In 2003 the MacAulay Clan Society voted to undertake a DNA study using FTDNA as the research laboratory. As of December 2013, 144 men named MacAulay, McCauley, etc. had joined the DNA study.

JOIN THE DNA STUDY!

The study is open to both Scottish and Irish MacAulays, including all the spelling variations of the name. Participants need not be members of the Clan Society. DNA samples must be from males named MacAulay (any spelling variation) since the test is for Y-chromosome data. Female MacAuleys can participate by recruiting their brothers, fathers, or cousins to donate DNA. The sample is obtained by a painless cotton swab inside the mouth.

The MacAulay Clan Society decided to use FTDNA Laboratories for Y-DNA testing . It is crucial that all participants use the same testing company because the variuos labs use different measurement protocols, and results from one company to another may not be directly comparable. The rates for the two most relevant tests are:

Y-DNA-12 marker test …. $59
Y-DNA-37 marker test ... $149

TO JOIN THE MACAULAY DNA STUDY, USE THIS FORM FROM FTDNA LABORATORIES:

click here:
MACAULAY DNA Study
ORDER FORM

For most MacAulays the 37-marker test will provide enough data to identify which of the ancestral MacAulay clans he is descended from, and often the 12-marker test will be sufficient. Since FTDNA Labs will save your DNA sample, an upgrade can be ordered pretty easily. The cost of upgrading from 12 markers to 37 is $99. People who are cautious about this new field can get a 12-marker test first, and after reviewing the results s/he can decide whether to buy an upgrade.

IMPORTANT: This study only uses data from the Y-chromosome, which is inherited in the direct male line. FTDNA also sells tests of mtDNA, which is inherited in the direct female line. Since mtDNA tests are expensive and will not be used in this study, they are NOT recommended at this time. Also, FTDNA offers a "Family Finder" option at extra cost, but this option is not recommended if they are part of the MacAulay group.

So far 36 MacAulays have signed up for the Clan MacAulay DNA study. In addition, a private study DNA study of MacAulays from North Uist has 13 participants, and they are collaborating with us. Additionally, five McCulleys have formed a separate study and are making their data available. In all, we have DNA data from 54 MacAulay men available for analysis.

Our analysis so far has identified nine DNA groups which include all but 8 of the 54 MacAulays. Three of these nine DNA groups have been matched with ancient MacAulay clans or septs: (1) the MacAuleys of Fermanagh (IG type 1), (2) the MacAulays of North Uist (SG3), and (3) the Macaulays of Lewis (SG4 and SG5). One of the DNA groups is not a Celtic clan at all, but a group of French Hugonaut immigrants who changed their name to McCulley and McCauley (SA1). The other four groups have not yet been definitively matched to an ancient clan, but a lot has been learned from the DNA, and I am optimistic that we will soon match these groups as well.

Of the eight MacAulay DNA participants that have not yet been matched to a DNA group, there are several possible explanations. Four of them probably fit in one of these DNA groups but we will need more tests or genealogical information to confirm. Another obvious explanation is that so far they may be the only member of their clan to take the DNA test. Alternatively, there could have been a "non-paternal event" in their direct male lineage, such as adoption. Finally, one of these eight DNA participants is named "McElyea" and it could be that this is not a variant of McAuley.

The nine DNA group-patterns that have been discovered so far are shown in detail in the Data Table at the end of this article. They are:

Scottish Gaelic type 1 (D.J. Macaulay, M.P. McCally, D.J. McCauley, W.S McCauley, Dale McCauley)
Scottish Gaelic type 2 (D.S. McColly, E.R. McCauley, W.B. McColly,Dennis C. Macauley, Curtis McCauley, J.M. MacAuley)
Scottish Gaelic type 3 (J.B. MacAulay, plus twelve others)
Scottish Gaelic type 4 (D.A. MacAulay, R.E. McAulay, R.P. Macaulay, B. Macaulay, I.B. MacAulay)

ScottishGaelic Type 5 (Hugh MacAulay)

Scottish Alannic (G-Haplogroup) (A.J. McCulley, Steve McCauley, and R. McCully)
Irish Gaelic type 1 (D.W. McCauley, P.H. MacAuley, P.E. McCauley, T.J. McCauley, and JJT McAuley)
Irish Gaelic type 2 (J.T. Cooley)
Irish Gaelic type 3 (S.M. McAuley, L.R. McAuley, Rev. J. McAuley)

It is very likely that the men within each group are closely related to each other, but unlikey that they are closely related to the men in the other groups. (For example, the FTDNA Time Predictor estimates that it is 89% probable that D.S. McColly and E.R. McCauley [who are both SG type 2] had a common male ancestor 500 years ago; but the likelihood that D.J. Macaulay [SG type 1] and E.R. McCauley [SG type 2] had a common male ancestor 500 years ago is less than 1 percent.) We know that there were at least five MacAulay clans/septs in Scotland and at least two in Ireland, so these DNA results seem to be sorting out along clan lines as expected.

****Scottish Gaelic type 1, (Niall of the 9 Hostages)****
This DNA pattern is well-known to DNA researchers as the DNA pattern associated with Niall of the Nine Hostages (N9H), who was High King of Ireland from 376 to 405. Many of the most important Scottish and Irish Chiefs claimed direct-male-line descent from N9H, including the MacAulays of Ardincaple and the McAuleys of Westmeath. Five men in the MacAulay DNA study had this pattern, all of them apparently of Scottish or Scoth-Irish ancestry. D.J. Macaulay, M.P. McCally, and D.J. McCauley had identical DNA results for the 12-marker test. D.J. and M.P. also took the 37-marker test and had 5 differences at the 37-marker level. D.J. and M.P. believe their ancestors are Scottish or Scotch-Irish, but don’t yet know which ancestral clan they are from. The FTDNA Time Predictor estimates that it is 80% likely that D.J. Macaulay and M.P. McCally had a common male ancestor 500 years ago, (I have been contacted by the MacGregor Clan, and we discovered that a few of the McGregors had the same FTDNA-12 pattern as MacAulay SG-type 1. There are several theories that could explain this and more research should be done in this area.) Because N9H had so many descendants, this DNA pattern might be descended from more than one McCauley Clan. Matthew McCally is researching a possible linkage to some of the native clans of Northern Ireland.

*****Scottish Gaelic type 2*****

Six participants have this DNA pattern, and they seem to all be of Scottish or Scotch-Irish ancestry. Despite the large number of McCauleys in this group, we have not yet been able to link it to a specific clan territory in Scotland. D.S. McColly, E.R. McCauley, and W.B. McColly had identical 12-marker DNA results. D.S. and E.R. had 4 differences at the 37-marker level. W.B. McColly has information on an immigrant to America born in 1754 who is a common ancestor with D.S. McColly. W.B. is sure his ancestor immigrated directly from Scotland, while E.R. has not ruled out Scotch-Irish immigration. The FTDNA Time Predictor estimates that it is 89% probable that D.S. McColly and E.R. McCauley had a common male ancestor 500 years ago.

****Scottish Gaelic type 3, (North Uist)****
J.B. MacAulay is descended from MacAulays who emigrated from North Uist, one of the Western Isles of Scotland. He is sponsoring a private DNA study of MacAulays from North Uist, and has made his own DNA data available on the Y-search website. So far he has data for 14 other North Uist MacAulays, all of whom have a very similar DNA pattern. As the data in the Appendix show, this DNA pattern is clearly distinct from the other 8 MacAulay DNA types.

*****Scottish Gaelic type 4, (Isle of Lewis)*****
D.A. MacAulay, R.E. McAulay, and R.P. Macaulay, B. Macaulay, and I.B. MacAulay have identical DNA results at the 12-marker level, and their DNA is extremely similar at the 25-marker level. They all have Scottish ancestry, and three of them can trace their ancestry to the Isle of Lewis. (Note the similarity to SG5 -- they may be the same group.)

*****Scottish Gaelic type 5, (Isle of Lewis)*****

Hugh MacAulay traces his ancestry to the MacAulays of Uig Parish in the Isle of Lewis. This is the clan to which the famous Lord Macaulay (Thomas Babington Macaulay) belonged. Although we only have one member from this group, I have shown this pattern in the chart in the Appendix, because of the great interest in this clan. (Note that it is very similar to Scottish Gaelic type 4, and the difference might be due to two recent mutations.)

****Scottish Alannic (Haplogroup G2, (Hugonaut)****
The Y-DNA pattern for these four men is very different from the other MacAulays, in that it is the "G2" haplogroup rather than the “R1b” haplogroup which is extremely common in Gaelic populations. A.J. McCulley was the first man of Scottish ancestry that FTDNA had tested with a “G” haplogroup. These men suspect that their ancestors were French Hugonauts named "De Cailou" who emigrated to Scotland circa 1600 and assimilated into the Scottish and Scotch-Irish population. Three of them are named McCulley and the fourth is McCauley. They have formed a separate study group, but are collaborating with us.

****Irish Gaelic type 1, (Fermanagh Maguire)****
This DNA pattern is identical to the baseline DNA pattern of the Maguire Clan in Fermanagh, and indicates that these men are descended from the well-documented MacAuley sept of the Maguire clan. D.W. McCauley, P.H. MacAuley, P.E. McCauley, T.J. McCauley, and JJT McAuley fall into this group. The first three can trace their ancestry to County Cavan, Ireland, which is adjacent to Clanawley, the historical territory of the McCauley sept of County Fermanagh.

These conclusions are tentative, because the science is still so new and because we still need more MacAulays to provide enough data. In particular it would help us if we could recruit some men with documented ancestry from the Scottish chiefs of Ardincaple and the MacAulays of Kintail to serve as benchmarks. On the Irish MacAuley side, we could use a few documented Westmeath McAuleys and Donegal McCauleys. In addition, we need more old-fashioned genealogical research which will help place these DNA results in a geographic and historic context.

APPENDIX – DNA Patterns in MacAulay Y chromosomes
We have enough data to define 9 different patterns at the 25-marker level. Each of these patterns is shared by a group of men who are descended in the male line from a common ancestor. Most members of each group should be identical at the 12-marker level, or perhaps have one mutation. At the 25-marker level they should have only one or two mutations from the baseline pattern. (We will need more participants before we can establish typical group patterns at the 37-marker level.)

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