Meet Ireland's most 'prolific' king; you could be descended from him

cabbagehead44: I've done some genealogical investigating into my own family, and I've learned that 'Y' DNA, which is mentioned in the article above, is only passed from father to son, so whatever ancestry you have through your mother's side cannot be traced in that way. The best way would be to find a male relative with the surname you want to investigate, and then trace from there...and there are DNA test kits (with high accuracy) that you can have your male relative use, for this.

It may be of interest to readers that Glucksman Ireland House NYU will have Professor Dan Bradley speaking on this at their University Day "Who Do We Think We Are: Ireland and Irish America" on Saturday April 17th. Other participants include William Kennedy, Alice McDermott and John Patrick Shanley. Please see our website http://irelandhouse.fas.nyu.edu/object/ne.gihuniversityday for details. Eileen Reilly Glucksman Ireland House NYU

How did you get DNA from a dead Irish king?

Does anyone know what particular chromosome is the writer referring to with O Neill and does it occur in women as well as men?