The people of Mayo have long and deep roots in the county. While we have a great deal of knowledge about our recent migrations through our diaspora, our understanding of the movements of people in earliest times has not been so well informed.
This has all been changing recently with the participation by one hundred people from Mayo in a fascinating study by National Geographic’s Genographic team
In June 2013, at an event in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, one hundred Mayo volunteers gave samples of their DNA as part of a pioneering study designed to learn more about the history of human migration.
Genographic Project scientists have travelled the globe to collaborate with tens of thousands of people whose genetics are particularly significant in determining the path of human civilisation.
The event in Mayo in 2013 was the first time the Genographic project had visited Ireland to conduct such a sampling. The volunteers who contributed their DNA to the Genographic project research helped the project gain a genetic snapshot of the Irish population.
The same volunteers were invited to GMIT Castlebar in November 2013 for an event hosted by National Geographic and Mayo County Council’s Enterprise and Investment Unit, at which the findings were revealed.
Discover some of the detailed findings, including those for some very well-known people, here.
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