Tag Archives: DNA

AN ENGLISH woman of Clare descent is appealing to the people of Clare to help her trace her long lost biological grandfather. Born in Coventry, Louise McNamara has always known that half of her family tree was from County Clare. Her father, Francis McNamara, was born in London in 1956 but was unofficially adopted soon after his birth and has no memory of his birth mother or father. After years of research, the family managed to learn the identity of Francis’ mother, who was originally from Ennistymon. Unfortunately, Francis’ mother had passed away shortly before the family learned of her identity. Last Christmas, Louise McNamara, convinced her father to undergo DNA testing in an effort to discover the identity of his Clare father. The DNA tests revealed that both of Mr McNamara’s parents come from the West Clare or South Clare area and, to the families great surprise, the test also showed a match in the Ennis area. This match, …

A DNA sample taken from a razor blade belonged to elderly fire victim, was crucial in positively identifying the man’s remains. On April 4 this year, 86-year-old Patrick Behan died after “a very serious inferno” at his home at Tonavoher near Knockerra, Kilrush. An inquest in Ennis heard how high flames and the roof caving in at the home rendered neighbours helpless in any effort to save Mr Behan, who required a walking aid to get around. Neighbour, Tommy Donnellan told the inquest that he was able to see an outline of Mr Behan’s body face down on the floor of the kitchen as the fire raged. His remains were not formally identified until April 12 when DNA analysis came back. Garda Robert Wilson said that gardaí were able to retrieve a razor blade from Mr Behan’s car and in a DNA comparison with tissue from the remains, the authorities positively identified Mr Behan’s remains. A friend of Mr Behan and local farmer, Pat O’Malley gave …

A Mountshannon farmer has received a suspended three year jail term and ordered to pay a €3,000 fine after it was uncovered using DNA tracing that he was responsible for three separate thefts of a total of 15 cattle from his neighbour. Ahead of delivering his sentence at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Gerald Keys told Padraig O’Brien, (42), of Magherigh “what you have done to your neighbour is unforgivable”. O’Brien had pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft of the cattle worth €17,000. The offences involved the theft of five in-calf heifers from Bohatch, Mountshannon between January 17 and 18, 2015; the theft of six heifers from Kilrateera, Mountshannon between May 23 and 24, 2013, and the theft of four cows from Bohatch between December 8 and 9, 2013, a total of 15 charges. The court heard that gardaí were led to O’Brien after they found “sporadic hoof marks on the ditches” in frost, leading to his farmyard in …

EAST Clare gardaí and the Department of Agriculture were today [Thursday] commended for what was described as “without question the most outstanding piece of police work” in a cattle rustling case. Remarkably the comments were made by the defence counsel for Padraig O’Brien, (42), of Magherigh, Mountshannon who pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court to 15 counts of theft offences relating to the animals worth €17,000. The offences involved the theft of five in-calf heifers from Bohatch, Mountshannon between January 17 and 18, 2015; the theft of six heifers from Kilrateera, Mountshannon between May 23 and 24, 2013, and the theft of four cows from Bohatch between December 8 and 9, 2013. Gardaí and the Department of Agriculture used DNA testing to trace the stolen cattle through their progeny providing links back to O’Brien. Presiding Judge Gerald Keys commended the gardaí for their “Trojan work” highlighting that this country’s system of tracing cattle is “one of the best in …

Investigations into the skeletal remains of a teenage boy discovered in a cave outside Ballyvaughan five years ago have shed new light on the life and death. A human skull discovered by cavers in the Burren in 2011 prompted a rescue archaeological excavation funded by the National Monuments Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The full scientific investigations of the skeleton have just been published revealing incredible details about the youth, who died in the 16th or 17th century. At the time of excavation, the small size of the skeleton led the team to think it was of a child. However, subsequent analysis of the teeth in particular revealed the remains belonged to someone who had died aged 14 to 16 years old. There was evidence of stunted growth, almost certainly a result of malnutrition and hunger. The adolescent measured 4 ft. 1 inch in height – the equivalent of an average eight year old child …

A lecture in Kilrush on Tuesday will examine how it has recently become possible to use DNA to identify where in West Clare ancestors of people who live in different parts of the world are from. The Kilrush and District Historical Society’s November lecture is entitled Reconstructing West Clare Family Histories Using DNA. It will be delivered by the society’s PRO, Paddy Waldron, in Teach Ceoil. “In recent years, it has become possible and affordable to use DNA comparisons to break down brick walls in ancestral research,” Paddy Waldron explained. “This talk will begin by briefly outlining the different inheritance paths of different components of DNA. “Y-DNA, for example, can shed light on the origins of Clare surnames, while comparing autosomal DNA has helped members of the Irish diaspora, from Sandy Hook to California to New Zealand, to identify the precise townlands in West Clare from which their mystery ancestors emigrated,” he added. Paddy Waldron has long been an avid …