Well, the results are in and I am shocked. According to Ancestry DNA I am 69% Irish, 18% British, 8% Scandinavian, and the rest is from 3 other regions. When you click on the "other" it says Western Asia and the Caucasus region, which I think is part of present day Russia.
Okay, so nothing terribly surprising. Based on everything that I have found out over the last ten years or so, the only thing surprising is the Scandinavian and the whole Western Asia and Caucus region. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the Scandinavian part, because I always saw myself as a Viking sort, you know the helmet with the horns, conquering who ever gets in my way and taking what I want. You know, like Hagar the Horrible. But I guess the Vikings at one point invaded Ireland and Britain, and apparently conquered some of the women folk.
The results that you get also contain a few links to the history of the regions that your DNA is prevalent in, as well as, a map with the regions highlighted. If you click on the region, you can read the history. So it is pretty interesting.
Ancestry also gives you any matches that they can link you to through DNA, but is up to you to figure out how you're related. The closest matches that they found for me are eighteen 4th cousins or closer and another twenty 5th to 8th cousins. They call the 5th to 8th cousins: distant cousins, funny thing is that I call anyone past a 2nd cousin a distant cousin. I have second and third cousins that I found through ten years of research, and I am debating how to contact them with them thinking I am a stalker or some other type of deviant. Other than a genealogist that is. Just so you know: Ancestry says that a person who is your fourth cousin shares a great great great grandparent with you. So if it is your third cousin, you take away a great, fifth cousin - add a great. I thought that was the easiest way to explain it.
So I guess the bottom line is that ancestry found more cousins for me by examining by spit in a vial, than I could find by researching for 10 years. I guess all of my research isn't worth spit.
