Bird DNA Study

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Broad Creek, Prince George's, Maryland, United States
Surnames/tags: Bird Sheridan

This is the project page for the Bird DNA Study, which analyzes DNA samples from descendants of Francis Bird and Jane Littleton of Piscataway parish (1725) in historical Prince George's Co. in Maryland. Technical information can be found here.

Contents 1 Origins 1.1 Bird 1.2 Riley 2 Generations 3 Results 4 Sources

Origins

Bird

Oral history states that the family came from Éire. DNA tests prove that ancestors were established there between 175-200 generations ago. There are pervasive DNA matches (<3 cMs) amongst all Bird samples with GEDMatch F999800, a male sample from an Indo-European lineage buried on Rathlin Island dated to 2026–1534 BC.

County Monaghan

The patronymic Bird family is believed to have come from County Monaghan. The surname was likely originally the Gaelic Mac an Déaganaigh, which became Mac Con Aonaigh and later McEneaney.^[1] The name was actually a title meaning "son of the erenagh," a hereditary office that descended through the family of the chieftain of the tribal territory upon which church lands were located.^[2] The surname prior to assuming the office is lost to history,^[3] though the family likely had some connection to the O' Baoigheallain (O'Boylans)^[1] as they were the ruling tribal chiefs during the Mac An Eanaigh incumbency.^[4]

Sean Mac An Eanaigh held the office for most of the second half of the 14th century, ^[5][6] which appears to have been centered around the abbey at Clones. An attempt was made to pass the office to his son Tiernacus Mac An Eanaigh,^[7] which the Pope revoked in 1398 as unlawful.^[6] The family is documented extensively throughout the subsequent century, listed collectively as tenants of the Bishop of Clogher^[8] and holding a variety of lay and ecclesiastical church offices.^[3]

• John Mackamyayl in 1403
• Bernard Macanegeanaig in 1415
• Thomas Macaneageanaid in 1423
• Thomas Macinedeanayd in 1428
• Odo Mageadmanic in 1429
• Tigernacus Maccanegheanaid in 1440
• Tygernatus Machanegcanaych in 1455
• William McAneychranaich in 1458
• Donaldus Macaneanyd in 1463

The surname was Anglicized in 1591 as Bird .^{[9] [1]} Descendants resided at Burdautien which may translate as "hearth of the Bird family at the old church of Eachaidh",^[10]and Druminane Townland known locally as Droim na nÉan ("the ridge of Eanaigh") and designated by the English as "the ridge of the Bird."^[11]

Riley

Research suggests an origin of County Meath, Eire for Thomas Riley, a maternal great-grandfather of Jane Littleton.

Generations

Designation of generations begin with the Bird immigration to America and are limited to DNA contributors.

Generation 1

• Francis Bird/Jane Littleton

Generation 2

• Mary Bird/Benjamin Allison
• John Bird/unknown wife

Generation 3

• Posey Allison/Dorcas Summers
• Thomas Allison/Cassandra Bird
• Benjamin Allison/unknown wife
• Burch Allison/unknown wife
• Joshua Bird/Drusilla Bell

Generation 4

• Posey Allison Jr./Lavina Halford
• Mary Allison/Thomas Curtis
• Thomas Allison/Louisa Jane Owens
• Lewis Allison/Annie Beach
• Dorcas Allison/John Coleman Allen Sr.
• Francis Bird/Rhoda Schermerhorn
• Martha Bird/Dorman Chesser

Generation 5

• Joshua Merritt Bird/Elizabeth Cheatham
• John Owens Bird/Permelia Hardin

Generations prior to Generation 1 are enumerated backward and preceded with an "x." Thus, the parents of Generation 1 are designed as "Generation x1," the grandparents as "Generation x2," the great-grandparents as "Generation x3," etc.

Generation x1

• Tabitha Littleton

Generation x2

• John Littleton
• Margaret Riley

Generation x3

• Thomas Riley
• Sarah Webb

Results

DNA tests establish:

• common descent from Francis Bird and Rhoda Schamerhorn dating to 1820-1822.^[12]
• common descent from Francis Bird "the immigrant" and Jane Littleton dating to 1725-1727.^[12]
• common descent from Thomas Riley and Sarah Webb dating to 1671.
• common descent from an unknown couple in the area of County Monaghan in Eire between 1641-1724.
• common descent from Tabitha Littleton.
• a genetic match on chromosome 16 that continues in at least two native Irish lineages, two English lineages (one near the Scottish border) and two American.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Woulfe, P. (1906). Irish Names and Surnames. Ireland: M.H. Gill and son.
2. ↑ O"Leary, Peter (1997). Abbots, Bishops, Coarbs and Erenaghs. Cumann Staire, Ballingeary & Inichigeela Historical Society.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Dufaigh, S. Ó. (1960). Three Notes on Medieval Clones. Clogher Record, 4(1/2), 6–8. https://doi.org/10.2307/27695501
4. ↑ The annals of Loch Cé: a chronicle of Irish affairs from A.D. 1014 to A.D. 1590, p. 3, 31 (1871). United Kingdom: Longman.
5. ↑ Fasti ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates and members of the Cathedral bodies of Ireland.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Jstor The Coarb in the Medieval Irish Church. (Circa 1200–1550) by St. John D. Seymour, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C, Vol. 41, (1932–1934), pp. 221–222 Published by: Royal Irish Academy
7. ↑ The Christian name suggests an attempt at legitimization, as the abbey was known as St. Tighernach Abbey and Tigernach was the patron saint of Clones.
8. ↑ Clogher clergy and parishes : being an account of the clergy of the Church of Ireland in the Diocese of Clogher, from the earliest period, with historical notices of the several parishes, churches, etc" Leslie, J.B. p6: Enniskille; R.H. Ritchie; 1929.
9. ↑ MacLysaght, Edward, More Irish Families. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-0126-0)
10. ↑ Mórdha, P. Ó. (1989). Notes on Some Clones Placenames. Clogher Record, 13(2), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.2307/27699292
11. ↑ Shirley, E. P. (1879). The History of the County of Monaghan, p. 473]. United Kingdom: Pickering.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} DNA Detail for the Bird DNA Study: Descent from unknown Irish MRCA.