland founded by The Three Collas in the 4th century. It was inhabited by their descendants in later centuries. The Oxford Companion to Irish History edited by S. J. Connolly, 1998, says the Airghialla was composed of minor-kingdoms, each named after their ruling dynasty.

Ireland in 11th Century Early peoples in Ireland: the Airghialla and six other provinces as defined in the 11th-century Lebor na Cert (Book of Rights).

• Colla Uais
  • Uí Tuirtri, also spelled as Uí Tuirtre, meaning "descendants of Tort". They were based east of the Sperrin Mountains, roughly 20 miles south of Lough Foyle in eastern County Londonderry and Tyrone. From 776, the Uí Thuirtri had moved east of the River Bann and into the over-kingdom of Ulaid. The River Bann flows up from Lough Neagh on the right. It acts as most of the border between Londonderry and Antrim counties. By 919 they had lost all links to the Airgíalla.
  • Erc
    • Uí Maic Cairthinn, meaning "descendants of Cairthend". Based south of Lough Foyle at the top of the map, north of Tirkeeran barony in County Londonderry. See: 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald. (In the upper right corner of the map of Ireland is the Mull of Kintyre in western Scotland, where lived the McDonald descendants of of Somerled and Colla Uais.)
    • Uí Fiachrach Arda Sratha, meaning "descendants of Fiachrach of Ard Straw". Based at Ardstraw, south southeast of Lough Foyle in Strabane Lower barony of County Tyrone. They became subject to the Cenél nEógain by the 12th-century, and expanded southwards into Fir Luírg, southwest of Ardstraw in Lurg barony in the north of County Fermanagh.
• Colla Crioch
  • Uí Cremthainn, based in what is now parts of modern-day County Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Tyrone. See: 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon
  • Uí Méith, based in modern-day County Monaghan.
  • Airthir, meaning "Easterners". They were based around the city of Armagh, and held control of the offices of the church in Armagh, which had preeminence in Ireland.
  • Mugdorna, based in County Monaghan, however by the 12th-century had settled the territory of Bairrche, located in southern County Down, and named it after themselves. Their name lives on as "Mourne", the present-day name for the area and the Mourne Mountains.
  • Fir Chraíbe, also known as the Fir na Chraíbe, meaning "men of the branch". They were located west of the River Bann in north-eastern County Londonderry. By the 9th-century they were a subject-people of the Cenél nEógain.
  • Fir Lí, also known as the Fir Lee, meaning "people of Lí". They were located west of the River Bann in mid-eastern County Londonderry. By the 9th-century they were a subject-people of the Cenél nEógain.

Map of Airghialla. Below is an exerpt from a 1899 map showing counties and baronies of Airghialla inhabited by descendants of The Three Collas.

Excerpt from 1899 map of Ireland, showing the counties and baronies of Airghialla.

Dartraighe, anglicised as Dartree, Dartry or Dartrey, was an Irish territory in medieval Ireland which stretched north to Clones. It was later incorporated into County Monaghan as the barony of Dartree. It was listed as part of the federated Kingdom of Airghíalla in the Book of Rights. The Irish annals for 947 AD say that Scolaige ua hAedacáin, king of Dartraige, and Gairbíth son of Muiredach, heir designate of Uí Chremthainn, and Aed son of Tigernán ua Ruairc were killed in battle in a counter-attack.

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Keating on the Collas - 1634

The History of Ireland was written by Geoffrey Keating about 1634 and circulated widely in manuscript form; the printing of books in Irish being effectively forbidden by the English rulers of Ireland at the time. Following is a translation into English of Section XLVII (from Volume 2) by David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen in 1902-1914. See: The Ex-Classics Web Site.

The Four Masters on the Collas - 1632-1636

The Annals of the Four Masters were composed from 1632 to 1636 in the Franciscan Monastery of Donegal chiefly by Michael O'Clery (1580-1643). In 1845, Irish historiographer Owen Connellan translated the book from Irish to English. In May 2007, Google digitized a copy of the translation from the Library at Oxford University: Annals of the Four Masters. A long footnote that starts on page 2 describes the ancient kingdom of Oriel and includes the descendants of The Three Collas.

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O'Hart on the Collas - 1892

John O'Hart, 1824-1902.

"From the Three Collas descended many noble families in Ulster, Connaught, Meath, and Scotland, The families descended from them were known as the Clan Colla." This is the way John O'Hart introduces the pedigrees of Three Collas in his book, Irish Pedigrees; or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, published in 1892 (fifth edition), Volumes I and II.

John O'Hart was born in 1824 in Crossmolina, County Mayo. His parents were Shane (John) and Nora Kilroy O'Hart of Crossmolina. His grandparents were Shane and Mary Martin O'Hart of Doonbreeda, County Mayo.

In 1845, John O'Hart married Elizabeth Burnett in Crossmolina. They moved to Dublin, where John worked for the National Education Department. In 1859, he began working on Irish Pedigrees. The first edition was published in 1876. The fifth and final edition wa published in 1892. He died in 1902 in Clontarf, near Dublin, at the age of 78.

Professional genealogist John Grenham commented on John O'Hart in a blog dated July 11, 2016, saying that John O’Hart is "probably the single best-known writer on Irish genealogy." He had "an extraordinary appetite for work and appears to have read and absorbed every single Irish pedigree published before the 1870s."

Included in John O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees is his own pedigree, which goes back to The Three Collas: O'Hart Princes of Tara and Chiefs in Sligo. Included are Shane, the last prince of Tara in County Meath, who was deprived of his patrimony by King Henry II of England at the time of the Norman invasion in 1172 and resettled in County Sligo. Sixteen generations later, at the time of the Cromwellian confiscations, another Shane migrated from Sligo to a farm in Doonbreeda, County Mayo. This Shane is the great grandfather of John O'Hart.

John O'Hart said he himself was a descendant of The Three Collas. He is generation No. 125 on page 679.

The footnote on page 678 says one of John's relatives was John Hart (1713-1779) who signed the Declaration of Independence for New Jersey on July 4, 1776. There are several Harts who have Clan Colla DNA, but they have no evidence of descending from John Hart the Signer. A discussion of the Y-DNA of John Hart the Signer can be found in: The Y-DNA Genetic Signature of an American Founding Father – John Hart the Signer, by Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull and Susan K. Steeble. They say the signer's DNA is R-L21>S552>DF13>Z39589>Y126199>BY55538>BY54949.

Google Books has made the 1892 edition available online:

• Volume I
• Volume II

O'Hart provides two lists of surnames of Colla descendants:

• Volume I, pages 669-670 and
• Volume II, pages 575-582.

The list of Colla descendants is not meant to be exhaustive. Some Colla surnames are not on O'Hart's two lists, but are referred to as Colla descendants elsewhere in his book. Page numbers are in parentheses.

The general surname indexes for the 1892 edition are:

• Volume I, pages 861 to 896 and
• Volume II, pages 852 to 945.

The University of Pittsburgh Library System has made the 1892 edition available online as a PDF file or Ebook:

• Volume I
• Volume II

Library Ireland has made a transcript of Volume I available online.

Clan Colla Saints

In his Irish Pedigrees; or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, published in 1892 (fifth edition), Volume II, page 581, John O'Hart says The Four Masters record 39 saints as descended from The Three Collas: 19 from Colla-da-Chrioch, 16 from Colla Uais, and 4 from Colla Meann.

The following were the 19 saints descended from Colla-da-Chrioch.

1. St. Begg (1st August)
2. St. Brughach (1st Nov.)
3. St. Curcach, virgin
4. St. Daimhin (or Damin), abbot of Devenish Abbey (see page 189), on Devenish Island, Lough Erne.
5. St. Defraoch, virgin.
6. St. Donart.
7. St. Duroch, virgin.
8. St. Enna of Aaron (21st Mar.)
9. St. Baodan (5th Feb.)
10. St. Fergus (29th March)
11. St. Fiachra (2nd May)
12. St. Flann Feabhla (20th April)
13. St. Lochin, virgin
14. St. Loman of Loughgill (4th Feb.)
15. St. Maeldoid (13th May)
16. St. Mochaomog.
17. St. Muredach (15th May)
18. St. Neassa, virgin
19. St. Tegan (9th Sept.)

Saint Berchan. Saint Berchan lived in the 5th century and is listed on page 17 of the The Martyrology of Donegal: A Calendar of the Saints of Ireland, translated by John O'Donovan in 1864. He lived on Inish-Rochla, an island in Lough Erne near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Ireland. He was five generations down from Colla da Crioch, one of The Three Collas. His feast day is November 24.

Saint Cinnia. Saint Cinnia lived in the 5th century. She was a princess of Ulster, Ireland. Saint Cinnia was converted to Christianity by Saint Patrick. When she entered a convent, Saint Patrick gave her the veil. She was descended from Colla da Crioch, one of The Three Collas. Her feast day is February 1.

Saint Tigernach. Saint Tigernach was said to have been the godchild of Saint Brigid, and educated in Scotland. He may have been a monk at Clones as well as a bishop of Clogher in County Monaghan, but accounts are not too clear. He also is called Tierney and Tierry. Saint Tigernach died in 549. He was descended from Colla da Crioch, one of The Three Collas. His feast day is April 4.

Saint Cairnech. Saint Cairnech was born after the middle of the 5th century. His brothers were St. Berchan and St. Ronan. His monastery was probably at Cruachan Ligean on Loughh Foyle, near Lifford. He died about 530. He was descended from Colla da Crioch, one of The Three Collas. His feast day is March 28.

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Four Colla Descendants

This study of the Y-chromosome DNA of The Three Collas is the product of four Clan Colla descendants.

	Josiah McGuire. Josiah McGuire had his DNA tested at FTDNA in 2004. By early 2005 he recognized that he matched several other people with Colla surnames and began studying those matches. After upgrading to 67 markers in 2006, Josiah learned that he had a null value for marker 425, as did the other Colla surnames. In 2007 Josiah computed modal values for the DNA of The Three Collas. In June 2009, he started the Clan Colla Null 425 Project at FTDNA to attract Clan Colla descendants, encourage upgrades to the 67-marker test, and promote Clan Colla research. Josiah's DNA kit is #23171. He is descended from Colla Uais. He traces his Colla ancestry back to the eponymous Josiah McGuire, who was born in 1794 in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has a McGuire family heritage website called A McGuire Family in America. Josiah lives in Indiana, USA. His email address is: j_j_mcguire@msn.com
	Peter Biggins. Peter had his DNA tested at FTDNA in 2008. When he realized with Josiah's help in May 2009 that he was descended from The Three Collas, he added this page on the DNA of The Three Collas to his genealogy website called PetersPioneers. In addition to the Clan Colla Null 425 Project, Peter is an administrator of the Breassal Breac Project, Biggins Project, the Carroll Project, the Ely Carroll Project, the Drueke Project, the Null 425 Project, the Roderick Project, the Middlessex Genealogical Society Project, and the DF21 Project. His DNA kit is #127469. He is descended from Colla Uais. Peter has traced his Colla ancestry back to Patrick Biggins (Beggan), who was born in 1807 in Ireland, possibly Drumgill, County Cavan (see Patrick Beggan of Drumgill). Peter lives in Connecticut, USA, where he is Secretary of the Middlesex Genealogical Society. His email address is: pabiggin@optonline.net
	Patrick McMahon. Patrick Ciaran McMahon had his DNA test at FTDNA in 2009. He is administrator of the McMahon Project at FTDNA as well as the Clan Colla Null 425 Project. In addition to being a fellow Colla descendant, Patrick spent his career working as a geneticist/operational analyst for the British Ministry of Defence. Patrick's DNA kit is #145687. He is descended from Colla da Crioch. Patrick has an advanced degree in genetics from Trinity College Dublin. He and his brother Eugene have traced their family back to Faolan MacMathghamhna (Felim/Phelan MacMahon), who lived in County Monaghan in the early 12th century (see 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon). Patrick also has done an in-depth analysis of the Origin of The Three Collas. Patrick grew up in Hampstead Park, Glasnevin, Dublin, and now lives in Gorey, Ireland. His email address is: patgorey@yahoo.co.uk

Thomas Roderick, 1930-2013. Thomas Roderick, one of the original producers of this webpage, died September 4, 2013. The following background information was included in his obituary that appeared in the Bangor Daily News.

He graduated from the University of Michigan in philosophy in 1952 and zoology in 1953 and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a PhD in 1959. He then joined The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, as a staff scientist in genetics where he remained for 37 years. His research included the effects of radiation on genetic material, behavioral genetics, and later bioinformatics, publishing widely in genetics and genealogy. In 1973 -1975 he worked at the Atomic Energy Commission, looking at the potential impact of nuclear radiation on humans and the world. He is credited with coining the term "genomics" and developed with others at The Jackson Laboratory the first online genetic database. During his career he co-directed the Annual Short Course on Medical and Experimental Mammalian Genetics and co-founded the Center for Human Genetics in Bar Harbor.

The following message was sent to participants in the Clan Colla DNA project at Family Tree DNA.

Tom Roderick, a fellow Colla descendant and one of our four Clan Colla project administrators, died September 4 at his home in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Tom had his DNA tested at FTDNA in 2003. He was administrator of the Roderick-Rhydderch Family Project at FTDNA in addition to the Clan Colla Null 425 Project.

Tom was a research geneticist and one of the original members of the international Human Genome Organization in 1988. He was on the Emeritus Staff at The Jackson Laboratory. He had a PhD in genetics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tom was a member of the National Genealogical Society and had traced his Colla family back to Rhydderch Evan who was born circa 1700 in Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales.

Two years ago, Tom summarized his views on our project:

"The Clan Colla Null 425 Project stems from the discovery that in haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1b4 there is a single subset carrying a null at DYS 425 and probably unique or nearly unique values at 2 or 3 other loci. What is important is that this haplotype clearly is associated with only one grouping of Irish clans and surnames, each of which by historical records emanates from The Three Collas, a successful aggressive clan flourishing 300-400 AD. We are looking for evidence that this null is associated with other families with different ancestry and as yet have not definitively found it. This gives us an estimate of the time of the mutation to the null a little before 300 AD.

"From the other markers, we find (using 67 Y markers) the genetic distances among the Colla Group and Colla Modal DNA range between 1 and 11, and have an average of 6. Of the 232 people, 218 or 94% of the group have a genetic distance of 3 to 9.

"These data are consistent with our estimate of the timing of the null mutation.

"One great advantage of this grouping is that it is well defined molecularly, therefore confined, small enough and yet old enough to make genealogical sense coordinating molecular and historical evidence. By more detailed analysis we can get better understanding of specific genealogical relationships among clusters of the several clans and many surnames."

Tom is in our prayers and our hearts go out to his wife Hilda and their family. He will be sorely missed by his fellow administrators.

- Peter Biggins, Josiah McGuire, Patrick McMahon

Some responses from project members:

• Very sorry to hear the news of Tom's death. He made an incredible contributions to the Clan Colla group. He will be greatly missed. - Sally & Geoff Walker
• Thank you so much for telling me this message. God Bless all, Donna Reiling (Gerald Alldredge Johnson)
• Thank you for letting me know about Tom's passing. For me, Tom helped opened a very unexpected door to a family and ancestral history I did not know existed. My prayers go out for his family. - Rich Kern
• So Sorry to learn of this. I will reach out to Hilda. Tom and I had very similar genetic code... So he said. I met him only once and by chance at my parents home when he and Hilda dropped by during a cross county trek. He convinced me to participate in the study and I'm glad I did. - Best regards, Richard Roderick
• Sincerest sympathies and thanks to the family for all of Tom's work. May his soul rest at God's right hand. Ar dheis De'go raigh a n-anamach-Gaelic - Doreen McKenna Powers and family
• I'm very sorry to hear about Tom. Thanks for letting us know. - Cathy (Gerald Collins, 74679)
• Thank you for the update. Will hold positive thoughts for his family as they embrace his spirit and his loss. - Mary Ann Conley Wandell
• I was saddened to learn of the death Thomas Roderick. His death is a loss to genetic genealogy. - Terry McGuire

Tom's DNA is still in our project. His kit number is 8551. He is descended from cousins of The Three Collas.

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FTDNA Clan Colla DNA Project

The Clan Colla 425 null project at Family Tree DNA is for men who have tested their Y-DNA at FTDNA and have, or are predicted to have, a particular kind of DNA called Z3000. Many men with this type of DNA have surnames associated with descendants of The Three Collas who emigrated from England to Ulster in the 4th century.

Family Tree DNA has the largest DNA database in the field. For a look inside the FTDNA lab, see "A Visit to Family Tree DNA's State-of-the-Art Lab," written by Cece Moore in February 2013 based on a tour in November 2012.

Josiah McGuire started the Clan Colla 425 Null Project in June 2009 and serves as administrator of the project along with Patrick McMahon and Peter Biggins. The project is designed to attract Clan Colla descendants and their cousins, encourage Y-chromosome DNA testing, and promote Clan Colla research.

The Clan Colla project is a haplogroup project. The haplogroup is named R-Z3000, which is a SNP common to those who have Clan Colla DNA or are cousins thereof. You can participate in multiple projects at FTDNA. You are encouraged to participate in your surname project and projects for haplogroups upstream of Z3000: R-L21 and R-DF21. There is no cost for being part of projects.

By testing the Y-chromosome DNA, males can determine the origin of their paternal line. Y-DNA goes back male to male to male, like surnames. If you are a female and would like to know about your paternal line, you would have to find a male relative from that line willing to be tested, such as your father, a brother, or a cousin.

The two swabs and scraper tubes in the FTDNA Kit. For more on how it's done, see "DNA Collection Method" by Dave Dorsey.

Y-chromosome DNA goes back male to male like traditional surnames.

The Testing Process. Here are the steps in the testing process for a new tester:

• Sign up online for FTDNA at a surname or geographical project. See Surname & Geographical Projects
• Specify what test you want.
• FTDNA deducts the cost from your credit card.
• They send you a kit containing two scrapers,
• You use the scrapers to swab the inside of your cheeks, four hours apart.
• You return the scrapers in receptacles and mailer provided in the kit.
• FTDNA sets up a homepage for you on their website that you access with your kit number and a password.
• You get final results on line two months later on your homepage and on the project's public results page.
• Your homepage gives you a list of other testers who match your DNA.
• Ask the administrator of the surname project about haplogroup (SNP) projects you should join.
• Ask the administrator of the haplogroup (SNP) project you join about further testing.
• If you think you have Clan Colla DNA, join the Clan Colla 425 null project.

There are a number of prefixes used by Family Tree DNA to identify kits ordered through partner companies or kits which have been transferred from another company. The following is a list of the prefixes in the Clan Colla 425 null project as of December 2022, as provided by ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

• AM – Test was ordered through Amazon.com
• B – Those who transfer Y-DNA or autosomal results through a lab transfer program (eg AncestryDNA, 23andMe)
• BP - Basic packaging. Kits sent out in the basic plastic packaging rather than the new cardboard box
• E – Those who test with iGenea, FTDNA's European associate
• H – Those who tested with DNA Heritage and transferred their results
• IN – International – a test kit that was ordered through the FTDNA website alone (not with other kits) that is being shipped internationally
• MI – Multi Kit International – a test ordered through the FTDNA website at the same time as several other kits, all of which are being shipped
• MK – Multi Kit – a test ordered through the FTDNA website at the same time as several other kits, all of which are being shipped domestically
• N – Those who test with and transfer from the National Geographic Genographic Project
• SI - Single international dry swab kits

Requirements for Clan Colla DNA. You are considered to have the Y-DNA of Clan Colla or Colla cousins if you have the Z3000 SNP.

You can join the Colla project without this evidence. We will review your DNA testing. You will be told whether you have a chance of having Clan Colla DNA. If you have no chance, you will be removed from the project. If you meet our requirements, you will be placed in a subgroup. If you have less than 67 markers but have a chance of meeting our requirements with further testing, you may be placed in a special category for people with less than 67 markers.

Clan Colla Testing Alternatives. There are two kinds of markers for Y-chromosome DNA: STRs and SNPs.

• A SNP is a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, a mutation in the DNA that happens when a single nucleotide (A, T, G, or C) in the genome sequence is altered. A person has many SNPs that together create a unique DNA pattern for that individual. Collas and their cousins have the Z3000 SNP and many downstream SNPs that show where they fall on the Z3000 Colla SNP tree.
• An STR is a Short Tandem Repeat, or count of repeats at a physical location on the chromosome. These repeats can be used to predict SNPs. They can be used to create a modal DNA for a group of men that match each other. And they can be used to measure genetic distance between two testers and between a tester and the modal DNA.

The following tests at FTDNA can put you on the Results page of the Clan Colla project.

1. Big Y-700: This test puts you on our Unabridged Big Y SNP Tree as well as the Results page of the Clan Colla project. We recommend ordering BIG Y above all others. The cost is $229 to $399 on sale, depending on how many STRs already have been tested. Most testers have 67 or 111 STRs before they join our project, resulting in a sale price of $259 or $229. There is no need to swab again when you upgrade. More recently, testers are buying Big Y to start with. The sale price of $399 is less expensive than buying STRs first and then upgrading to Big Y. There are three parts to the Big Y test:
   • Big Y SNPs. Testing for SNPs on a large portion of your Y chromosome through BIG Y-700. This is the ultimate in Y-DNA testing at FTDNA. Clan Colla DNA includes the Z3000 SNP and many downstream SNPs that are unique to Clan Colla. It also includes upstream SNPs, such as L21 and DF21.
   • Automatic upgrade to 111 STRs for those who have not done 111 STRs. These STRs help us predict Clan Colla DNA and subgroups for those who have not done Big Y.
   • Additional STRs, to bring the total STRs to 700 (500 if you tested before November 2018 and have not upgraded to 700). These STRs can predict some Clan Colla SNPs, but they are not much use because Big Y itself yields the the actual SNPs.
2. 111 STRs: Testing 111 STR markers, which includes key Clan Colla STRs: 511=9, 425=0, 505=9, and 441=12. The 111-marker test is enough to verify Clan Colla DNA.
3. 67 STRs: Testing 67 STRs, which includes key Clan Colla STRs: 511=9 and 425=0.
4. 37 STRs: Testing less than 67 STRs is a weak indicator but can be a good indicator if you have certain marker values. If you have tested less than 67 STRs, you can use the values of STRs in the table below to predict your chances of matching the DNA of Colla descendants. Matches with Clan Colla project members is also a good indicator.

The following tests at FTDNA cannot alone put you on the Results page of the Clan Colla project. Nor can they put you on our Unabridged Big Y SNP Tree.

1. Family Finder: Family Finder test results received since December 2023 have included several Colla SNPs (but no downstream SNPs for placing oneself on the BIG Y SNP tree): Z3000, Z3008, S953, and Z16275.
2. Individual SNPs: Testing for the Z3000 SNP or a few other ancient individual SNPs downstream of Z3000. A few men have done this after testing 67 STR markers. This is much less expensive than Big Y testing. It verifies Clan Colla DNA, but provides no downstream SNPs for placing oneself on the BIG Y SNP tree.
3. Z3000 SNP Pack: Testing for the SNPs in the Z3000 SNP Pack. The cost is $119. The SNP pack verifies Clan Colla DNA and can provide downstream SNP matches, but does not test for less common SNPs, recently-discovered SNPs, nor SNPs that will be discovered in the future. Key SNPs included as of July 2022 were: DF21, Z3000, Z29586, Z16270, BY3171, Z21270, BY3162, Z18005, Z18004, Z18007, Z18003, Z3006, Z3008, Z3004, BY3163, BY3172, S953, Y9053, BY2869, ZZ13_1, BY3164, A945, A938, BY3158, BY3249, BY3179, Z37586, Z16274, Z16276, Z16278, BY3170, Z16277, Z16275, A77, Z16280, BY3166, BY3160, BY3157.
4. Upstream SNP Packs: Testing for SNPs in the M343, P312, L21, and DF21 SNP Packs. A few men have done these SNP packs when they had no idea that they had Clan Colla DNA. These SNP packs include the Z3000 SNP, but no downstream SNPs.

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FTDNA Test Results.

• On the FTDNA Public Results Page
  • STR results, including subgroup, kit, tester surname, ancestor name, country, haplogroup (SNP), marker values (STRs
  • SNP results, including kit, ancestor name, and haplogroup

• On Your FTDNA Homepage (myFTDNA).
  • Y-DNA
    • Matches
    • Y-STR Results
    • Haplotree & SNPs
  • Big Y
    • Block Tree
    • Matches
    • Results
    • Y-STR Results
    • Discover More
      • Haplogroup Story - Estimated Age
      • Migration Map
      • Scientific Detail
      • Time Tree - Historical haplogroups and estimated ages
    • myProjects (in addition to the Clan Colla project, we suggest joining projects for your surname, DF21, L21, P312, R1b)

Paternal Ancestor et al. on Your FTDNA Homepage (myFTDNA). Click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of your homepage (myFTDNA).

• Account Settings
  • Account Information
  • Genealogy
    • Surnames
    • Earliest Known Ancestors
      • Direct Paternal Ancestor
        • Name and birth year
        • Location - Country
      • Paternal Ancestral Location - latitude and longitude
      • Direct Maternal Ancestor
      • Maternal Ancestral Location
  • Privacy & Sharing
  • Project Preferences
  • Notification Preferences
• Order History
• Learning Center
• Sign Out

Table of Contents     

Clan Colla Big Y SNP Tree

The following pointers will help to navigate the tree shown in the window below.

1. SNPs. SNPs (e.g., Z3000) are single nucleotide polymorphisms, or mutations, found on the Y chromosome of male BIG Y testers. SNPs that are inherited by two or more testers allow the creation of tree branches with named SNPs (229 as of August 22, 2022). Click on a SNP in the table below to see information about the SNP at Family Tree DNA Discovery.
2. Year. The year shown after a SNP (e.g., 150 AD for Z3000) is the estimated year that the SNP was born. Estimates are made by Family Tree DNA Discovery. Estimates are necessarily very rough. Click on the SNP and then "Scientific Details" to see information about the estimate by Family Tree DNA Discovery.
3. Testers. The surname and kit number of testers who have the SNP are listed following the SNP name and year.
4. Unique STRs. Shown after some SNPs are STRs. STRs are short tandem repeats that are unique for testers who have that SNP (e.g., 511=9 for Z-3000). STRs can be seen for most testers on the FTDNA public results page for the Clan Colla project.
5. Public Results Index Number. The italicized number (e.g., 050 for SNP BY23750) helps you find a tester's category on the FTDNA public results page for the Clan Colla project. Click on the number to go to the public results page. Shown are tester last name, kit number, ancestor's name and country, haplogroup (SNP), and up to 111 STRs.

R-Z3000 and Clan Colla Big Y SNP Tree

Click here to open the tree in a new window. (See also Abridged Tree.)

About the Tree. The tree shows Y-chromosome SNPs of Clan Colla Big Y testers and the roughly estimated years in which those SNPs occurred. There were 229 SNPs named as of August 22. 2022. Big Y is a Y-chromosome testing program offered by Family Tree DNA since 2014. It identifies a man's SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and compares those SNPs with other men it has tested. The Clan Colla Big Y SNP Tree includes the SNPs of all Clan Colla project members who have been tested under the Family Tree DNA Big Y program, which tests a large part of the Y-chromosome. There are also a few testers on the tree who are not project members but have been found through member data.

The tree starts with Z3000, which roughly occurred in 150 AD. Descendants include cousins of the Collas as well as descendants of the Collas. The Colla descendants have Z3008, which roughly occurred in 450 AD.

Prior to Z3000 in 150 AD, no branching occurred for 2,300 years.

The tree is based on FTDNA's Big Y Block Tree, which is accessible by each Big Y tester from his homepage at FTDNA.

Michael Sager of FTDNA maintans 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: Public Y-DNA Haplotree

For a summary of Big Y, see the FTDNA Big Y Q&A.

Rob Spencer's SNP Tracker provides a SNP progression list, estimated age, and map. SNPs and their ages are based on FTDNA Big Y data.

YFull has a SNP tree at R-A50. (A50 is equivalent to Z3000.) The tree is based on testers who submit their raw data. The cost is $50. As of January 2022, 32 testers had submitted data. SNP age estimates are made by YFull based on the Adamov et al 2015 study. These estimates are updated when new testers are added.

Named SNPs have been given a short name to make them easieer to remember. SNP names start with letters.

• "A" SNPs were named by Thomas Krahn. See the YSEQ SNP Index.
• "AM" or "AMM" SNPs were named by the Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
• "BY" SNPs were found with Big Y at Family Tree DNA. See the BY SNP Index.
• "CTS" SNPs were named by Chris Tyler-Smith of the The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, England.
• "DF" SNPs were named by an anonymous researcher using publicly available full-genome-sequence data, including 1000 Genomes Project data; named in honor of the DNA-Forums.org genetic genealogy community.
• "F" SNPs were named by Li Jin at Fudan University in China.
• "FGC" SNPs were named by Full Genomes Corporation of Virginia and Maryland.
• "FT," "FTA," "FTB, ""FTC," etc. SNPs were found with Big Y-700 at Family Tree DNA. See the FT SNP Index.
• "L" SNPs were named by Thomas Krahn in honor of the late Leo Little.
• "M" SNPs were named by Peter Underhill, Ph.D., of Stanford University.
• "PF" SNPs were named by Paolo Francalacci at the Università di Sassari in Italy.
• "S" SNPs were named at ScotlandsDNA by James F. Wilson, D.Phil, Edinburgh University.
• "SK" SNPs were named by Mark Stoneking, Ph.D., Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
• "V" SNPs were named by Rosaria Scozzari and Fulvio Cruciani, Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin,” Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
• "Y" SNPs were named by the YFull Team using data from the 1000 Genomes Project.
• "Z" SNPs were assigned by the Community. Z2993 to Z3021 were assigned by David Reynolds on December 24, 2012. They were found in the Harvard Personal Genome project (PGP 85), and another public Irish genome. It was not known at the time that the man was Clan Colla, only that he was DF21. Continuing in that tradition, Alex Williamson has added Z names for many of the recently found shared SNPs on the tree (Z16267 to Z16279 and Z18001 to Z1811).
• "ZZ" SNPs were named by Alex Williamson. Mutations in palindromic regions. Each ZZ prefix represents two possible SNP locations

Advantages of the Tree. There are several major advantages of Big Y for Clan Colla.

• Many well-known Colla surnames are represented among the testers, Included are McDonald and McMahon, as well as Hughes, Carroll, McQuillan, Kelly, McGuire, McAuley, Boylan, Connolly, Hart, Monaghan, Higgins, McKenna, MacDougall, Duffy.
• It defines Clan Colla very simply in terms of SNPs.
• It confirms the prior identification of Clan Colla DNA through the use of STR markers.
• It tells individuals more precisely how they fit in to Clan Colla relative to others who have tested.
• It tells how Clan Colla relates to other groups who branched off earlier.
• It roughly estimates the year in which SNPs occurred, which can be compared with dates in genealogies, including ancient genealogies.

Before BIG Y, we identified Clan Colla DNA with four key STR marker values: 511=9, 425=0, 505=9, 441=12. The first two became known in 2006, when 67 STR markers became available. The second two became known in 2011 when 111 markers became available. We also have Clan Colla modal DNA, which Josiah McGuire rootsstarted in 2007. And, since 2012, we know that all Collas have the DF21 SNP. We are thankful for all that. But we knew it would be better if we had a SNP downstream of DF21 that specifically identified Clan Colla DNA.

Past efforts to find a Clan Colla SNP had failed. Bart O'Toole (N57121) participated in Walk Through the Y (WTY) at FTDNA in 2009. Bart, as well as Carroll (N71810), Conly (263699), Henretty (285468), McGuire (319027), McMahon (N83765), and Smith (83132) participated in Geno 2.0 at National Geographic (tested by FTDNA) in 2012-13. But no SNPs were found downstream of DF21.

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Ordering Big Y-700. We recommend ordering BIG Y-700. It puts you on our Big Y SNP tree, which is the ultimate in Y-chromosome testing. The cost is $229 to $399 on sale, depending on how many STRs already have been tested. Most testers have 67 or 111 STRs before they join our project, resulting in a sale price of $259 or $229. More recently, testers are buying Big Y to start with. The sale price of $399 is less expensive than buying STRs first and then upgrading to Big Y.

If you are new to Family Tree DNA, you can order Big Y by going to Clan Colla FTDNA Project and clicking on Join in the upper right corner. If you have already used Family Tree DNA, go to your FTDNA Home page. The Clan Colla project has a General Fund that contains money available to those who need it for Big Y testing. The money has been contributed by project members.

Sales on Big Y-700 and Upgrades. Sales of Big Y-700 and upgrades thereof have occurred in March (RootsTech), April (25th is DNA Day), June, August, November, December.

Note: April 25 is DNA Day, the day in 1953 when James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, and colleagues published papers in the journal Nature on the structure of DNA. Furthermore, on that day in 2003, it was declared that the Human Genome Project was virtually complete.

Regular Price of Big Y-700 and Upgrades. On January 30, 2019, FTDNA announced that it had improved Big Y testing and that Big Y-700 would replace Big Y-500. Big Y-700 at a glance:

• Expanded targeting of genealogically useful Y-chromosome regions
• Revamped chemistry that provides more uniform coverage within a much broader and targeted region of the Y
• More consistent coverage improves comparison between any two results and allows more of the identified SNPs to be placed on the tree
• Increased number of STR markers provides more data points on paternal lineages and can help identify family-specific variants

History of Big Y. FTDNA introduced Big Y on November 10, 2013 and upgraded it twice. The price has been reduced several times.

Clan Colla General Fund. The Clan Colla General Fund was started in June 2014 to help members defray the cost of Big Y. If you need an additional incentive beyond those provided by FTDNA sales, Clan Colla project administrators can provide an additonal $50 from the General Fund as long as funds are available.

Any contributions to the Clan Colla General Fund to help other members are most welcome.

ScotlandsDNA. The first Colla to receive his BIG Y results was Carroll N41845. Results were posted on February 27, 2014. In March 2014, Alex Williamson analyzed these results and found that 8 new SNPs were the same as new SNPs found by ScotlandsDNA using Chromo2, published in February 2014 for 7 anonymous people. ScotlandsDNA did not realize, however, as Alex did, that people with these SNPs are descended from Clan Colla.

The 8 SNPs found in common for Carroll N41845 and the 7 Chromo2 testers are: S951, S954, S957, S964, S966, S967 S968, S3862. These are all Z3000 equivalents.

A Colla Chromo2 SNP tree was put together based on the work of Bruce Noe and Alex Williamson on their DF21 Chromo2 SNP tree.

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STRs: Predictors of Clan Colla SNPs

There are two kinds of markers for Y-chromosome DNA: STRs and SNPs.

• A SNP is a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, a mutation in the DNA that happens when a single nucleotide (A, T, G, or C) in the genome sequence is altered. A person has many SNPs that together create a unique DNA pattern for that individual. Collas and their cousins have the Z3000 SNP and many downstream SNPs that show where they fall on the Z3000 Colla SNP tree.
• An STR is a Short Tandem Repeat, or count of repeats at a physical location on the chromosome. These repeats can be used to predict SNPs. They can be used to create a modal DNA for a group of men that match each other. They can be used to measure genetic distance between two testers and between a tester and the modal DNA. And, they cane be used to predict SNps.

STRs Predicting SNPs. STRs can be used to predict SNPs. As indicated above, a combination of four STRs can be used to predict the Clan Colla Z3000 SNP. For those with Colla DNA, unique STRs that differ from the Colla modal DNA can be used to predict SNPs downstream of Z3000. Below is a list of such STRs (including the four for Z3000).

STR Genetic Distance. FTDNA provides two kinds of test results: individual and public. Individual test results are shown on a tester's homepage called myFTDNA. One of the most important sections is Y-DNA Matches, which shows the tester's closest matches at each STR testing level. Included is the genetic distance between the tester and his closest matches. Genetic distance occurs because of mutations from one generation to another. If two people are identical in all STRs except they are off in one STR by 1 point, the genetic distance would be 1. If they were off at 2 different STRs by 1 point in each marker, then the genetic distance of those two samples would be 2. If they are off by 2 points at one STR and 1 point in a second STR, then the genetic distance would be 3. Genetic distance for certain STRs or STR groups is limited to 1. This method of computing genetic distance is called the hybrid mutation model. If an STR has a null value for one person and a positive value for another, the STR is ignored.

In addition to GDs for close matches, the Y-DNA Matches section shows the SNPs of matching Big Y-700 testers. These SNPs can predict where a tester would fall on the SNP tree if he were to do BigY-700.

FTDNA says a frequently asked question is "If two men share a surname, how should the genetic distance be interpreted?"

They say, for example, two testers with a GD of 0 at 67 STR markers are "Very Tightly Related." Best guess is that they share a common ancestor in three generations or less. "Very few people achieve this close level of a match." Two testers with a GD of 7 at 67 STR markers are "Probably Related," but no attempt is made to guess the number of generations.

Two testers with a GD of 0 at 111 STR markers are "Very Tightly Related." Best guess is that they share a common ancestor in two generations or less. Two testers with a GD of 7 at 111 STR markers are "Probably Related." Best guess is that they share a common ancestor in 11 generations or less.

Colla Modal and Key STRs. The study of Clan Colla DNA began with a preliminary modal DNA established by Josiah McGuire in June 2009 using a relatively small number of people who had Colla names and the null value for marker 425. Since June 2009 the database of people with Colla DNA has expanded greatly and the modal has been recomputed. Each time, the modal has remained the same.

There are several over-represented families included in the database now. To assure that these were not skewing the data, the five largest surname groups were removed, and the modal was recomputed without them. The resulting modal, however, remained the same.

In June 2013, the modal was computed for STR markers 68 to 111 based on the FTDNA project members who had tested 111 markers. The number who had tested 111 markers was, coincidentally, 111 people. The total number in the project, including those who had tested only 67 markers, was 241. Among the 111 who had tested 111 markers, The modal values for markers 1 to 67 were the same as previously determined.

The key STR markers expanded from 425=0 to 511=9 among the first 67 markers. The expansion to 111 markers brought two more key STR markers: 505=9 and 441=12. According to geneticist Patrick McMahon, "the probability of getting this combination of four markers by chance, rather than by inheritance, is as near to zero as makes no difference. The few exceptions can be easily accommodated and will probably still have three out of the four keys and similar very low probability of having arisen by chance."

Also in 2013, the Z3000 SNP was discovered and named by non-Colla Mike Walsh. The Z3000 SNP identifies the Y-DNA of The Three Collas and and cousiins that is predicted by the modal.

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Genetic Distance from Modal STRs. The next step was to compute the genetic distance from Colla Modal STRs for each person in the study. Genetic distance occurs because of mutations from one generation to another. If two people are identical in all STRs except they are off in one STR by 1 point, the genetic distance would be 1. If they were off at 2 different STRs by 1 point in each marker, then the genetic distance of those two samples would be 2. If they are off by 2 points at one STR and 1 point in a second STR, then the genetic distance would be 3. Genetic distance for certain STRs or STR groups is limited to 1. This method of computing genetic distance is called the hybrid mutation model. If an STR has a null value for one person and a positive value for another, the STR is ignored.

Actual calculations were made using the FTDNA 111 Mode BETA version of the McGee Utility.

As of June 2011, there were 232 people included in the Colla Group. They have been included because their DNA has been found to match fairly closely with Colla Modal DNA. Of these 232, 148 were included in the Clan Colla 425 null project at Family Tree DNA. The rest have been by searching surname studies at FTDNA and through the use of Ysearch.

The genetic distance between the Colla Group and the 67-STR Colla Modal ranges between 1 and 11, and averages 6. Of the 232 people, 219 or 94% of the group have a genetic distance of 3 to 9.

Distribution of people by genetic distance from Colla Modal STRs. For example, it shows that 40 people have a genetic distance of 4 from the Colla Modal.

There are 26,796 possible comparisons among the 232 people: n*(n-1)/2, where n is the number of people. The genetic distances for these pairs range between 0 and 21. The average is 9.9. The total of such genetic distances up to 7 is 4,937, or 18% of the total possible matches. So, the matches that Colla people see are probably all fellow Collas, but only 18% of the total. If FTDNA were to raise the limit to 10, people would see 57% of the total possible matches, but they might also see some non-Colla matches.

Distribution of genetic distances in STRs among participants. For example, it shows that 232 people have 2,161 genetic distances of 7 among themselves.

FTDNA shows each participant his 67-STR matches up to a genetic distance of 7 on his homepage. And it allows participants to restrict the showing of their matches to the people in their surname project. The theoretical 67-marker match experience (within a genetic distance of 7) varies considerably by individual, from 1 to 145. The average is 43. The person with 145 theoretical matches has only 94 showing on his homepage at FTDNA because some participants restrict display of their matches to the people in their surname project. Another person has a theoretical 33 but actually sees only 25 because of the restrictors. Yet another person has a theoretical 55 but actually sees only 45 because of the restrictors.

Scattergram of genetic distance from Colla modal and number of matches up to -7 for 232 people. For example, there is one person who has a genetic distance of 4 from the Colla modal and has 27 matches with genetic distance of 7 or less. Another with a GD of 4 has 105 matches.

As indicated above, the genetic distance between the Colla Group testers and the 67-STR Colla Modal DNA ranges between 1 and 11. The table below shows the percentage ditribution of genetic distances at 67 markers and for lesser markers.

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First sketch of the deoxyribonucleic acid double-helix pattern in 1953 by Francis Crick.

Null Value for STR 425. All Colla participants by study design have taken the 67-marker test conducted by FTDNA. The 48th marker in the 67-marker test is marker 425. A null value for marker 425 separates the Colla Group from most others in the DF21 reference group. (The 47th, 76th, and 91st markers also separate Clan Colla: 511=9, 505=9, 441=12.)

Until it was stopped in 2019, a special test, called the DYF371X test, was offered for those who have the null value for marker 425.

A Null 425 DNA project was set up in 2008. As of January 1, 2014, the DYF371X test had been done for 51 members of the Clan Colla project: 49 have subvalues of 10c-12c-13c-14c and two (closely related) have a variant of 10c-12c-14c-14c. Of the 51, 31 had joined the Null 425 project.

As indicated by the Null 425 DNA project and the DF21 project, there are several people with DF21 DNA who have the null 425 but are not Clan Colla. They are missing the other three key markers: 511=9, 505=9, and 441=12. They have 67-marker genetic distances of 19-20 from the Clan Colla modal instead of 1 to 11, the range for Colla members. They do not have Colla names: Denman, Furgeson, McCloud. Like Clan Colla, they have DYF371X subvalues of 10c-12c-13c-14c. One, McCloud, has tested for Z3000 and is negative.

There have been people who match the Colla Group but do not have a null value for marker 425. According to FTDNA, the null 425 can be very difficult to identify. When one of these cases arises, FTDNA has retested, and the null value is finally identified.

The event which causes the null 425 result is a Recombinational Loss of Heterozygosity (recLOH). This type of mutation is more frequent than a SNP mutation, but less frequent than a STR mutation. It is very unlikely that a null value would ever be reversed.

Although the null 425 is fairly rare, there are groups other than Clan Colla that have the null 425. As of January 2014, there were 29 of these groups identified in the Null 425 DNA project. The major ones are shown in the table below.

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R-M269, L21, and DF21 SNPs

The Z3000 SNP for Clan Colla is descended from three well-known SNPs: R-M269, L21, and DF21.

Map of R-Z3000 SNP migration by Family Tree DNA. R-Z3000 is estimated to have been born in Northern England in 150 AD. (R-M269 is estimated to have been born northwest of the Caspian Sea in southern Russia in 4350 BC.)

Any tester with Clan Colla DNA who has tested STRs but has not done SNP testing or Family Finder is predicted by FTDNA to have the M269 SNP. The M269 SNP is the most common European haplogroup, greatly increasing in frequency on an east to west gradient. Its prevalence in Poland is estimated at 22.7%, compared to Wales at 92.3%. See: Haplogroup R-M269. A real rough estimate of the year M269 was born is 4350 BC, based on FTDNA Discover. M269 is descended from M343, which is also refered to as the R1b haplogroup. There is an M343 Project at FTDNA.

Join Projects. Participants in the Clan Colla project are urged to join five FTDNA projects:

• R Z3000, Clan Colla 425 null and Subclades
• R DF21 and Subclades
• R L21 and Z290 Subclades
• R R1b: M343 and M269 and Subclades
• surname project

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Using data prepared by Alex Williamson based on data from Michael Walsh in August 2012, Patrick McMahon has added data on Clan Colla and created the following graph showing the descendancy of many of the SNPs outlined in the table above. It shows, for example, that Clan Colla first appeared about 2000 years ago and DF21 first appeared about 3000 years ago. The arrows indicate measures of uncertainty. The numbers under the SNP are sample sizes and the labels indicate associated haplogroups (where known). The horizontal space is for separation of lines and labels.

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Matching Sets of 20 Names

Identification of the Y-DNA of The Three Collas, who lived on 4th century Ulster, rests upon the similarity between 1 and 2:
     1. a set of 20 surnames in the ancient genealogies of The Three Collas and
     2. a set of 20 surnames among 232 testers out of a total of 466 with the Y-DNA SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) called R-Z3008.
It also rests upon the pedigrees of 7 McDonalds who trace their ancestry back to Lt. Brian McDonald, McDonnell of Antrim, Somerled, and Colla Uais in 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald and 2 McMahons who trace their ancestry back to Colla da Crioch in 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon. (The kit numbers of these testers are in bold below.)

Maps of 20 Matching Names in Griffiths Valuation. The 20 surnames, in order of prevalence, are: 53 McDonald, 43 McMahon, 23 McKenna, 17 Connolly, 17 Duffy, 12 McGuire, 8 Monaghan, 8 Hughes, 8 McQuillan, 7 Boylan, 5 Hart, 5 Kelly, 4 MacDougall, 4 Higgins, 4 McArdle, 3 Cooley, 3 Neal, 3 Larkin, 3 Carroll, 2 Devine. Following are maps of the prevalence of households with these surnames in the 1847-1864 Griffiths Valuation. Source: John Grenham. All names are found in Ulster.

Griffiths McMahon Map	Griffiths McDonald Map	Griffiths McKenna Map	Griffiths Connolly Map
Griffiths Duffy Map	Griffiths Maguire Map	Griffiths Monaghan Map	Griffiths Hughes Map

Griffiths McQuillan Map

Griffiths Boylan Map

Griffiths Hart Map

Griffiths Kelly Map

Griffiths McDougal Map

Griffiths Higgins Map

Griffiths McArdle Map

Griffiths Cooley Map

Griffiths Neal Map

Griffiths Larkin Map

Griffiths Carroll Map

Griffiths Devine Map

Many testers with Clan Colla DNA do not have historical surnames. The major names are: McGinnis, McGroder, Østerud, King, Martin, Beggan, McAuley, O'Hara, White, Collins, Glennon, Murphy, Clarke, McGinn, Murray, Waters. Clan Colla DNA has not yet been found for many Clan Colla names. See Historical Surnames.

Many testers do not have Z3008 Y-DNA. They are descended from cousins of The Three Collas, as shown in the first six columns of the following Abridged Clan Colla Big Y SNP Tree. They have a mixture of English and historical Clan Colla surnames. See: Origin of The Three Collas.

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Two Ancient Genealogies

9 R-Z3008 testers have connected their genealogies with ancient genealogies of The Three Collas: 7 McDonalds and 2 McMahons. They happen to have the two most common surnames.

• The 7 McDonalds trace their ancestry back to Lt. Brian McDonald, born in 1645 in Arklow, County Wicklow, and thence to Somerled and Colla Uais. See: 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald and Inferences for Other Uais Subgroups
• The 2 McMahons trace their ancestry back to Conn MacMahon of Killshanlish, who died in 1663, and thence to Colla da Crioch. See: 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon and Inferences for Other Crioch Subgroups.

The table shows the SNPs of each of the two ancient genealogies from 450 AD to 1750 AD. The two Colla brothers lived in the 4th century, yet the SNPs start at 450 AD. This could be explained by the fact that the dates of the SNPs are rough estimates. They could easily be off by 100 or 200 years. It could also be explained by possible error in the ancient history.

The two genealogies go back to separate Colla brothers. The most recent shared SNP of testers with the two separate genealogies is Z3008. This lends credence to the argument that Z3008 is the SNP of The Three Collas. If the father of The Three Collas did not have the Z3008 SNP, the two sons would not both have Z3008.

43 Generations: Colla to McDonald

Six of our McDonald 1 subgroup can trace their ancestry back to Lt. Brian McDonald (MacDonnell), born in 1645 in Arklow, County Wicklow, and then back to Alasdair Og, Somerled, and Colla Uais. The first to do this was Frank Everett McDonald, Jr., a retired dairy farmer from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He was born there in 1926, had his Y-DNA tested in 2008, and died in 2014. His FTDNA kit is #133546. The genealogy of Frank Everett McDonald, Jr., was brought to our attention by Vaden McDonald, who is unrelated (Vaden has R1b-CTS4455 DNA). Since then, Elbert Leo "Mick" McDaniel III, a member of our McDonald 1 subgroup, has found five other McDonald testers. Paul Duffy has provided valuable information on the McDonalds of Antrim and Leinster. Donald Schlegel has been most helpful in connecting the Frank Everett McDonald's genealogy with Colla Uais.

Ancestors of 7 Testers in the McDonald 1 Subgroup

Interspersed with the Y-DNA mutations, called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), of the 7 McDonald Big Y Testers

Sources. 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. Sources for the 43 generations are as follows.

• Generation 1 to 20: 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). Also see The Three Collas - An Alternative Explanation.
• Generation 20 to 36: The MacDonnell Family of Leinster, 1100 AD to 1707, Irish Midlands Ancestry, compiled by the Family History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland
• Generation 1 to 33: Leinster Clandonnells; the Queen Majestie’s Galloglass, Wilde Irishe Blog, May 22, 2020.
• Generation 1 to 33: The Clan Donald, by Rev. Angus Macdonald (1860-1932) and Rev. Archibald Macdonald (1853-1948), Volume III, 1904, pages 173 to 180.
• Generation 36: Contributions to the Early History of Bryan McDonald and Family , 1879, by Frank V. McDonald
• Generation 36 to 40: Kegley's Virginia Frontier, by F. B. Kegley, 1938 (or selected pages)
• Generation 25 to 43: Genealogy of Frank Everett McDonald, Jr. by Vaden McDonald, 2007.
• Generation 39 to 43 for Frank Everett McDonald, Jr.: 1820-1930 U. S. Censuses:
  • Buffalo Creek, Botetourt County, Virginia: 1820 for generations 39 (widow Ruth) and 40
  • McDonalds Mill, Montgomery County, Virginia: 1830 for generations 39 (widow Ruth) and 40
  • McDonalds Mill, Montgomery County, Virginia: 1840-1, 1840-2, 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 for generations 40 and 41
  • Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia: 1880 for generation 41
  • Chamblissburg, Bedford County, Virginia: 1900, 1910, and 1920 for generations 41 and 42
  • Roanoke Creek, Big Lick District, Virginia: 1930 for generations 42 and 43

Generation 3. Faughan River, Barony of Tirkeeran, County Derry. Photo: Queen's University Belfast

Generation 3. Faughan River, Barony of Tirkeeran, County Derry. Photo: Queen's University Belfast

Generation 20-24. Blackface sheep and Finlaggan ruins on Eilean Mòr in Loch Finlaggan, Islay, Argyll, Scotland. Finlaggan was the seat of the Lords of the Isles under Clan Donald. The ruins we see today are from a castle built in the 13th century, with masonry walls. An earlier construction, likely timber, was erected in 1138 by Somerled. Source: Lords of the Isles.

Generation 23. Seal of Aonghus Mór. Source: Aonghus Mór The legend reads:                      "S' ENGVS DE YLE FILII DOMNALDI"

Generation 24. Seal of Alasdair Óg of Islay. Source: Alasdair Óg of Islay, The legend reads:                           "S' ALEXANDRI DE ISLE"

McDonald 1 Map. Faughan River in Tirkeeran in County Derry. Finlaggan Castle in Islay, and Tinnakill Castle in County Laois.

Generation 27-34. Tinnakill Castle, 1903 photo. Also known as Tynekill, A ruined medieval tower house in the parish of Coolbanagher, in the Barony of Portnahinch, County Laois, Ireland. The last McDonnell to hold Tinnakill was James McDonnell, from whom the site was seized following his role in the Irish Rebellion of 1641

Generation 38. Bryan McDonald III - House and cornerstone: "Bryan McDonald 1766." 4084 Catawba Road, Troutville, Botetourt County, Virginia. Source: Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

McDonald 1 Subgroup. The following table contains information on the DNA of the McDonald 1 subgroup. We are indebted to one of the members, Elbert Leo "Mick" McDaniel III, who has assisted fellow members in their genealogical research. Mick has more detail in his Bryan McDonnell Descendants. All have or are are predicted have the SNP BY3158/A939. All have STRs 437=14 and 446=14, instead of the Colla modal of 437=15 and 446=13.

Inferences for Other Colla Uais Subgroups. Ancient ancestors of the McDonald 1 subgroup are probably shared by testers in certain Colla subgroups. We do not know what ancestors were born with what SNPs, but we can make a guess based on

• ancient ancestry dates put together by various Gaelic scholars and
• the roughly estimated dates of SNPs by Family Tree DNA.

Following is a SNP tree for Colla Uais, interspersed with the ancient genealogy of the McDonald 1 testers who can trace their ancestry back to Colla Uais. The blending of the ancient genealogy and SNP tree is rather arbitrary because of the uncertainty of ancestral genealogy and SNP dates. Testers other than McDonald 1 testers share the McDonald 1 genealogy before the latest shared SNP. For example, Beggan testers with the BY3164 SNP share the FT14481 SNP with McDonald 1 testers. If the ancient ancestry dates have been properly blended with the SNP dates, the Beggan testers share the McDonald 1 ancestors who lived before FT14481: ancestors 1 to 8 of the McDonald 1 genealogy. The earlier the ancestor the greater the confidence in the sharing. One of the earlier ancestors is Carthend who lived in Tirkeeran.

Colla Uais SNP Tree, with a McDonald 1 Genealogy

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50 Generations: Colla to McMahon

Our study of the DNA of The Three Collas is based on present-day Y-chromosome DNA and surnames from ancient pedigrees. The most populous surname among Clan Colla testers is McMahon. There are many different Y-DNA groups of testers with the name McMahon or variants thereof. McMahons with Clan Colla DNA are the largest group of McMahons. See: McMahon FTDNA Project and McMahon Project Review.

Two of the McMahons with Clan Colla DNA can trace their ancestry back to one of The Three Collas, Colla da Crioch, who lived in the 4th century. Both have done Big Y and have the SNPs A77>Z16280>BY115195. They have a Y-67 STR genetic distance of 2.

• Patrick Ciaran McMahon, kit 145687. A co-author of this Web page and a co-author with Eugene McMahon of The McMahons of Trohanny.
• Peter Joseph McMahon, kit N174002.

Ancestors of Two Testers in the McMahon 1 Subgroup

Interspersed with the Y-DNA mutations, called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), of the 2 McMahon Testers

Sources. 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. Sources are as follows.

• Generations 1 to 31: Eugene McMahon and genealogical charts reproduced in The McMahons of Trohanny by Patrick and Eugene McMahon, February 2008, pages 155 & 157-158, augmented by recent confirmatory information from Katharine Simms (Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Trinity College Dublin) in her article "The MacMahon Pedigree: a Medieval Forgery" in Regions and Rulers in Ireland, 1100-1650, edited by David Edwards, 2004, pages 27–36.
• Generations 31 to 50: Development of the Trohanny McMahon Family Tree and Trohany McMahon Pedigree by Patrick and Eugene McMahon, October 2020, combining Y-DNA test results with historical information. This work established that the common ancestor for Patrick and Peter was Conn (39) and not William (44) as originally thought. Connectivity, through Rory Óg (38), to a medieval pedigree chart (going back to Colla Da Chrich) was also established.

Inferences for Colla Da Crioch Subgroups. Ancient ancestors of Patrick and Peter McMahon are probably shared by testers in certain Colla subgroups. We do not know what ancestors were born with what SNPs, but we can make a guess based on

• ancient ancestry dates put together by various Gaelic scholars and
• the roughly estimated dates of SNPs by Family Tree DNA.

Following is a SNP tree for Colla Da Crioch, interspersed with the ancient genealogy of the McMahon testers who can trace their ancestry back to Colla Da Crioch. The blending of the ancient genealogy and SNP tree is rather arbitrary because of the uncertainty of ancestral genealogy and SNP dates. Testers other than McMahon testers share the McMahon genealogy before the latest shared SNP. For example, McQuillan testers with the BY3166 SNP share the Z16276 SNP with McMahon testers. If the ancient ancestry dates have been properly blended with the SNP dates, the McQuillan testers share the McMahon ancestors who lived before Z16276: ancestors 1 to 14 of the McMahon genealogy. The earlier the ancestor the greater the confidence in the sharing.

Colla Da Crioch SNP Tree, with a McMahon Genealogy

More on McMahon DNA. In his McMahon DNA, Patrick McMahon analyzes the DNA of other McMahons who have tested their DNA. Patrick administers the McMahon surname project for FTDNA.

Table of Contents     

Grafting of Viking Clan Donald

Y-chromosome DNA has confirmed ancient history relating to Clan Colla. It also has revealed several areas where the history is wrong. One such area has to do with Clan Donald, which includes McDonalds of Keppoch, Sleat, Glengarry, and Clanranald. They are descended from Angus Og, Lord of the Isles from 1308, when he deposed his brother, until his death in 1330

Clan Donald genealogists had always said that Clan Donald was descended from Colla Uais through Somerled. In March 2004, however, the Clan Donald DNA project announced that McDonalds of Keppoch, Sleat, Glengarry, and Clanranald had Viking R1a DNA rather than Clan Colla R1b DNA. (R1a and R1b split off from each other 20,000 years ago.) So, they admitted that they do not have Clan Colla ancestry, and at some point they were grafted on to the Clan Colla tree.

But, the Clan Donald DNA project could not relinquish Somerled. They insisted that the grafting occurred before Someled. They took the position even though McDonald 1 genealogy clearly goes back to Colla Uais through Somerled (see: 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald), and McDonald 1 has Clan Colla DNA. When confronted with this McDonald 1 evidence, Clan Donald simply said there must have been "a back non-paternity event" or "the 'paper' line has a mistake."

In September 2024, Doug McDonald sent an email to McDonald DNA project members saying that "The Clan Donald USA has gone to a new web site and the DNA Project (as well as genealogical data) is not currently included. This is unfortunate. I am trying to get something back up, with no response so far. It appears their development project ran out of money." See: Donald Usa (McDonald).

So, where did the grafting most likely occur? The oldest ancestor claimed by Clan Donald but not McDonald 1 is Angus Og. So, the grafting must have occurred at Angus Og or later. Angus Og was said to be the brother of Alasdair Og from whom McDonald 1 testers descend. Angus Og "deposed" his "brother" Alasdair Og.

Donald Schlegel believes that the grafting of Clan Donald occurred probably with Angus Og. And, in his The Ancestors of McDonalds of Somerset, published in 1998, Schlegel says Angus Og lived always in the shadow of powerful relatives, and there are few records pertaining directly to him. Schlegel also says that the McDonald historians say that Angus Og was entirely different physically from Angus Mor.

Grafting of Viking Clan Donald

In his "The Origin of the Name Somhairle," Donald Schlegel says that the Gaelic name Suairlech was used in Ireland and perhaps in Scotland before the Norse name Sumarlidi appeared; it was used primarily among the Dál Araidhe of what now is County Antrim. He says it is at least as likely, if not more likely, that the name Somerled came from the Gaeli c name.

Clan Donald graciously admits that Donald Schlegel has done a "very persuasive analysis" of the Colla Irish lines in his book, The Ancestors of McDonalds of Somerset, and the portion of that book describing the Colla ancestry of Somerled is reproduced on the Clan Donald site.

"The Clan Donald" Sources. Rev. Angus Macdonald (1860-1932), Minister of Killearnan, and Rev. Archibald Macdonald (1853-1948), Minister of Kiltarlity, wrote The Clan Donald in three volumes from 1896 to 1904.

• In Volume I, 1896, they provide several statements that help explain the error in Clan Donald genealogy:
  • Somerled not a Viking. On page 23, they say "there is not a shred of evidence" that Somerled was of Norse descent in the male line.
  • Lost primogeniture. On page 89, they say "Alexander left four sons - Reginald, Black John, Angus, and Charles. These and their progeny, victims of the fate which raised a younger brother to the dignity and honour of their father's house, lost the premier position in the Clan Cholla, though undoubtedly in the light of primogeniture they were the senior family of the line of Somerled."
  • Obscure history. On page 1, they say: "The descent and early history of the Clan Donald, like those of the other Highland clans, are involved in much obscurity. From the materials at the disposal of the historian, it is difficult, if not impossible, to weave anything like a clear, reliable, or consistent narrative. Fact and fiction are so often mixed up together, and tradition so frequently conflicts with what is regarded as authentic history, that the task of the historian sometimes assumes great, perhaps unmanageable, proportions."
  • Viking invasion. On page 12, they discuss the Norwegian invasion from 800-100 AD: "The Isle of Man and the Southern Isles of Scotland were the centre of the Norwegian settlements in the north-west of Europe. From these islands, which were peculiarly adapted as strongholds for the Vikings, whose strength lay in their large and well-built ships, the tide of invasion flowed in various directions, and the surviving records of the age derive much of their interest from the adventures of these kings of the sea."
  • Districts largely occupied by the Vikings. On pages 29 and 30, they say "it was in the latter part of the ninth century that the Norwegian invasion began to be felt in the West, in the coastlands of the Gael and the Isles. From the latter half of the ninth century onwards there was a perpetual struggle between the Norsemen and the native population, a struggle in which the people of the Isles soon yielded to the power of the Norseman; but the Gaels of Argyll continued bravely to resist the incursions of the foe. Notwithstanding this resistance, the districts both of Ergadia and Galwallia were largely occupied in the eleventh century by the Norsemen, for at the battle of Cluantarf in 1014 there is mention of the Galls or foreigners of Man, Skye, Lewis, Kintyre, and Oirthirghael. Further, when Thorfinn, the Earl of Orkney, conquered the nine rikis in Scotland in 1034, he included in his possessions Dali or Ergadia and Gaddeli or Galloway. This being, in brief, the general history of Argyll or Dalriada up to the eleventh century, from the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin, the question arises, how far the traditional genealogy of the Clan Donald which makes them of the stock of Dalriada is to be brought into line with the well-known historical facts to which we have adverted?"
• In Volume II, 1900, chapters 4 and 5 cover Alastair Og's descendants in Ulster, Connaught, and Tynekill
• In Volume III, 1904.
  • Somerled to Alastair Og. On pages 173 to 180, they include the genealogy of Colla Uais to Somerled to Alastair Og.
  • Alastair Og to McDonalds of Tynekill. On pages 199 to 210, they include the genealogy of Alastair Og to the McDonalds of Ulster, Connaught, and Tynekill

• Fate of Alastair Og. On page 23, he says "Angus Mor died about 1292. He has two sons, Alexander, his successor, and Angus. The elder son, Alexander of Isla, married a daughter of Ewen of Lorn, thereby acquiring a large addition to his possessions, but having joined the Lord of Lorn in his opposition to Robert the Bruce, he became involved in the ruin of that Lord. Alexander was imprisoned in Dundonald Castle, where he died. His whole possessions were forfeited, and given to Angus Og, who supported the claims of the Bruce."
• Fate of the sons of Alastair Og. On page 82, he says "The Clan Donald of Ulster sprang from Alexander of Isal, known as Alastair Og, whi succedded his father, Angus Mor, as Lord of the Isles, in 1292. Alastair had supported Robert Bruce, from whose vengeance he suffered when the Bruce became Monarch of Scotland. He was imprisoned in Dundonald Castle, where he died, and his possessions were given to his brother Angus Og. Alastair left six sons, Black John, Reginald, Someled, Angus, Godfrey, and Charles. These sons inherited the legacy of vengeance, being driven from their native soil to seek refuge in another land. They are next found in Ireland, settling in various parts of that country, where they became Captains of Galloglachs, or companies of foot-soldiers chosen for their superior size and strength."

Table of Contents     

Verification of Ancient Irish History

DNA testing has verified some ancient Irish genealogies.

• Clan Colla existed back in 4th century Ulster. The two most populous names are McDonald and McMahon.
  • 7 McDonalds trace their ancestry back to Lt. Brian McDonald (MacDonnell), McDonnell of Antrim, Somerled, and Colla Uais in 43 Generations: Colla to McDonald.
  • 2 McMahons trace their ancestry back to Colla da Crioch in 50 Generations: Colla to McMahon.
• Cian, the progenitor of Ely Carroll, existed back in 3rd century Munster.
• Descendants of John Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the American Declaratiion of Independence, have Ely Carroll Y-DNA.
• Brian Boru existed back in 10th century Ireland.
• Hy Maine existed back in 4th century Connacht.
• Niall of the Nine Hostages existed back in 4th century Ulster and Lowland Scotland.
• McGuire/McManus existed back in 14th century Ulster.
• The Lords of the Isles existed back in 12th century Scottish Highlands.

Correction of Ancient Irish History

DNA testing has also corrected some ancient genealogical connections that had historically been thought to exist.

• McDonalds who were 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 Viking DNA. There is, 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. There are also a number of McDonalds descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages and a Scottish cluster thought by some to be from Dalriada or Pictish. A December 2010 study of 213 McDonalds with 67 markers showed the following distribution: 21 Clan Colla, 18 Niall of the Nine Hostages, 27 Scottish cluster, 61 Viking, and 86 ungrouped.
• All McGuires had previously been thought by some to be descended from Clan Colla, but there is a significant group of McGuires and their McManus descendants that have different SNPs from Clan Colla and a genetic distance of 21 from Clan Colla.
• John Hart of New Jersey, signer of the Declaration of Indepence, was not descended from ther Three Collas. John O'Hart's 1892 Irish Pedigrees includes the O'Hart pedigree back to The Three Collas. In a footnote on page 678 of Volume II, John O'Hart states that "After the Cromwellian Confiscation in Ireland some of the family migrated to America; and John Hart, one of their descendants, was one of the Signatories to the Declaration of American Independnce, on the 4th July, 1776." The Y-DNA of John Hart the Signer can be found in: The Y-DNA Genetic Signature of an American Founding Father – John Hart the Signer, by Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull and Susan K. Steeble. The Y-DNA for several descandents of the the Signer is L21>DF13>Z39589>BY55538>BY54949. See: Hart project at FTDNA. Clan Colla is L21>DF13>DF21>Z3000>Z3006>Z3008. There are Harts with Clan Colla DNA, but they do not claim to be descended from John Hart the Signer.
• Hy Maine and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor, but they have different SNPs and there is a genetic distance of 17 between their modals. There are Kellys with Clan Colla DNA, but they are likely from another Kelly pedigree called Clankelly. Hy Maine has the FGC6545 SNP, also known as FGC6550.
• Northwest Irish (Niall) and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor, but they have different SNP and there is a genetic distance of 20 between their modals. See Colla Versus Niall DNA.
• 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 have different SNPs and significant genetic distances between their modals:
  • 9 between South Irish and Brian Boru,
  • 13 between South Irish and Ely Carroll, and
  • 12 between Brian Boru and Ely Carroll.

Table of Contents     

Deep Ancestry

Patrick McMahon analyzed the geographic distribution of the members of the L21 project at FTDNA in January 2011 and made the following observation.

Assuming today's testers are a random sample, these results support the views put forward by many that the L21 SNP occurred somewhere north of the Alps (about 4,000 years ago) and the L21 population drifted Northwest over time concentrating in the western fringes of the British Isles mainly in Ireland. North of the Alps would most likely be Germany or France where the original (presumed) high numbers would over time be replaced by further waves of migrants or simply driven North by more advanced civilisations.

How they made their way to Ireland is open to conjecture. The shortest sea journey then (3,000 to 4,000 years ago) as now would be from France to Southern England. However, they could have made their way directly to Ireland from Brittany (or via Cornwall or Wales). The figures support the view that there was no significant migration towards the Eastern parts of Europe and only minor ones to Scandinavia and Spain with the main thrust through Northern France to Britain and Ireland. Archaeologists have termed these peoples (and the proto-Collas are part of this population) as 'Bronze-age' Britons.

For a good presentation of the origins, age, spread, and ethnic association of Europeans see Eupedia. Following is a haplogroup timeline taken from Eupedia. "ybp" is years before the present.

Table of Contents     

Multiple-Sept Surnames

The descendants of The Three Collas share a common pattern of Y-chromosome DNA markers, and many have surnames mentioned in ancient genealogies as descending from The Three Collas. Not all people with Clan Colla surnames, however, have Clan Colla DNA. In the early days of Y-DNA testing, there was a tendency for people with Colla names to think that they were descended from Clan Colla just because they had a Colla name. For example, in 2004, a Clan Donald press release said that they believed a group of McDonalds (now called the Scottish Cluster) was Clan Colla. This turned out to be wrong. As more people with other Colla names tested their DNA, it became apparent that another somewhat smaller group of McDonalds was Clan Colla because their DNA matched up with people with other Colla surnames, such as, McMahon, McGuire, Carroll, etc. Of the 234 Collas in the Clan Colla project today, only 12, including one McDonald and 2 McMahon, had been tested at the time of the Clan Donald press release in 2004.

To verify that we have the right Clan Colla group, we have examined the variety of septs that exist within the surname projects that include the major Clan Colla surnames. On April 19, 2013, data was drawn from surname projects at Family Tree DNA that descendants of The Three Collas participate in. The people in those surname projects were categorized according to haplogroup based on their actual or projected haplotype. These categories indicate the variety of septs with the same or similar surname. The following table shows the distribution among various R haplogroup septs of people with the more common Colla surnames. The first four surnames are the most well-known Colla surnames: McDonald, McMahon, McGuire, and Carroll. Only four of the surnames have a majority in Clan Colla: McKenna, Calkins, Roderick, and Beggan. There are 158 Collas in the table, about half of the total Colla database of 319 as of April 19, 2013.

Most people with Colla DNA are not the majority of those with their surname. In fact, the majority of people with Colla DNA are a minority of those with their surname. And, therefore, most people with Colla surnames do not have Colla DNA. The reason is that most Irish surnames appear in mutiple septs. For example, as shown above, there are McDonalds descended from Clan Colla, but there are also McDonalds descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages (Northwest Irish) and the Scottish cluster. There are many McDonalds in the R1b haplogroup for whom a sept has not been identified. There are 84 McDonalds in the R1a-L176 haplogroup descended from the Lord of the Isles. There are McGuires descended from Clan Colla, but there are also many Maguires descended from another unrelated sept in the Fermanagh area, called Airghialla 2.

There are several explanations for this phenomenon of multiple-sept surnames.

• The same surname developed independently in different geographic areas.
• At the time surnames came into being around a thousand years ago, many surnames were based on relatively common given names.
• A male was adopted by a clan other than the one he was born in.
• A male married a woman from another clan and took her surname, perhaps because it was a more respected name.
• A male changed his surname when he was ennobled or otherwise came into possession of territory, perhaps adopting the name of a respected prior holder of that territory.
• A male was a subordinate (vassal, servant, slave, etc) of a member of another clan and took his master's surname when he became free.
• A male took the surname of another clan without any connection to the clan, simply because it was a respected name.

Table of Contents     

Two McGuire Septs

Donohue Study. In August 2009, Joseph A. Donohoe V (1941-2011) reported on the DNA of descendants of The Three Collas in his Breifne Clans DNA, Y-DNA reports BCP Report 5, Part 7 and BCP Report 5, Part 8. He independently identified the Clan Colla group that was identified by the Clan Colla project started by Josiah McGuire in June 2009. He called it Airghialla 1 because he was not sure it was Clan Colla. He said he was "not fully persuaded yet of the validity or applicability of the Colla tradition, particularly in view of the great number of traditionally Colla surnames not represented here." As part of his study, Joseph established a modal DNA for Airghialla 1. It is the same as the modal used here.

To test the validity of Airghialla 1, Joseph came up with a second group called Airghialla 2. As part of his study, Joseph established a modal DNA for Airghialla 2.

In comparing Airghialla 1 and 2 on page 184 of the report, Joseph says that Airghialla 1 "appears to have been prominent in the South Tyrone – North Monaghan area from the sixth century, if not earlier," while Airghialla 2 "rose to historical prominence later . . . in the ninth century." He concludes that Airghialla 1 "would appear to be the best candidate" to represent the DNA of The Three Collas.

Joseph himself is not Airghialla 1 or 2. He is R-M222 or Northwest Irish.

Both Airghialla 1 and 2 contain significant groups of McGuires. It is now generally accepted that Airghialla 1 is The three Collas and Airghialla 2 is a separate group descending from The Ulaid. Airghialla 2 surnames include McGuire, McManus, Byrne, Corrigan, Donohoe, McCauley, Garvey, Plunkett, McCown. The DNA of Airghialla 1 and 2 is very different. Airghialla 1 has been found to have the DF21 SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism). Airghialla 2 has been found to have the FGC9798 SNP. FGC9798 is a sublclade of L513. Both DF21 and L513 are subclades of L21. There is a genetic distance of 21 between the 67-marker modals for Airghialla 1 and 2.

In December 2022, Family Tree DNA began estimating the birth year of SNPs. See the comparison of Airghialla 1 and 2 in the table below as of April 2023. The Z3008 of Airghialla 1 was born in 450 AD, which is close to the historical birth of The Three Collas in the 4th century. The FGC9798 of Airghialla 2 was born in 1400 BC, which is long before the historical birth of The Three Collas in the 4th century. There are, however, many more Airghialla 2 McGuires than Airghialla 1 McGuires 82 vs. 4,

McGuire Projects. There are three McGuire projects at FTDNA. Patrick Meguire started the McGuire DNA project in June 2004. It focuses on McGuires whose ancestors lived in Colonial America. Josiah McGuire started the Mag-Uidhir Clan DNA project in April 2010. Brad McGuire started the Airghialla Mag Uidhir DNA project in October 2010.

Airghialla 2 Pedigree. There is a Charles Robert McGuire (kit #21228), whose ancestry has been traced back to the the McGuire "Junior Line" from Tempo, County Fermanagh. His DNA is clearly Airghialla 2 rather than 1. There are several sources that refer to this pedigree.

• Maguire Princely Pedigree.
• The Fermanagh Story (excerpt) (1969) by Rev. Peadar Livingstone (1932-1987) - page 116
• Captain Cohonny: Constantine Maguire of Tempo 1777-1834, by W. A. Maguire, Ulster Historical Foundation.

Peadar Livingstone. It is the Airghialla 1 McGuires that have the pattern of DNA found among a group of people with a variety of surnames attributed to Clan Colla in ancient genealogies. But where do the Airghialla 2 McGuires come from? The Fermanagh Story (excerpt) (1969) by Rev. Peadar Livingstone (1932-1987) may shed some light on this question.

Chapter 1 is about Early Fermanagh. It does not say that there were two Maguire clans, but it identifies two possible sources of the McGuires: the Fir Manach of Old Leinster and The Three Collas.

• Three Collas. "Who were these people of Oriel or Airghialla? This is one of the many questions . . . that we cannot answer yet. . . . Possibly they lived here as a subject race to the Ultaigh before the Ui Neill eventually 'liberated' them. They may have been the descendants of hostages (Airghialla) captured by the Ui Neill and used by them to 'plant' their new conquest. . . . Later genealogists make them descend from Cormac Mac Airt's grandsons, The Three Collas. . . . Many modern scholars deny that the Collas existed at all." - page 5
• Leinster Fir Manach. "If the legend can be believed, they reached the Upper Lough Erne country long before [400 A.D.]. They hailed from Leinster. According to one story they killed Eanna, the king's son, and had to leave. They . . . . came north-west, entered the country from the east and settled along the north shore of the lake. It is most probable that Lisnaskea was the centre of their operations. . . . Soon we will see the Oriel families come and take control of it." - page 6

Chapters 3 and 4 cover the Middle Ages (500-1300) and the Maguire Years (1300-1589). Here Livingstone expresses uncertainty about the origin of the Maguires several times:

• "Irish people in this era seem to have been obsessed with names. Long pedigrees are drawn up, giving the origins of most common families. As might be expected, most of the Fermanagh families trace themselves back to an Oriel origin. This, for the most part, is genuine enough. However, since an Oriel line ruled the country, it must have been popular to have Oriel origins. Some of the earlier Leinster Fir Manach must have been tempted to invent an Oriel connection where it did not exist." - pages 23-24
• "we . . . are doubtful about Fermanagh's greatest family, the Maguires, who come into our picture towards the end of the thirteenth century. Genealogists give them Oriel ancestors. But were they really of Ulster stock?" - page 24
• "where the Maguires come from or from what origins we do not know with certainty" - page 25
• "Possibly they were of old Leinster Fermanagh stock, now again asserting themselves after the Oriel ascendancy." - note 65 (chapter 3)
• "we do not know who the Maguires really were or where they came from. Faulty-looking genealogies give them an Oriel pedigree. Possibly they were descended from the old Leinster settlers" - page 26

What would Peadar Livingstone say if he knew what we know today about the DNA of The Three Collas and people named McGuire and McManus? I think he would say that the McGuires with Airghialla 1 DNA have Oriel roots and are descended from The Three Collas. And he would say that the people with Airghialla 2 DNA are descended from the McGuires perhaps back to Donn Mor McGuire but have other roots such as Leinster Fir Manach or possibly Ultaigh. Other than that, he would have to say "we do not know who the earlier McGuires really were or where they came from."

Patrick Stephen Dinneen. In 1917, Patrick Stephen Dinneen translated into English a story written in Irish not long before the year 1716, which he thinks came originally from a McGuire family history by O'Luinan, chief chronicler to Maguire, who died in 1478. The 1917 translation is called The Maguires of Fermanagh.

The story is about the three surviving sons of Donn Mór Maguire:

1. O'Donnell, adopted by Donn Mór Maguire when he married the widow of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, nee O'Neill; lived in Ballyshannon, County Donegal
2. Maghnus, the first natural-born son of Donn Mór Maguire and the widow O'Donnell, nee O'Neill; inherited the realm of Donn Mór Maguire; lived on Belle Isle in Lough Erne, County Fermanagh
3. Giolla 'Iosa, the second natural-born son of Donn Mór Maguire and a daughter of O'Reilly of Breifne; lived in East Breifne (County Cavan after 1579)

The story is about Maghnus, who inherits the realm of his father but is disabled and loses the support of O'Flanagan and other chiefs. Maghnus asks his brother Giolla 'Iosa to help him regain the support of O'Flanagan and the other chiefs. Giolla 'Iosa seeks the aid of O'Donnell and the two of them together take O'Flanagan and the other chiefs to Maghnus and regain their support. Maghnus then passes on the Maguire realm to Giolla 'Iosa.

The story suggests that there might be two McGuire DNAs, but it does not explain Airghialla 1 and 2 DNA. Irish history and modern DNA indicate that O'Donnells are descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, not Airghialla 1 (Clan Colla). And, the story says that Donn Mór Maguire is descended from Clan Colla, but modern DNA says that McManuses are descended from Airghialla 2.

Table of Contents     

The Colla Phylogenetic Tree

In the introduction to his paper on The Colla Phylogenetic Tree, Patrick McMahon explains that he has drawn together "the considerable amount of SNP and STR data that has accumulated over the last few years with respect to the Colla population. Most recently, testing for SNPs has been encouraged using the advanced Big-Y tests (by FTDNA), targeted ‘Pack’ tests and single SNP tests. This has enabled the construction of inheritance Trees such as the one by Alex Williamson and the FTDNA Haplotree.

"Separately and over a much longer period, STR data has been accumulating. These two (mutational) systems operate independently of each other to produce two separate data sets, the STR one defining members of the Colla population and membership of the Clan Colla 425 Null Project. As only about 27% of STR testers partook of SNP testing, the aim of this work was to populate/expand the resultant SNP Tree with STR data to determine the most likely clades for the majority of Project members.

"This is an attempt to draw together the various findings collected to date (July 2018) on descendants of Clan Colla. All ancient genealogical data has been ignored, other than when the Colla brothers were thought to have lived and arrived in Ulster. I have concentrated solely on the DNA profiles and tried to rationalise their inheritance patterns and relationships. Surnames while confirmatory in many instances were not the main influence in determining groupings."

The paper is at: The Colla Phylogenetic Tree Paper.

An Excel workbook is at: The Colla Phylogenetic Tree Workbook.

Table of Contents

Z3000 Analysis by Robert Casey

In November 2021, Robert Casey completed an analyssis of testers with Z3000 Clan Colla Y-DNA. Z3000 is the 75th SNP group he has analyzed, but it is the sixth largest. The larger ones are M222, L1065, CTS4466, Z255, and L226.

Robert created a formula that predicts the Z3000 SNP based on the modal value of STRs of 300 testers positive for Z3000.

300 Z3000 Testers
Genetic Distance (GD) 67 STRs Not Matched	Signature (SIG) 9 STRs Matched
	8	7	6	5	Total
1	5	1			6
2	5	1	1		7
3	23	13	2		38
4	34	9	5	1	49
5	37	26	6		69
6	23	30	10		63
7	18	15	3		36
8		9	4		13
9		2	3	1	6
10	7	3	1		11
11		1	1		2
Total	152	110	36	2	300

• SIG: the number of eight "signature" STRs matched by a tester.
  The number of STRs ranged between 5 and 8.
  The STRs are the ones most different from those of L21 testers other than Z3000:
  • 6th STR 385b>=15
  • 9th STR 439>=13
  • 21st STR 449<=28
  • 33rd STR 570>=18
  • 47th STR 511<=9
  • 48th STR 425=0
  • 49th STR 413a<=22
  • 55th STR 534>=16
• GD: the number of all 67 STRs not matched by a tester ("genetic distance").
  The number of STRs ranged between 1 and 11.

Robert then applied the formula to other testers:

• 385 who have not been sufficiently SNP tested to know whether they are Z3000, but are predicted by the formula to be positive for Z3000. 362 are in the Clan Colla project or its database. 23 are not. A few of the 23 are clearly not Z3000, but the rest will be put into the Clan Colla database and efforts weill be made to invite them to join the project
• 64 who have been SNP tested and are not Z3000. Two are false positives for ther formula: a U106 with SIG=6 amd GD=10, and a U152 with SIG=5 and GD=7.
• 571 who have not been sufficiently SNP tested to know whether they are Z3000, but are predicted by the formula to be negative for Z3000

Here are links to Robert's three primary files:

• Z3000_Analysis (Robert's executive summary)
• Z3000 SAPP (Still Another Phylogeny Program)
• Z3000_Source (Robert's database)

• YouTube video 1
• YouTube video 2

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FTDNA Conference Presentation, 2011

Peter Biggins speaking at the 2011 FTDNA Conference. Photo by Steve Danko.

Peter Biggins, in collaboration with Thomas Roderick, made a presentation on the Clan Colla Project on November 6, 2011, at Family Tree DNA's 7th Annual International Conference on Genetic Genealogy in Houston, Texas. The presentation concluded with the following summary:

• The growing Clan Colla data is showing that the cluster is representative of a unique stable population within the R-DF21+ population.
• The DNA picture that has emerged is consistent with the perceived historical knowledge pertaining to Oriel in the early part of the first millennium.
• The data also supports the view that Clan Colla originated in a Celtic tribe in NW Britain before migrating to Oriel.
• Y-chromosome DNA has verified an ancient Irish pedigree for historians, and genetic genealogists.

The presentation was based on a database of 259 men with Clan Colla DNA as of November 2011. See Summary Report, November 2011.

See slides. See also Steve's Genealogy Blog.

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