by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy
The “Luck of the Irish” is truly the Big Y 700 DNA test. In Ireland, hereditary surnames were adopted as early as 1000 AD. Unfortunately, the majority of genealogical records have been lost when 1861 through 1891 censuses were destroyed for administrative purposes and then seven centuries of genealogical records were lost in the 1922 explosion and fire at Public Record Office of Ireland at Four Courts in Dublin (“PROI”) during the Irish Civil War. In 2022, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland was created to catalogue what was in the PROI and to identify and digitize replacement documents. This is a herculean effort to be applauded but many gaps remain. Big Y 700 defines tree branches that can then benefit from the recovered document fragments.
Big Y 700 has identified eleven genetically distinct Gough/Gough/McGough/etc. families that originated in or migrated to Ireland. “Genetically distinct” means that the family arose came into being independently of all other families with a variant of the surname. Big Y 700 not only proves two men share a paternal lineage, but draws the branches of the family. It is as lucky as finding a four-leaf clover!
Here are the genetic Irish families:
Haplogroup R1b-DF13: “Insular Celtic”
Between 50% and 60% of the male population of Ireland descends from R1b-DF13. The below families descend from R1b-DF13 and have paper trail or YDNA matching links to Ireland:
🍀 1150 Keogh/Coffey/Kehoe/Cahill (EI-WEX) R-FT43552
Mac Eochaidh, Irish source of the anglicized McGeough surname in Ireland, also spawned Coffey, Coffee, Kehoe, Keogh, Keough, Cahill and Howe in Leinster.
🍀 1500 (MC)G(E)OUGH/O’GARA (IE-MOG & DL) R-FGC37618
Gough, McGough and McGeough originate in Co. Monaghan, Ireland. O’Gara is said to be an earlier Gaelic version of the anglicized Gough surname in Ireland.
🍀 1629 GOUGH (GB-STS GB-DOW) R-FT217154
Family is in Tamworth, Staffordshire by the mid-17th century. The Irish branch traces to early 19th century Co. Down. The Ireland/England connection is early 17th century.
🍀 1660 GOUGH/MCGOUGH/MCGUFF (GB-LAN/IE-G) R-BY189762
Like a genealogical jig across the British Isles, a Gough family in Lancashire, England matches McGuff, MacGough and Gough families in Co. Galway, Ireland.
🍀 1729 GOUGH/GOFF (GB-SH / US-PA-CHE) R-FTB93730
Found first in early 18th century Pennsylvania and early 19th century Shropshire, England, the pre-surname matches are overwhelmingly Irish.
🍀 1745 GOFF (US-VA-WAS) R-Y41456
This mid-18th century Goff family in Virginia likely originated in Ireland, based on Big Y 700 matching. The precise Irish origin is as elusive as a pot of gold.
🍀 1805 GOFF (IE / US-PA / US-NC-SUR) R-FTC51500
Two early 19th century branches appeared North Carolina and Tennessee. A third branch in Missouri reports Ireland as its origin.
🍀 1820 GOUGH (IE-MH IE-D) R-M222
One branch is in Dublin Ireland by the early 1800s. A second branch is in County Meath, Ireland by the mid-1800s. There are no Big Y 700 results.
🍀 1830 GOFF (US-KY-CAW / US-AR-VBR) R-BY183163
This Goff family with an earliest proven location of Kentucky, US, likely has deeper origins in Ireland, based on Big Y 700 results.
🍀 1858 GOUGH (GB-DOW) R-FGC66893
This Gough family traces to County Down in Northern Ireland.
Halogroup I2
This haplogroup is not strongly associated with Ireland, but the below family is clearly from Ireland.
🍀 1750 MCGOFF MCGOUGH GOFF (IE-MO GB-LK) I-FTF24508
Two branches are found by the mid-19th century near Co. Mayo, Ireland. A third branch originated in Ireland, but the county is uncertain.
For genetic trees, narrative discussion and GGFA member descendant lists, please start your membership with the GGFA today at www.goff-gough.com.
Please contact dna@goff-gough.com about reconstructing your lineage with Big Y 700. May the luck of the Irish be with you on your genealogical journey! 🍀
Phillip Goff is the co-author, along with Roy L. Lockhart, of The Four Goff Brothers of Western Virginia. Since 2004, he has run the Goff/Gough Surname DNA Study, which today has about 400 participants.