AncestryDNA - Part 3

Amazingly, there was no 6-8 weeks wait. 

My DNA testing kit arrived on 26 June 2015. I took the test almost immediately and sent it off the same day. 

My progress bar updated to 'Arrived' on 3 July, and on the 6 July updated to 'Processing'.

Now today, 15 July 2015 I received the results of my DNA test! 

The Ethnicity Breakdown

I am most definitely not an expert in DNA or genetics, but after mulling over taking the test for quite a while I did have to do some research - a kind which I wasn't used to. 

My results are as follows:

I am 100% European - no surprises there at all. I knew for a fact I had no foreign blood in my more recent ancestry. By foreign, I mean not from the UK or Ireland. Knowing the general history of Great Britain with countless immigrants from all corners of the globe coming here over the generations, I did know that I couldn't be 'just' British or Irish.

My ethnicity was then broken down further.

I am 63% British. In comparison, my result is actually 3% higher than the average native person.

I am 19% Irish. In truth I did expect this result to be higher, purely because of my own family research. Due to the nature of the test I think a lot of my British result is actually Irish, because of the migration to and from each place. The average Ireland native is 95%.

I am 10% Scandinavian. I did actually expect this result. Living in the North East of England and knowing my family have lived here for centuries, and also knowing the history of the area. In particular the invasion of the Vikings on this coast. Not a surprise for me at all. The typical native of what is deemed to be Scandinavia is 48%.

I am 5% Western European. This is primarily Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The average native is 48%. This is not really a surprise for me either, purely down to geography and migration over the generations. 

The next percentages are my Trace Regions, where I literally only have "a trace amount of genetic ethnicity". Due to the estimated amount and range of the Trace Regions, it is entirely possible that these results appear by chance and are not actually part of my genetic make-up. 

I am 2% Iberian. This is DNA from the Iberian Peninsula which is primarily Spain and Portugal. The typical native is 51%. 

I am 1% Finnish/Northwest Russian. In comparison, the typical native of this area is 99%.

DNA Matches

This is the part I was most excited for when I decided to take the test. I currently have 21 DNA matches under 'Fourth Cousin'. I also share Ancestry Tree Hints with one of these, so I know exactly how I am related to them. This Ancestry User is descended from Bernard Carroll and Jane Duffy, my 3x Great Grandparents. These matches all have confidence levels of Extremely High in relation to being a cousin of mine. 

Unfortunately the majority of these matches do not have a family tree linked to their profiles. They might've just wanted to see their ethnicity breakdown and are not actually researching their family. 

All my other DNA matches are listed as 'Distant'. They are mostly all probably 5th to 8th cousins of mine. There is one of these with a shared Ancestry Tree Hint, so I am also able to confirm that they are cousins of mine through Samuel Dykes and Marion Findlay, my 5x Great Grandparents.

I have quite a lot of these distant cousins to check out, as I have 52 pages of DNA matches! 

Conclusion
Do I think that the AncestryDNA test is worth it? Yes I do. I think the genetic side of things is very interesting, and well worth researching.

I am also very excited to see my DNA matches increase as more and more people take the test.