Time for another annual ethnicity shake-up from Ancestry!

It's that time of the year when Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) decides to change who we think we are, by reimagining our DNA ethnicity (admixture) profiles, due to its changing reference panel (to whom our results are matched). 

Here's how the last three updates have tried to explain my ethnic origins to me.

Three updates ago: 

• Ireland and Scotland 65% 
• England, Wales & Northwestern Europe > Scottish Lowlands, Northern England, and Northern Ireland 35%

Two updates ago:

• Scotland > Northern Ireland & Southwestern Tyrone / Fermanagh & Southwestern Tyrone / Eastern Northern Ireland and Southwestern Scotland 84% 
• Ireland 16%

Last update: 

• Scotland > Scottish Highlands 80%
• Ireland > Ulster & Northern Ireland 20%

 

 And now...*drumroll*

• Celtic & Gaelic: Central Scotland & Northern Ireland 72% ; Hebrides & Western Highlands, Scotland 23% ; Munster, Ireland 2%
• England: East Midlands 2%
• Western Europe: Northwestern Germany 1%

So they all agree that I am a mixture of Scottish and Irish, which is basically the Northern Irish story in its own right, although I also have direct Scottish lineage with my paternal grandparents. 

Tune in next year for the next exciting update of "What the Hell is Chris....?"!!!!

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Scottish Gypsy Travellers' stolen generations a form of "cultural genocide"

The BBC reports at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8de3ld05yo how the UK Government targeted Scotland's Gypsy Travellers community between the 1940s and 1980s through what was known as the "Tinker Experiment", prior to devolution. Scottish local authorities and the Church of Scotland were also complicit in the initiative.

In 2023 the current Scottish Government commissioned research via the University of St. Andrews based Third Generation Project into the activity, with the conclusion now noting that there was a "forced and systematic initiative to remove Gypsy/traveller children from their families and communities", who were then placed into care institutions, into forced-adoption, or into industrial schools. The policy is stated to have been a form of "cultural genocide" in the report, with demands for compensation now being made.

A podcast discussing the story, entitled "The Cruelty - Stolen Generations", is available on BBC Sounds and via the link above.

A previous report from September 2024 identifies some of the archival work that was employed for research into the scandal - it is available at https://ayeright.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tinker-Experiments-Report_unedited.pdf.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry discusses why we are all now a wee bit mair Scottish

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has blogged an interesting article about why so many people are now discovering that they have the best early Christmas present ever, a wee bit more Scottish in them!

You can read about the changes to the updated ethnicity/admixture results on AncestryDNA at https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2020/09/11/why-your-latest-results-could-include-more-scotland-in-your-ethnicity-estimates/.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

We're all Scottish now!

So Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has now rolled out its new DNA ethnicity estimates, and the good news is that we're all Scottish now - at least, as far as Twitter is concerned today, it seems that everybody has had a sudden revelation of Scottishness. Well, you can't beat perfection I suppose...!

This is my new ethnicity estimate, to the left, and my father's beside it:

Overnight I am now a whopping 82% Scottish, 16% Irish, and errrr, 2% French, which is a new one. And by the looks of things, my Belfast born father's lot must have fought at Culloden and Mons Graupius...

Actually, in some ways it does make some sense. In previous estimates I have had my estimate defined as being in a community that straddles the Irish Sea to encompass Lowland Scotland and Ulster, which had a substantial settlement of Scots in the 17th and 18th centuries - and this seems to be further reflected with my association with the 'Scottish Lowlands, Northern England & Northern Ireland' community. And yes, I do have very specific lines from Dublin which are clearly not Ulster Scots or Lowland Scots.

However, the new maps are certainly some craic. 'Ireland' now seems to include the Western Isles and the west coast of Scotland, and the map for 'Scotland' now includes Antrim, Down and the far north of England. Credit where it is due though, France is still in France.

In many ways not a lot has actually changed. All that I have found out in the last 20 years from my research can be interpreted both by this result and the previous version, if we accept that I am now also miraculously 1/50th French and my believed Yorkshire line has now seemingly been quashed by the Jacobites.

As ever folks, enjoy the new results, until they change again.

But do take the Scottish bit seriously - we're all Jock Tamson's bairns....!
 
Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry to update ethnicity estimates

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) will be updating its ethnicity estimates again shortly within the next few weeks:

Our most precise breakdown yet.

In each update, we continue to add new regions, making your results even more precise.

More people tested means stronger confidence.

Our existing DNA reference panel was already impressive, but this new update includes even more DNA samples. With over 40,000 samples in our reference panel, this allows us an even better understanding of genetic signatures around the world for a more detailed picture of where you came from.
See more detail across the globe.

Our larger panel allows us to better distinguish between adjacent regions—like Australia and New Zealand—as well as break down larger regions, like East Asia and the Americas, into more detail.

There's a wee vid also (see https://youtu.be/b5BZPEfOmXQ):

The full announcement at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/dna/lp/ancestry-dna-ethnicity-estimate-update includes maps showcasing likely areas affected, with before and after regions coverage outlined (Australia and New Zealand in particular), and is accompanied by various FAQs.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.