The MacEgan, Egan, Eagan, Eagen and
Keegan Families
Generations or Time to Most
Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA)
If you click on your FTDNA kit number in the
Index below you will see your entry and (hopefully) one or more other kit
numbers listed under it, each preceded by a number in { }. This number is the
number of generations back that you both may share a common ancestor with a
50%, or flip of a coin, chance.
If you don't yet know where in Ireland you
came from look at the ancestors of those who are less than {20} away first to
see if that helps your search.
In practice {8} generations back is not all
that far and someone with a {3} generation tag may have in fact identical
markers and be as close as a sibling or child - this game is all about chance. More explanation.
Tree Representation
Another way of representing the TMRCA
results is to build a "tree" which groups people who are likely to be
most closely related. This is not strictly a family tree but the distance you
have to go towards the root of the tree and then back up to any particular leaf
is a measure of closeness. Yes computer people draw trees upside down!
You will see that there are currently
several groups, or clusters, within the data. The possible reasons for which
have been discussed previously.
The leaves of the tree carry the kit number
and by examining the entry for any given kit number you can obtain an
approximate estimate of the geographic area in Ireland .
Current Tree
(pdf).
What to Do Next?
If you wish to email any participant, please
draft a note saying a little about your family and your reason for exploring a
potential or real family relationship (including your Kit Number and that of
the person you wish to contact) and send it to us. We will then
forward it to them with your contact details. This roundabout approach, as you
will appreciate, is to preserve privacy if participants so desire.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you have recently had success
in locating your oldest ancestors more precisely than say "Ireland"
or have more accurate dates please let us know and also, if possible,
update your FTDNA entry. We can do this for you if you wish or do not know
how.