Tracing Your McCarthy Family Tree

The McCarthy Surname Study is delighted to announce the publication of a two-book set on tracing your McCarthy family tree.

The first book is suitable for complete beginners in exploring their McCarthy family history. It is introduced with a foreword by John McCarthy CBE, narrating genealogy research aspects from his book A Ghost Upon Your Path, in which he explored his connection to Co. Kerry and his reputed origin in a MacCarthy Mór lineage. Co-Author Richard McCarthy, of the same paternal ancestry, then provides numerous tips for documentary and internet research, using examples from research into their English emigrant ‘McCarthys of Ardcanacht’ branch. Richard hands over to Nigel McCarthy to provide a brief history of almost two millennia of M(a)cCarthy ancestry as traditionally told…and reveal that Y-DNA testing tells a rather different story. This leads naturally on to a chapter providing plentiful information on taking a Y-DNA test, to extend knowledge of paternal ancestry beyond the brick wall that paper trail research sooner or later encounters. 

Book 2, by Nigel McCarthy and subtitled Using Y-DNA, explains how Y-DNA tests are analysed to provide the project’s hallmark (phylo)genetic trees for the Study’s members and how these are, for many, being aligned with ancient genealogies.