McCool History Blog
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Surnames/tags: McCool McCoole
McCool Name Study -> McCool History Blog
This blog is focused on McCool/McCoole history, genealogy, and DNA testing. Please feel free to contact Kevin Ireland (a McCool descendant) to add/improve/correct content. All McCool assistance is provided at no charge.
- mccoolhistory@gmail.com
Contents |
What DNA tests should McCool descendants take?
To best help the genetic research of the McCool history team, we recommend the following tests:
- AncestryDNA for every male or female McCool descendant (especially in the oldest living generation). If your parent, grandparent, great-grandparent or second-great-grandparent was a McCool, we want you to test - unless your McCool-line parent or grandparent has tested. It doesn't matter what your birth surname was as long as you're a McCool descendant.
- One Big Y-700 (or Y-37) test from one male McCool-surname descendant of each male McCool born 1850 or earlier. In other words, if your known first cousin has tested, you don't need to test as well (unless you want to verify that nothing unexpected happened in your recent McCool line).
I've written a more extensive article describing how autosomal DNA and Y DNA inheritance works at Understanding Y-DNA and Autosomal DNA Testing.
AncestryDNA atDNA test
Autosomal DNA (atDNA) tests like AncestryDNA are available to all men and women. For purposes of our McCool-line research, every McCool descendant should take an AncestryDNA test unless your McCool-side parent has already tested. Here's why:
- It's almost impossible to compare list of atDNA matches unless people use the same testing vendor.
- Far more McCools have tested on AncestryDNA than any other vendor, so we've chosen to use AncestryDNA as our preferred atDNA vendor.
How atDNA tests work:
- Your atDNA is a subset of your father's and your mother's. You can only inherit atDNA that one of your parents did as well.
- You inherit half of each of your parents' atDNA - but not the other half. Your siblings also inherit half from each parent - but it's a randomly different half than yours.
- If your McCool-line parent has tested, they will have about twice as much McCool atDNA as you - and you won't have any that they don't.
- AncestryDNA matches, especially matches of 10+cM, are proven to be related to you - but they could be related on any ancestral line (not just McCool). Results can support a paper trail, but can't prove it.
- Try to test as many members of your oldest living McCool generation (uncle/aunt, cousins) on AncestryDNA as possible.
Example: My father and his three sisters have tested on AncestryDNA - as have I.
- I've identified 106 McCool descendants that one or more of us match.
- My father matches to 77 of them; I match to 45 of his 77 (my matches are a subset of his)
- His sister GP matches to 90; sister SI matches to 64; and sister SM matches to 88 of them.
- The four of them all match to just 45 of the 106 McCools. 14 of the 106 are matched by just one of the four siblings.
The more family members you test, especially from the oldest living generation, the more you learn.
AncestryDNA Testing Spring 2022 Sales: US, UK, and AUS/NZ
AncestryDNA hasn't yet announced if it will have a DNA Day Sale for 25 April 2022. The rest of these sales listed below are finished.
AncestryDNA test pricing and sales are all country-specific. Here are the current known sales in early spring 2022:
- USA: on sale for $59 instead of $99; save $40. Sale ends 17 March 2022. Buy at Ancestry.com and pay $9.95 shipping for the first kit + $4.95 for each additional kit. Buy at Amazon.com and shipping is free.
- Canada: Regular price of $129 (CAD); not currently on sale. Shipping is $19.99 (CAD) for first kit and $9.99 (CAD) for each additional kit. I don't know if Amazon gives free shipping in Canada.
- Australia and New Zealand: on sale for $89 (AUD) instead of $129 (AUD); save $40 until 17 March 2022. Shipping is $29.99 (AUD) for the first kit and $10 (AUD) for each additional kit. I don't know if there's an Amazon purchase option.
- UK (including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland): on sale for £59 until 15 April 2022 instead of regular price of £79; save £20. Standard shipping is £9.99 for first kit and £4.99 for each additional kit. I don't know if there's an Amazon purchase option.
Y-DNA Testing from FamilyTreeDNA
FamilyTreeDNA is the primary Y-DNA testing vendor: https:///www.familytreedna.com. They currently offer Y-37 and Y-111 STR tests, plus a Big Y-700 SNP test (that also includes a Y-111 STR test plus additional STRs.
Only men inherit a Y chromosome, so only men can take a Y-DNA test. The results of a Y-DNA test are identical (or very similar) for all close relatives, so we recommend only one test among second or third cousins unless the recent line of descent is uncertain.
Our greatest need is for additional McCool and McCoole Big Y-700 tests. These provide far more information about likely lines of McCool descent than any other tests.
The Y-37 test is a good entry level test. It proves absolutely that matching McCool men descend from a common McCool ancestor - but gives us little information as to how long ago that common ancestor lived.
Tye Y-111 test provides the times the information of the Y-37 test, helping us understand if matching McCool men are or might be closely related. When possible, though, buy a Big Y-700 test instead.
Y-DNA Spring Sale: Worldwide thru 25 April 2022
Order Y-DNA tests and upgrades directly from FamilyTreeDNA at https://www.familytreedna.com. All prices in US dollars. Sale ends at 11:59pm US Pacific Daylight Time.
Available Y-DNA Tests:
| Test | Regular | Sale | Savings |
| Y-37 | $119 | $79 | $40 off |
| Y-111 | $249 | $199 | $50 off |
| Big Y-700 | $449 | $379 | $70 off |
US shipping is $9.99 with prepaid return. International shipping is $9.99 - outbound only. International customers are responsible for return shipping. Some countries may have customs requirements for the return, especially Australia and New Zealand. Learn more at https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408491966735-International-Shipping.
Available Upgrades: Customers can upgrade any previously purchased Y-DNA test to Big Y-700. There are no shipping charges for upgrades.
| Upgrades | Regular | Sale | Savings |
| Y-12 to Big Y-700 | $399 | $359 | $40 off |
| Y-25 to Big Y-700 | $389 | $349 | $40 off |
| Y-37 to Big Y-700 | $339 | $319 | $20 off |
| Y-67 to Big Y-700 | $279 | $259 | $20 off |
| Y-111 to Big Y-700 | $239 | $229 | $10 off |
| Big Y-500 to Big Y-700 | $209 | $189 | $20 off |
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