We have made some additional progress since our last update on the Extensive Lineages of Group 2. We previously identified several prominent families within the broader Ryan clan that have been documented in surviving genealogical records.
Thanks to genealogical research by Derek Ryan and Jamee Ryan Carlin, we were able to track down a living descendant of the Ryans of Scarteen, and another from the Ryans of Ballymackeogh, who agreed to do Y-DNA testing. We started testing them with the Y-DNA37 test and (having reviewed their results) subsequently upgraded them to the Big Y test.
Since then, we have identified a living descendant of the Ryans of Inch and he too has undergone Big Y testing. I recently wrote a blog post detailing the available genealogical data for each of these important Ryan families and you can read these posts on the links below:
- Ryans of Inch (from 1600 onward)
- Ryans of Scarteen (from 1642 onwards)
- Ryans of Ballymackeogh (from about 1550 onwards)
Direct-male-line pedigrees for each family
We have tested a single descendant of the Ryans of Ballymackeogh and he is referred to as ROB1. Here is his (anonymised) direct-male-line pedigree, which goes back 12 generations to the mid-1500s:
- Mahown O'Mulryan (c1550)
- Dermot O'Mulryan (c1580)
- William Ryan (c1620)
- Daniel Ryan (c1660-1731) m Honor Ewer
- William Ryan (c1700-1765) m Elizabeth Newstead
- Ewer Ryan (1730-1802) m Elizabeth Margrath
- William Ryan (c1770-1835) m Anne Pennefather
- John Pennefather Ryan (1821-1873) m Louisa Kingsmill Pennefather
- John Pennefather Ryan (1847-1927) m Jessie Gertrude Bliss
- Casimer Edric Pennefather Ryan (1891-1940) m Lillian Martha Constance Terry
- Father of test-taker
- Test-taker (ROB1)
We also tested a single descendant of the Ryans of Scarteen and he is referred to as ROS1. Here is his (anonymised) direct-male-line pedigree, which goes back 9 generations to 1642:
- Thaddeus Ryan (1642-1740) of Ballykeveen, m Catherine Hayes
- John Ryan (1699-1724) m Ms O’Brien
- John Ryan (1722-1810) m Eliza O’Brien … moved from Ballykeveen to Ballyvistea in 1755
- Thaddeus Richard Ryan (1760-1843) m Helen Howley
- John Ryan (1800-1863) m Alicia McKnight Hartigan
- Thaddeus Richard Ryan (1837-1905) m Gwendoline Power
- John Joseph Ryan (1871-1954) m Anita Purcell
- Father of test-taker
- Test-taker (ROS1)
Lastly, in late 2025, project co-admin Derek Ryan was able to make contact with a descendant (ROI1) of the Ryans of Inch who was eager to do DNA testing. He has the following (anonymised) direct-male-line pedigree, which goes back 12 generations to the mid-1500s:
- John Ryan 1, c.1540 m Mary Ryan
- Art Ryan c.1570 - a small freeholder in Kilnelongurty
- John Ryan 2, c.1600-1666 of Lisnasella, married 1) Ellen Grace & 2) Catherine Clancy
- Daniel Ryan c.1630-1692 of Inchofogerty, married Frances Raggett of Ballycormack
- John Ryan 3, 1692-1724 married Frances Mathew of Thurles
- Daniel Ryan 1710-1767 married Elizabeth McCarthy of Springhouse
- George Ryan (Don Jorge) 1737-1805 married Mary Anne Roche of Limerick
- George Ryan 1791-1875 married Catherine Whyte
- George E Ryan 1844-1927 married 1) Mary Power-Lalor & 2) Elizabeth Sherlock
- Richard C F Ryan 1888-1964
- Father of test-taker
- Test-taker (ROI1)
Results of Big Y testing
Each of the test-takers started by doing the Y-DNA37 test initially and this confirmed that they belonged in Group 2a of the project. They were then upgraded to the Big Y test and this allowed them to be placed on specific branches of the Tree of Mankind (a.k.a Y-Haplotree). There are various versions of the Tree of Mankind and FTDNA have several of their own versions, including the Big Y Block Tree, the Time Tree, and the Group Time Tree. Click the links below to see the relevant portions of the Tree of Mankind for the extensive lineages of the Ryan's of Group 2a.
The diagram below summarises where the three extensive lineages (highlighted in yellow) currently sit on the Tree of Mankind (click to enlarge). As more people do the Big Y test, more branches will be formed and the age estimates of each branch will be refined further.
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| Extensive lineages of Group 2a click to enlarge |
All 3 extensive lineages share a common ancestor who sits on the branch characterised by the DNA marker FTT86. This common ancestor passed down this DNA marker (FTT86) to all of his descendants, among them the Ryans of Ballymackeogh, the Ryans of Scarteen, and the Ryans of Inch. The age estimate (TMRCA) for this branch is 1009 AD (range 775-1203) which simply indicates that the common ancestor was born about 1000 AD, and thus these 3 extensive lineages are not closely related to each other.
The overarching DNA marker for everyone in Group 2 is (still) currently M756, which has a current age estimate of 951 AD. This is about 2 generations prior to the common ancestor (FTT86) for all 3 extensive lineages.
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| Extensive Lineages - Ballymackeogh, Inch, & Scarteen |
Ryans of Ballymackeogh
The Ryans of Ballymackeogh currently sit on the branch characterised by the DNA marker BY101266. This has an age estimate of 1464 AD (range 1238-1636), which simply indicates that they share a common ancestor with their nearest genetic neighbours who was born roughly in the mid-1400s. This is about 100 years before their first documented ancestor, namely Mahown O'Mulryan (c.1550).
Below are screenshots which show what this portion of the Tree of Mankind looks like on FTDNA's Time Tree and Group Time Tree. The Time Tree shows all the currently known branches, but without surnames or EKAs (Earliest Known Ancestors), whereas the Group Time Tree focuses only on those people in a specific DNA Project (in this case our Ryan project) and whilst it includes surnames & EKAs (of those project members who have "allowed public display" of their results), it does not include all currently known branches (because the people sitting on those branches do not happen to be members of our Ryan DNA Project).
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| Time Tree for branch BY101266 |
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| Group Time Tree for branch BY101266 - the Ryans of Ballymackeogh |
Interestingly, the surnames of the 7 people sitting on the sub-branches below BY101266 happen to include Fuller, Smith, & Whelan, but (as far as we can see) there is no one called Ryan - there may be some Ryans there, but they have not allowed their results to be made public, so we cannot see them. The non-Ryan surnames (Fuller, Smith, & Whelan) probably are the result of some sort of surname switch in the 600 years since the mid-1400s. This could have been for any number of reasons and you can read about the possible causes in these articles here:
- modern causes of surname or DNA switches
- medieval causes of surname or DNA switches
The test-taker (ROB1) has 4 unique DNA markers (called Private Variants) that are not shared with any other test-taker in the current database. It would be interesting to test another descendant of the Ryans of Ballymackeogh (preferably distantly related to the current test-taker) as he would likely share some or all of these 4 Private Variants and this would create an additional sub-branch "downstream" (i.e. below BY101266), which in turn could potentially allow us to tentatively associate a specific DNA marker with a specific person in the documented pedigree of the Ryans of Ballynackeogh.
Ryans of Inch
The Ryans of Inch currently sit on the branch characterised by the DNA marker FT426368. This has an age estimate of 1280 AD (range 837-1589), which simply indicates that they share a common ancestor with their nearest genetic neighbours who was born about 1300 AD. This is about 250 years before their first documented ancestor, namely John Ryan 1, c.1540 (m Mary Ryan). There are currently no sub-branches below FT426368, but this is likely to change as more people do the Big Y test.
Below are screenshots which show what the FT426368 branch looks like on FTDNA's Time Tree and Group Time Tree.
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| Time Tree for branch FT426368 |
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The closest neighbour to the Ryans of Inch is someone with an EKA called James Ryan, born 1830. He shares a common ancestor with the Ryans of Inch who was born about 1300 AD.
The test-taker (ROI1) has 8 unique DNA markers (Private Variants) that are not shared with any other test-taker in the current database. It would be interesting to test another descendant of the Ryans of Inch (preferably distantly related to the current test-taker) as he would likely share some or all of these 8 Private Variants and this would create an additional sub-branch "downstream" from FT426368, and that branch would be specific to the Ryans of Inch.
In time, as more people do the Big Y test, additional sub-branches below FT426368 should be identified, and this may help people discover if they are descended from the Ryans of Inch or if their ancestors were distantly related close neighbours.
Ryans of Scarteen
The Ryans of Scarteen currently sit on a branch of the Tree of Mankind characterised by the DNA marker BY93729. This has an age estimate of 1429 AD (range 1192-1608), which indicates that they share a common ancestor with their nearest genetic neighbours who was born in the early 1400s. This is about 200 years before their first documented ancestor, namely Thaddeus Ryan (1642-1740).
Below are screenshots which show what the BY93729 branch looks like on FTDNA's Time Tree and Group Time Tree. These show that there are several people within the project who are related to the Ryans of Scarteen by a common ancestor who lived in the early 1400s. These nearest neighbours branched away from (what was to become) the Scarteen branch about 1455 AD (so about 1 generation after their common ancestor).
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| Time Tree for branch BY93729 |
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| Group Time Tree for branch BY93729 |
There are several sub-branches among these neighbours of the Ryans of Scarteen. One sub-branch (BY75174) has 2 men who share the same EKA and the age estimate for their branch (1839 AD) approximates the birth year of their common ancestor (Patrick Ryan, born 1790).
Another sub-branch (FTB49317) also has 2 men (their EKAs were born in 1795 & 1866 respectively). The age estimate for this branch (1638 AD) suggests that these 2 men share a common ancestor born in the mid-1600s, who may very well have been a neighbour (and distant cousin) of the EKA of the Ryans of Scarteen, namely Thaddeus Ryan (1642-1740) of Ballykeveen.
The test-taker (ROS1) has 12 unique DNA markers (Private Variants) that are not shared with any other test-taker in the current database. Again, it would be helpful to test another descendant of the Ryans of Scarteen (preferably distantly related to the current test-taker) as he would likely share some or all of these 12 Private Variants and this would create an additional sub-branch "downstream" (i.e. more recent than BY93729), which in turn could potentially allow us to tentatively associate a specific DNA marker with a specific person in the documented pedigree of the Ryans of Scarteen.
Targeting the Remaining Extensive Pedigrees
We are still actively seeking direct-male-line descendants from the other historically documented Tipperary estates to anchor more branches of the tree. These include:
- Ryans of Gortkelly
- Ryans of Kilheffernan (Killaloan)
- Ryans of Thurles
If you are a descendant of any of these extensive lineages, please get in touch and we will organise a Y-DNA test for you.
Similarly, if you have a well-documented extensive lineage that goes back to the 1600s, please let us know and we will arrange a Y-DNA test for you.
Next Steps - Black Friday 2026 Upgrades
With November fast approaching, the annual FTDNA Black Friday Sales are right around the corner. If you are currently sitting on a standard Y-DNA test (such as Y-37 or Y-111) in Group 2, upgrading to the Big-Y-700 is the single best way to break down your genealogical Brick Walls. In addition, your upgrade could be the exact match needed to split someone else's private variants, automatically creating a new, more recent branch on the tree.
Reminders for All Members
1. Check Privacy Settings: Ensure your privacy settings allow your anonymized results to be displayed on our project charts. If you are not sure how to do this, ask AI or send me an email (mauricegleeson AT doctors.org.uk).
2. Submit Your Pedigree: If you haven’t already, email your lineage to me (mauricegleeson AT doctors.org.uk) so that I can post it for you on our Pedigrees Page (with recent generations suitably privatised).
3. Name Your EKA: Update your FTDNA profile with your Earliest Known Ancestor's name and location so we can add your details to the group diagram. Please remember to add the location of your EKA as this will help us to map the results of Group 2 to specific townlands in Ireland. And if you are not sure how to do this, ask AI or send me an email (mauricegleeson AT doctors.org.uk).
Thank you to all our co-admins, donors, and test-takers who continue to fund and drive this research forward!
Maurice Gleeson
on behalf of
Dave Cushing
Derek Ryan
Jamee Ryan Carling
Note: Google AI Mode was used to improve the language, search the literature and summarise sources. The authors are responsible for the work and accept responsibility for it. The AI tool is not an author.
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