We are looking for male Griffins in the North Kerry area to take part in a y-DNA test. John Griffin in the United States has spent a number of years trying to trace his Great Grandfather William Robert Griffin, born in Ireland 1832. So far we have drawn a blank on absolute proof, but naming patterns suggest that the family may be from Ballyferriter or alternatively North Kerry. We already have volunteers from Ballyferriter, and would really appreciate a male Griffins in the Listowel/Ballylongford/Ballybunion area to take this simple DNA test, free of course.
These simple Y-DNA tests should pinpoint the area that John’s branch of the Griffin family originated in. This will help us to dig deeper and concentrate our research. Genetic genealogy is the newest and most exciting addition to genealogy research. Contact me here if you would be interested in taking part.
Interested in your search. My maternal grandmother was a Griffin from Castleisland. I believe her father came from BallyMcdonnell where there were a number of Griffins. I will definitely be interested in the outcome.
Best wishes, Mary from Cleethorpes, England
Mary, was that Ballymacdoyle? A townland in the Dingle area. The tests and results will probably take a number of weeks but I will report back here. Watch this space!
My grandmother was a Griffin from Clahane, Ballyard, Tralee. Her two nephews still live there, Denis and Michael.
Ian, thank you so much for letting me know. Yes I am looking for males – are they Grffin surnames? John Griffin in Tralee (Co.Council) is also taking part
My husband’s Griffin relatives were descended from a Michael Griffin and Mary Connor, whose first child was baptized in Tralee. At the time their residence was Ballyard. He has participated in the Griffin DNA project.
Hi my Mrs belinda griffin and I am married Tony is great great great grandfather was called Patrick griffinborn 1762 in Ireland, he had son John born in1785 Tralee keey
Ian, my husband is a descendant of Michael Griffin and Mary Connor of Ballyard, whose child, Mary Griffin was baptized in Tralee in 1833. Do you think there could be a connection to your relatives?
My name is Tim Griffin Beale Hill Ballybunion County Kerrry.
Send me email with more information I may be interested,
Any results yet from this DNA survey?
I recently had my own Y-DNA analyzed (my earliest known ancestor was a John Griffin from Kilcoran, Tubbrid, Co Tipperary, ca 1740-95) and found that several very close DNA matches were Griffins from Co Kerry.
The odd thing is that our DNA signature clearly originates from SW Scotland, which leads me to speculate about Gallowglass mercenaries.
Andrew that Scottish link is interesting. Haven’t come across that before. I haven’t any update on the Griffin DNA as my client had a large scale housing problem (a fire or flood) and was out of touch for a few months. I got an email though from him at Christmas and he will be getting back to me. What part of Kerry did your results show up?
South west Scotland most likely to belong to The Little Scottish Cluster from around 500/600 ad.
I’m trying to trace forward and trying to get a meeting of Griffins at the back to your past on October 21st 2017.
Spread the word.
Gerald Griffin, Cork, Linericj city ,Glin .
geraldg58@gmail.com.
Hi Kay
I have 6 or 7 Y-DNA matches with Canadians or US Americans whose roots go back to Kerry. Three of them have responded to my e-mails so far. Their grandparents/great grandparents all seem to have come from an area centred (broadly) on the Dingle peninsula, places named are Glenbeigh, Kinard West, Ardagh and Castlemaine.
My closest matches in Scotland are from Argyll and the Loch Lomond area.
Recalling that the name Griffin is traditionally Co Clare (O’Griffys of Ballygriffy) as well as Co Kerry (O’Griffin of Ballygriffin), I am wondering if the clan might be connected with the Gallowglass MacSweeney clan, who also came from Kintyre and spread out from Donegal to Thomond and from there to Kerry, where they served the McCarthys and the O’Sullivans.
Unfortunately, I have not found any Y-DNA data yet from a descendant of the Clare O’Griffys, which would help confirm or refute this theory.
Andrew
Hi, My name is John Griffin and i can trace my family back to 1823 in the same location which is Ardfert. Griffin is a very common name in Kerry .
John, Good to hear that you were successful in your research for the Griffins in Ardfert. Kay
Is the OP still looking for North Kerry male Griffins for inclusion in this research?
Thank you for your comment. It was an American client – John Griffin, who was trying to pin down exactly what part of Kerry his ancestors came from. Research showed that it was the parish of Ballyferriter but he was born before baptismal records for that area. I think he got Griffin DNA and is sorted now. If you want to contact him, please email me. caballkay@gmail.com
My grandfather, James Griffin,(1863-1926) was baptised in in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry….17 March 1863.
His parents were Jeremiah Griffin and Ellen Moran. They were married in St Vincents Church Ballyferriter oin February 1845
James had siblings:
Patrick 1846-1926) died Causeway-married Bridget O’Connor
John married Bridget Fitzgerald
Mary married Patrick Clifford
Catherine married Florence Sheehan
Bridget married David Aiken
James Griffin migrated firstly to Queensland (1880s) and thence to New Zealand
Hello, My grandfather born in tralee in 1928, i hope to found more of my family tree, his name was jeremiah griffin and lived in camp, her mother surname was brick
Pedro, thanks for your comment. It is difficult to research recent ancestry as we are constrained by data protection. There are no online births avaiable before 1915, no marriage before 1941 or deaths before 1966.
My Family came from Ardfert, co Kerry my Grandfather James left Ireland and the late 1880s and came to NZ. His father was Jeremaih.
My griffins came from Trallee/kerry county. MORRIS Griffin left in 1820 for PEI Canada. He had brothers Patrick and Thomas who stayed in Ireland. He was born in 1780. Fathers name could be Thadei Griffin. I’m on gedmatch a595314
Hi Philip
Sorry for the delay in replying to your post. You must be related to John Thomas Griffin of PEI, who is another descendant of your Morris/Maurice Griffin from Tralee.
I checked Gedmatch and found that we share three segment over 5 cM on 3 different chromosomes. This could be a real match because I suspect my own Griffins may have come from the same area in the early 18th century.
Feel free to mail me at the address given elsewhere in this thread. Just replace the (at) by @.
My father Francis Sullivan was born in New York City In the late 1920s early 1930s mother was Eileen Davis Galway born .
DNA is showing up Griffin Co Kerry exact match.
Hi, Kerry Griffins
Since my last post in this thread, three years ago (how time flies!) we have made a lot of progress with the genetic (and conventional) genealogy of Griffins from County Kerry. We can now show that many, if not most, of the Griffins of North Kerry are descended from a Scottish Gallowglass warrior, who arrived in Munster in the mid 16th C and fought at the side of The O’Sullivan Mór in the Desmond Rebellions. He and his family were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and settled near Castlemaine. From there, they multiplied rapidly and spread North to Ardfert, West to Dingle and South to Glenbeigh.
Any male Griffin, who is interested in finding out how he fits into this fascinating (and developing) story, is encouraged to take the Y67 test with Family Tree DNA and join the Griffin/th/s project there. There are already about 20 of us working together to explore further, but more are needed.
Does this mean that the Kerry and Clare (Ó Gríofa) Griffins are not at all related?
https://barrygriffin.com/surname-maps/surnames.php?surname=Griffin
Hi Barry
The Kerry Griffins (meaning the large cluster of Griffins around Dingle, Glenbeigh, Ardfert etc) are L1065 Scots Cluster and they are quite separate from the O’Griffy clan of County Clare (former Kingdom of Thomond). I have seen the DNA results of two male-line descendants of the Clare O’Griffys and they are Irish Type III Dalcassians, related to the O’Dea and O’Brien clans.
There is a third group of Irish Griffins with a haplogroup called the “Little Scottish Cluster”. This is a lowland Scots tribe, unrelated to the highland “L1065 Scots Cluster”. This group seems to be located around the Severn Estuary, probably including Scattery Island, and I suspect they may also descend from a Gallowglass warrior, like the L1065 Griffins.
I would like to hear from any male Kerry Griffin who is interested in finding out which group he belongs to. Mail me at andrew(a)helgagriffiths.de.
Andrew Griffiths
Very interesting. You mean Shannon estuary right :) I’m related to one of the Griffy families you mention and have my roots in Clare. I have also mapped Griffin in Scotland and there is a little cluster in the SW that you all might be interested in. See map below. What about all the other Griffin clusters in Ireland? Lots of Griffins on Inis Oirr and in Connemara. Could they be Irish Type III. Also a Griffin cluster on Mayo/Roscommon/Galway border.
https://www.barrygriffin.com/surname-maps/scottish/Griffin/
Hi Barry
Yes, I meant the Shannon estuary. Sorry about the typo. I haven’t seen the Y-DNA results of any member of the other Griffin clusters that you mention.
I have a strengthening conviction that “Griffin” or “grìbhean” was an epithet for any warrior, possibly one that was especially strong or brave. Check out the Kerry Griffin website: https://www.griffinofcountykerry.com/
This is interesting. I recently got my results for an FTDNA Y37 (currently waiting for SNP results) and found that the “Advanced Matches” report run on the R_R1b ALL Subclades database includes many Scottish names. There is also an Andrew Griffith on the report which may be you. I had always assumed that the Kerry Griffin family was either descended from an Irish Crimthann/Criomhthann line or was a local nickname that “stuck.” Are there any accessible references for Griffins descending from a Castlemaine based Gallowglass?
Btw, I can genealogically trace my Griffin line to the eastern end of the Dingle Peninsula near Castlemaine.
Thanks for your post, Kevin. I found you among my Y DNA matches on FTDNA and I have sent you the information you asked for by e-mail.
Andrew
My name is Kyle Fitzgerald Griffin and father was John William Griffin (brother of Thomas Griffin) and his father was John J Griffin. I don’t know anyone from the griffin family because I was separated from them when my father died in 89. 22and me says that most of my ancestors came from County Kerry Ireland. Can I import those results possibly? This is fascinating to me.
Hi Kyle – I strongly recommend that you take a Y-DNA test with Family Tree DNA. Mail me at andrew(at)helgagriffiths.de and we can discuss.
If 23andMe allows you to download your autosomal results, you can upload them free of charge to Gedmatch and MyHeritage, but not to Ancestry (unfortunately). Upload to FTDNA is possible for a small charge.
Andrew
Hello. I’m related on my paternal side to a Michael Griffin (born 1810) from Ballyard Tralee, Kerry Co who married Mary O’Connor (born 1816) in Clahane Co Kerry and lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Michael Griffin. They had several children in the U.S. including Cecilia Griffin (born 1854) who is my more recent ancestor. I see one other earlier post on this website who has the same ancestry connection.
I completed a DNA test on 23 + Me and recently paid for my father to have a DNA test as well.
County Kerry appears on the DNA map with us. I do also have some Southern Irish DNA on my maternal side too; however, I believe that it’s likely that some of my Irish DNA comes from this Griffin line. On my ancestry.com Thru line, I have a shared DNA living common ancestor on the Griffin line.
I am willing to help out if needed. Let me know if you are interested.
Hi Johnathan
If you are descended from a Cecilia Griffin, then you presumably won’t have inherited your Y chromosome from a Griffin ancestor and Y-DNA testing would not be of any assistance in tracing your Griffin ancestry. However, I do know a Mark Griffin who is descended from that same Michael Griffin from Ballyard and he has already done the necessary testing, so I can give you some information about that and maybe put you in touch with him. Best thing is to mail me at the address given above (just replace the (at) with an @).