Mid Argyll Group Research

Kilmichael Glassary parish in Mid Argyll

 

The Mid Argyll DNA Project is now up and running.  It's goal is to research the McCains circa 1300 to late 1500s, or when they were still living in Scotland.   Many of you have noticed matches to other Scottish surnames.  Most of these are from mid Argyll, specifically, the parish of Kilmichael Glassary and nearby areas, such a the island of Bute. 
 
We share paternal ancestry with these non surname matches.  The reason we have so many surnames showing up in our match group is because surnames were not fixed in Argyll in the 1500s.  Gaelic families often followed traditional patronymic customs of mid Argyll.  This generated several surnames within the same family during that century.  This is why we have McAlpin, Henry, Duncan, McDonald, etc., showing up in our match lists.
 
There was a historical McCain family native to Kilmichael Glassary, the precise area where we are turning up so many DNA matches.  For this reason believe that this historical McCain family is in fact our McCain family.  In addition to the DNA matches there are primary sources from Argyll in the 1500s that also support that we are 'the'  Kilmichael Glassary McCains in origin.  Even the move to Ulster in the late 1500s of families from Kilmichael Glassary is well documented.
 
Those are the facts, now for the speculation;  the historical McCain family in Kilmichael Glassary is also known as the Mac Lachlainn 'clan'  of Dunadd.  Branches of that clan did use the surname McCain.  Some of the other surnames on our match list were surnames used by other branches of the Mac Lachlainn of Dunadd clan.  We speculate we have located this Scottish clan in other words. 

So, I need every McCain in the 01McCain group to go to your 'Join Projects' part of your Family Tree page, click on it.  You will see the Mid Argyll Group in the list of DNA project, tick it, then when that opens the page, tick 'Join.'  You can be in several projects at once so this will not effect your participation in the McCain project.
 
This is the end game of the McCain research, it will take us back to the very origins of our family.  The first man to use McCain as a surname was Donnchadh Mór Mac Eáin, aka Donnchadh Rua Mac Eáin.  He lived circa 1445 to 1515. It is his burial slab that you see on the McCain family blog.  Many of McCains have already travelled to Scotland to see it.  Our Scottish branch in Glasgow, i.e. Joe McKane, has also visited the burial slab.
 
This project will have Dr Kyle MacLea as an administrator, he is a geneticist by profession and teaches at a university.   I will be a co-administrator helping out with the primary source research and Gaelic language elements. 
Please Join as soon as possible.


Summer DNA Test Sale

Family Tree labs, the company that does our DNA testing is running an excellent summer sale.  We recommend the 111 level test, though the 67 will give you enough data to confirm you are paternally related to our family.  Prices and link to purchase below.

Beginning on Thursday, June 27, 2013 and running until Friday, July 26, 2013, we will offer the following: 
 
Family Finder was $289 Now $99
mtDNA Full Sequence was $289 Now $189
Y-DNA37 was $169 Now $129
Y-DNA67 was $268 Now $208
Y-DNA111 was $359 Now $308
Family Finder + Y-DNA37 was $368 Now $228
Family Finder + Y-DNA67 was $467 Now $307
Family Finder + mtDNAFullSequence was $398 Now $288
Comprehensive Genome (Y-DNA67, FMS & FF) was $666 Now $496

Link to join:  McCain DNA Project
 

Two McCains on Mull

Gerrie Zhang and her son Chris Greer

In May, my son and I traveled to Scotland.  We visited Glasgow and the Isle of Mull, a repeat
of a solo trip I made two years ago.  On tours and walks on the island, we spotted wildlife, including red deer and sea eagles, and were enthralled by the ever-changing beauty of Mull.  There is something quite special about Mull, and I hope to return to try to discover what
it is that draws me there.  .... Gerrie Zhang

Gerrie and her son are descendants of the Pike County, Indiana, McCains.  Mull is in the inner Hebrides, home to Clann Mhic Ghiolla Eáin.  That clan was also a Redshank clan like our Clann Mhic Eáin.   The 'Eáin' element is found in several Gaelic surnames.  Eáin is the Gaelic form of the Latin name Iohannes.  It is a Latin loan word into Gaelic, in this case a Biblical name. 

Pike County Indiana McCains

 

Hanna Retta McCain, know as Rettie McCain, born in Pike County, Indiana on 4 January, 1875, to George W and Martha McCain née McConnell.  She passed away on 21 February, 1903, of tuberculosis.  This McCain line is a branch of the Marsh Creek McCains through Hugh McKean II, who was the son of the Hugh McKean, the immigrant, who died in 1748.  This photo was supplied by Gerrie Zhang, her great, granddaughter.  The Pike County McCains were first identified by McCain research Lou Poole and later through an autosomal DNA test, the connection was confirmed.