Kiss Me, I’m (4%) Irish

My wife and I recently sat down and began to discuss our extended family. Now they are generally nice people, and we all get along swimmingly, but if you knew them the way we do, you would agree that they are, how should I put this… nuts.

And by nuts, I mean that none of them fit the ‘normal’ mode.

There are artists, explorers, political viewpoints from both ends of the spectrum, and gold medal stubborn streaks. Funnily enough, we do fall short on the number of reprobates and scallywags in the mix.

There’s not a normal one in the bunch, aside from the two of us.

Which, we decided, may not be factual.

If 99% of your family is nuts, then statistically speaking, you are probably nuts too.

We then began to wonder if being a collection of nuts is specific to recent times, or did we come from a long line of non-traditional people.

Which got us to wondering about our ancestry.

My wife has always considered herself having Scottish and Welsh roots, since that is where most of her folk came from. This idea was reinforced when we visited Scotland, and she blended right in with the locals. In her family, there is a whispered rumour that some Irish blood snuck into the mix.

I’ve always considered myself having a cross between German and Slavic, since that’s where the family history said we came from. With the exception of my desk, I do like things orderly, and I share many traits with people from Eastern Europe.

Around the time of our conversation, an advertisement floated by on Facebook from Ancestry.ca, offering to analyse our DNA and tell us conclusively where we came from.

So we decide to try it out.

We ordered the kits, and when they arrived, we spit into a test tube, sealed it up and sent it back.

It was that simple.

After waiting about four weeks, we got an email from Ancestry.ca that our results were ready, and that we could see our results by clicking on the link in the email.

Now keep in mind that these results don’t analyze your DNA from a medical background, but rather compare it from common pools of DNA from various areas of the world.

They will tell you where your great great great great…. great grandparents came from before dispersing.

They also tell you that if you and a sibling take the test, you may have variations in the results since they measure the unique blend of DNA you as an individual pulled out of the ancestral DNA pool on both sides of your family tree.

So… when I clicked on the link, there was no surprise to find out that my spit showed that I was 54% Eastern European. I almost felt that I had wasted my money.

My next biggest ethnicity at 41% was from the gene pool of the original inhabitants of Great Britain (as in those that were living there before the Vikings, Romans, and hoards of tourists).

Both of these estimates came with a high degree of probability.

Next on the list, with a slightly lower degree of probability was the result that I have 4% Irish genes, with the remaining 1% being Scandinavian (Cue the Viking Invaders).

There wasn’t a bit of German in the mix, but at least I have a legitimate excuse to drink on Saint Paddy’s day.

Now keep in mind, this mix of DNA represents my ancestry from thousands of years ago, not the past few hundred years.

As for my ‘Scottish’ wife, the results were a bit more surprising.

It turns out the rumours of the Irish influence were true. She tops out at 43% Irish in her mix.

Next up was Western Europe at 39% (so THAT’s where my German went), Scandinavia at 13% (those Vikings again) and rounding out the bottom of the list was Great Britain at 5%. (It would seem her Scottish and Welsh roots came from long ago immigrants to the UK rather than the original locals.

It was a fun and interesting little discovery, and I’ve almost stopped ribbing her for being more ‘British’ than her, but all in all, it won’t likely change our outlook much.

It does show how mobile our ancestors were, even before discount air travel.

It also shows that most of us (or at least our ancestors) are from somewhere else. Laying claim to a particular patch of ground or discriminating against someone because of where they are ‘from’ isn’t something we have a right to do.

At the very least, I can head out to the Irish shop and pick up two “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” tee shirts.

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Image: K.W. Pashuk

About the Author:

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee (www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk