About us
The Duignan DNA Project welcomes all participants. We encourage you to join today!.
Our project is just getting started, and we expect to have many exciting discoveries.
Participating is an opportunity to uncover information not provided in the paper records, which will help with your research of your family tree. We will also discover which family trees are related. As the project progresses, the results for the various family trees will provide information on the evolution of the surname.
The surnames in this DNA Project are researched as part of the Duignan one-name study. You can learn more about this significant research, and the the associated family trees, by visiting the one-name study web site, or contacting the Group Administrator.
http://one-name.org/name_profile/Duignan/
The surnames Duignan, Degnan and Deignan are the most frequently occurring anglicised forms of the Gaelic surname Ó Duibhgeannáin. According to Woulfe this name is anglicised as "O Duigenain, Duigenan, Duignan, Dignan, Deignan, Duignam, Dignam [and means] descendant of Dubhgeannán' (diminutive of Dubhceann, blackhead) ... ". MacLysaght believes that the variant forms "Deignan, Dignam etc." developed as the name spread into counties Cavan, Longford and Westmeath from its homeland in Sligo and Roscommon. De Bhulbh records other variants such as Duignam, Degnan, and Deighnan. [Sources: P. Woulfe: Irish names & surnames, 1923; E. MacLysaght: Surnames of Ireland, 1985; S. De Bhulbh: All Ireland surnames, 2008]
The Y DNA test tells you about your direct male line, which would be your father, his father, and back in time. You must be male to take this test, and you should have one of the surnames shown. If you believe there is a Duignan or variant in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate. If you are female, you will need to find a direct line male in your family tree to participate and represent your tree.
We encourage males to order a Y-DNA test for 37 markers, if possible. If you order fewer markers, you can upgrade later, though this costs a little more.
Both males and females may also be interested in learning about their direct female line, which would be their mother, their mother's mother, and back in time. Both men and women inherit mtDNA, although only women pass it on. To explore your direct female line, you would order a mtDNA test. For matches in a genealogical time frame, order the mtDNA Full Sequence test.
We have also established a General Fund, to accept donations in any currency via credit card. These funds will be held at the testing company, and used to help sponsor test kits for those key males who would otherwise be unable to afford the cost of participation in the project. We encourage you to make a donation. To make a donation please click on the link below "To donate to the general fund please click here". If you decide to donate, please specify "Duignan Project General Fund" in the top box of the Donation form.