Irish Ancestors
Hello, I was so happy to find an extensive addition to my Family Search Tree. Family Search built out my Scottish ancestors to Olafrsson Maxwell (1011-1064) who was married to Queen Maelcore Tuathail. Through the Queen, I have Irish ancestors back to the time of Christ! So amazing. Thank you for adding this information to my tree.
I tested with FamilyTree DNA and I'm primarily Scottish, Irish and Welsh. If my results would be useful to a group or researcher, please let me know.
Cheers, Kris
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Please note, FamilySearch themselves did not add this information. The FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT) can be edited by any FS user, who may make mistakes. FS themselves does not try to add or correct information.
I strongly suggest carefully checking the information and sources for each person. You can see who made each edit and send them a message. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but unfortunately the further back you go the more likely it is that there's a mistake somewhere.
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Also not wanting to sound pessimistic, but you need to review the work people have done on your Irish ancestors. Its not correct.
Irish records are impressively scarce before 1800, and just don't exist when you go even a little further back.
If there are not documented records supporting a connection between two people, then that connection is fiction.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news.
John.
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Hello and thank you for your comments.
I went back into my Family Search tree and reviewed the Irish ancestors who were added to my tree. They all have FS ID numbers. Many of them have source information, such as Legacy NFS Source, wiki, Rootsweb, Irish Roots project, ancestors.familysearch.org., and Geni. In general, there are no birth or death records but historical references are given for some of the ancestors, such as Book of Leinst, Annual of Ulster. I have googled some of the names and they come up as historical figures with the same birth and death years.
I will follow up on your suggestion and will contact a couple of the people who "created/posted" the name of the ancestor and accompanying information.
A screenshot is attached for your review.
Sincerely, Kris
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I think it is most likely that any mistakes (if they exist), will not be in the royal/aristocratic lineages, for which there are sources such as old annals and chronicles. It is more likely an error will be in the generations connecting your more recent non-aristocratic relatives to aristocrats. There is a human tendency to want to be connected to such families, and with a bit of wishful thinking and turning a blind eye it is often possible to "find" such links.
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The basis of good genealogy is solid well documented sources. The items you have mentioned (Legacy NFS Source, wiki, Rootsweb, Irish Roots project, ancestors.familysearch.org., and Geni) are unfortunately not considered in themselves sources. They are at best, places where actual sources could be referenced.
As I am sure you are aware, actual sources are things such as documented birth, marriage and death records. Authenticated family bible entries. Accredited historical documents. Reports from credible newspapers and other publications. Wills and court documents. Attested memories from actual participants or witnesses. In short, if there is not an original document attesting to the event, we have to conclude that we are dealing with speculation and conjecture, not history or genealogy.
As @A van Helsdingen comments, we as people want to be connected to history, and thus, it is sometimes all to easy to "find" connections that are not based on fact.
It is an inevitable reality of Irish genealogy, that records simply do not exist for periods extending over many hundreds of years. Unlike other cultures and societies in some countries, where records were created and maintained for generation after generation, detailing family linkage over extensive periods of history, the political and social realities of Ireland meant that persecution and economic poverty prevented, or even made illegal, the creation of records for large parts of our history.
If you examine the screenshot you included, and look into FamilySearch at the pages for the individuals shown, most have no sources attached and contain fundamental errors, such as child born before parent. Looking at the detail, I would speculate that at least parts of this were put together by person or persons who have little knowledge of Ireland.
Documented Irish mythology is very strong and is comparable in content and detail to many of the other great world mythologies. I would suggest that at least part of what you are reading in the part of the family tree at which you are looking, uses some of the great Irish Mythology tales as its basis.
There are excellent Irish records extending back to around 1850 and in dwindling cases beyond that. The best way to build your own Irish family history is to work back from what you know today of your own parents and grandparents, and using the Irish records, build up a solid genealogy for your family. And there are many here who would be delighted to assist you if you would find that valuable.
John.
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I appreciate your insightful comments. One reason I was interested in joining the Maxwell DNA Group was to facilitate the use DNA results to support any existing "paper trail" documents be they recent or from royal/aristocratic lineages.
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