DNA Projects

Innovating with DNA Projects

The Society has created unique DNA Projects to explore specific fields of interest.

These are run by Society DNA Project teams or by individual Branches of the Society.

Volunteers are adding the family trees of testers within some of the Projects to Wikitree. This makes the information available to the wider public and ensures it is available for future genealogists. It also helps us to grow The Great North of Ireland Family Tree – bringing together DNA results onto FTDNA and family trees onto Wikitree to enable connections which may otherwise be missed.

The North of Ireland DNA Project

This is the Society’s overarching DNA Project and has the most members of any of our Projects, with well over 11,000.

It is for anyone who has ancestors from the nine counties of Ulster and includes Y-DNA, Mt-DNA and/or autosomal DNA.

Hosted on FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA), it allows members of the Project to find matches specifically with Irish ancestry via the Advanced Matches tool – potentially very useful for those who do not know where in Ireland their ancestors came from. Project members receive a two monthly newsletter with hints, tips, news and updates.

Join the Project on FTDNA here and add your ancestors to Wikitree to help us to grow The Great North of Ireland Family Tree.

Ballycarry and Islandmagee DNA Projects

Only people with ancestors who were born or who died in either area can join these Projects. They are a perfect example of how targeted DNA testing can help to find connections between different ancestral lines and to push back family trees beyond what traditional research would achieve. The most distant ancestor that has been confirmed through DNA lived in the first half of the 1700s. This is a remarkable outcome. Another valuable outcome of this research is that missing census records for the early and mid 1800s are being recreated for Islandmagee.

The Launch Event of the Ballycarry DNA Project was held  in Ballycarry Community Hall on Tuesday 8 October 2019. The Islandmagee DNA Project followed in 2021.

You can find the Ballycarry DNA Project on Wikitree here and Islandmagee here.

If you have direct ancestors who were born or who died in Ballycarry or Islandmagee, contact us via the above Wikitree pages.

1813 Ballyeaston Church Census DNA Project – Antrim and Newtownabbey Branch

Wouldn’t we all love access to a 1813 census! Finding this was too good an opportunity to miss so Antrim and Newtownabbey branch Members are making the most of it by locating descendants of the 388 families named in the census. Through a combination of DNA analysis and genealogical research, they are creating family trees to find connections between today’s testers and their ancestors.

In  June 2024, the Project was launched to an enthusiastic audience in the Ballyeaston Church Hall. It got off to a very good start with a total of 31 potential descendants completing profile forms and 9 additional people opting to purchase their own test.

The Ballyeaston DNA Project Page is on Wikitree. Follow the link to see how the Project is developing and how you might get involved.

Belfast City Cemetery DNA Project – Belfast Branch

Many people in Belfast came from elsewhere in the mid 1800s to find work. It is often difficult to identify where they were originally from. Members of the Belfast Branch have analysed the DNA of people with ancestors buried in the Belfast City Cemetery. The aim to is to find connections that will help to unlock their origins.

The Project started with Open Days at the Cemetery Visitor Centre in summer 2024 where anyone with an ancestor buried there could purchase a DNA test. Belfast branch volunteers then researched the ancestor’s line and recorded his or her family tree on Wikitree. Since then, Belfast branch Members have also added profiles of their own ancestors buried in the Cemetery to Wikitree. The Project is now open to all Members and the wider public.

To join the Project, add any ancestors buried in the Belfast City Cemetery to Wikitree and upload your DNA to FamilyTreeDNA. You will be helping to grow The Great North of Ireland Family Tree – follow the link for help and guidance.

Find the Belfast City Cemetery DNA Project on Wikitree here.