The Curley surname research project has been in full swing for a few years, and I think we can consider it a fully mature surname project now. We've got enough members within the project, over 40 Y-DNA tests, that all the major genetic groups have probably been discovered. Most new DNA tests will probably either belong to one of the existing groups or form small, young branches separated from the main groups by non paternity events.
The documentation has been thoroughly explored and exhausted, so I don't expect any new discoveries from that angle. The house of Curley is pretty well in order.
But there are still questions that remain with the possibility of being answered by future DNA testing.
The documentation records a Scottish Kerlie family, from the Irish name Cairill. But to date, there are no known project members whose lineage can clearly be associated with this Scottish family. It is possible that this lineage has gone extinct. Perhaps one of our project groups belongs to this lineage, but their history has been forgotten. There may be known descendants of this lineage lurking in the shadows waiting to be discovered. The hope is that future DNA testing may reveal a pattern connecting one of the genetic groups to a Scottish origin, or a native Scottish Kerlie from a currently untested lineage may come forward. The surname project does not yet include any Scottish natives or individuals with a known Scottish origin, so the possibility remains for an unsampled lineage waiting to be discovered.
There is an Ulster McCurley genetic group whose history is not yet clear. This group may possibly be associated with the lost Scottish lineage. Alternatively, they may be a branch of the native Irish Curley lineage, sharing a distant ancestor with the Galway/Roscommon and Oriel lineages. Or they may be a distinct genetic branch, separated from others by an NPE. The STR pattern of this group does not clearly link it to any of the major lineages, but neither does it exclude the possibility. The current data is ambiguous. DNA testing of SNPs is needed within this group to determine their relationship to the other genetic groups.
There are documented families of various name forms, including Corley, Kirley, and McCurley, in the Oriel area of Ireland that have not yet been sampled. I suspect that some of these families represent distant branches of the ancient Group 4 lineage, which already includes project members from Galway, Roscommon, and Dundalk. It would be informative to gain project participants from these various Oriel families and possibly tie them in to the main Irish lineage, adding to the evidence for a shared 15th century McOirealla ancestor.
There is a Norman family Curlieu found in documentation. But, as with the Scottish Kerlie family, there is no known history connecting any modern lineage to this old family. The hope is that some modern lineage may be discovered with a clearly documented connection to this ancient family.
The English Kerley group has a well defined genetic lineage. But they cannot be clearly linked to any historical lineage. There is some suggestion that they are from Dorsetshire, but the evidence is meager. There is the possibility that this group descends from the Norman Curlieu family, the Scottish Kerlie family, or some other unknown lineage. Future DNA testing of distantly related genetic matches from England or Scotland has the potential to illuminate the question.
For the many other genetic groups that may have been affected by non paternity events, there is the hope that future DNA matches will resolve the question. The Irish Curley family of Galway/Roscommon includes no less than five distinct genetic groups, having been fragmented into multiple genetic lineages during its ~450 years of residence in the area.
Group 2 of the L1066 haplogroup is among these lineages. There are hints of evidence that this lineage may genetically descend from a Burns lineage of the Roscommon area, with a non paternity event splitting them from the original Curley lineage around 1600 AD. But SNP testing of the distant Burns matches is needed to determine whether this is the case. Group 3 is in a similar position. There are suggestions of an NPE involving the Crane or Grant surname, and additional future DNA matches may resolve the question.
In addition to the major lineages, the project includes multiple isolated grouplets of single individuals and small, young branches that are not genetically related to any of the major groups. Most of these small lineages are probably the result of recent non paternity events that cleaved their genetic lineage off from their historical family roots. In all these cases, what's needed to clarify the history is additional DNA matching to future testers, including both matches within their surname and close matches to other surnames, in order to define the borders of when, where, and with whom a non paternity event may have occurred.
Many of our project members have already successfully discovered their family history via the genetic connections within the project, in combination with the thorough documentation research of each historical group. For those of our project who are sitting in limbo land just waiting and wondering what you can do, your best hope is to find someone that you suspect you may be genetically related to, either through a documented connection or geographic commonality, and get them to do a Y-DNA test.
The documentation has been thoroughly explored and exhausted, so I don't expect any new discoveries from that angle. The house of Curley is pretty well in order.
But there are still questions that remain with the possibility of being answered by future DNA testing.
The documentation records a Scottish Kerlie family, from the Irish name Cairill. But to date, there are no known project members whose lineage can clearly be associated with this Scottish family. It is possible that this lineage has gone extinct. Perhaps one of our project groups belongs to this lineage, but their history has been forgotten. There may be known descendants of this lineage lurking in the shadows waiting to be discovered. The hope is that future DNA testing may reveal a pattern connecting one of the genetic groups to a Scottish origin, or a native Scottish Kerlie from a currently untested lineage may come forward. The surname project does not yet include any Scottish natives or individuals with a known Scottish origin, so the possibility remains for an unsampled lineage waiting to be discovered.
There is an Ulster McCurley genetic group whose history is not yet clear. This group may possibly be associated with the lost Scottish lineage. Alternatively, they may be a branch of the native Irish Curley lineage, sharing a distant ancestor with the Galway/Roscommon and Oriel lineages. Or they may be a distinct genetic branch, separated from others by an NPE. The STR pattern of this group does not clearly link it to any of the major lineages, but neither does it exclude the possibility. The current data is ambiguous. DNA testing of SNPs is needed within this group to determine their relationship to the other genetic groups.
There are documented families of various name forms, including Corley, Kirley, and McCurley, in the Oriel area of Ireland that have not yet been sampled. I suspect that some of these families represent distant branches of the ancient Group 4 lineage, which already includes project members from Galway, Roscommon, and Dundalk. It would be informative to gain project participants from these various Oriel families and possibly tie them in to the main Irish lineage, adding to the evidence for a shared 15th century McOirealla ancestor.
There is a Norman family Curlieu found in documentation. But, as with the Scottish Kerlie family, there is no known history connecting any modern lineage to this old family. The hope is that some modern lineage may be discovered with a clearly documented connection to this ancient family.
The English Kerley group has a well defined genetic lineage. But they cannot be clearly linked to any historical lineage. There is some suggestion that they are from Dorsetshire, but the evidence is meager. There is the possibility that this group descends from the Norman Curlieu family, the Scottish Kerlie family, or some other unknown lineage. Future DNA testing of distantly related genetic matches from England or Scotland has the potential to illuminate the question.
For the many other genetic groups that may have been affected by non paternity events, there is the hope that future DNA matches will resolve the question. The Irish Curley family of Galway/Roscommon includes no less than five distinct genetic groups, having been fragmented into multiple genetic lineages during its ~450 years of residence in the area.
Group 2 of the L1066 haplogroup is among these lineages. There are hints of evidence that this lineage may genetically descend from a Burns lineage of the Roscommon area, with a non paternity event splitting them from the original Curley lineage around 1600 AD. But SNP testing of the distant Burns matches is needed to determine whether this is the case. Group 3 is in a similar position. There are suggestions of an NPE involving the Crane or Grant surname, and additional future DNA matches may resolve the question.
In addition to the major lineages, the project includes multiple isolated grouplets of single individuals and small, young branches that are not genetically related to any of the major groups. Most of these small lineages are probably the result of recent non paternity events that cleaved their genetic lineage off from their historical family roots. In all these cases, what's needed to clarify the history is additional DNA matching to future testers, including both matches within their surname and close matches to other surnames, in order to define the borders of when, where, and with whom a non paternity event may have occurred.
Many of our project members have already successfully discovered their family history via the genetic connections within the project, in combination with the thorough documentation research of each historical group. For those of our project who are sitting in limbo land just waiting and wondering what you can do, your best hope is to find someone that you suspect you may be genetically related to, either through a documented connection or geographic commonality, and get them to do a Y-DNA test.