Five predominant ancient clans have been identified in Europe to which names have been given: SETH, clade R1; OISIN, clade R1b; SIGURD, clade R1a; WODAN, clade I; RE, clade J. Your editor's clan is Oisin, pronounced O'Sheen, which is about 35,000 years old, and is prominent throughout western Europe. The Oisin clan descends from an even older clan named Seth, which lived in the Middle East about 50,000 years ago!
Quoted from their results:-
".....we can infer your Y. chromosome belongs to a group which is prevalent in Ireland and northern and western Britain. These chromosomes are found in other parts of Britain, including England, but less frequently. However, they do make up the largest component of the genetic bedrock of both Britain and Ireland, reflecting the largely Celtic patrilineal origin of most British and Irish men."
" Our genetic analysis of your DNA shows that it is likely that you have inherited your Y-chromosome from one of the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles, perhaps even from one of the first settlers who arrived 10,000 years ago. There are intriguing genetic connections between your Y-chromosome and those found in the Iberian Peninsula, especially among the Basques. This suggests your ancestor took part in the vigorous sea-borne traffic between Ireland, western Britain and the Atlantic seaboard of France and Spain, which archaeologists have long suspected. This connection began with the pre-farming hunters and fishermen and continued with the peoples who built the large stone monuments, the megaliths, which also link these western sites from Spain to Scotland."
"In the far west of Ireland almost 100% of men with Gaelic surnames are in the clan of Oisin, in Wales 83%, and in Scotland 73%. In England about 64% of men are in the Oisin clan. The very high proportion of clan members in Iberia, particularly among the Basques, was the first indication of the genetic continuity between Iberia and the Celtic west of Britain and Ireland which was later confirmed by detailed Y-chromosome fingerprinting. This emphasises the importance for the colonization of Britain and Ireland of ancient maritime migrations along the Atlantic coast of Iberia, France and Brittany during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods beginning about 7000 years ago."
The following paragraph by kind permission of an Gael1, manager of CelticOrigins: http://groups.msn.com/CelticOrigins/irishtopics.msnw?
The name GEER has a seperate origin than MacGirr. However, Gear and Geer have been used as an anglicization of the name derived from Mac an Ghirr, the origins of which are somewhat obscure as it appears in both Scotland and Ireland. According to 'The Surnames of Ireland' by MacLysaght, the name MacGirr is found in the counties of Armagh and Tyrone in the province of Ulster. The name is sometimes translated to Short as the word gearr (earlier Giorr) means 'short or low sized man.'
In 'The Surnames of Scotland' Black gives the origin as Mac an gheairr, meaning son of short man. And according to Woulfe in 'Slionnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames,' the family is supposed to be of Scottish origin but is, more probably, an offshoot of some native family. By 'native' he means Irish. MacLysaght says in 'More Irish Families' the name appeared in Armagh with sufficient frequency in the census of 1659 to be considered as a principal Irish name. The name also occurs in the Hearth Money Rolls of 1664. The name appears in Ulster and was recorded in 1602 as MacEghir, although MacLysaght does not give the source. In summary there seems to be no connection at least in regard to the origin between MacGirr and the English name Geer although the latter has been used as an anglicization of MacGirr. Although the name is reported as Scottish it could very well be of Irish origin as there has always been contact between N.E.Ireland, the Islands and the Highlands. Another variant to consider is GERE which is of Scottish origins. Also there is another variant in the Shetland Islands that takes GAIR as its major variant, but also uses GEAR. As with MacGhirr it takes its meaning from gearre meaning 'short.'
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