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Background

The Quinn Genealogy Project was loosely formed in 2007 by myself; T. Allen Quinn and my father Ralph A. Quinn as a means to begin piecing together our family heritage.  The Quinn Genealogy Project and the Quinn Surname DNA Project work in tandem with one another and contributions are made accross all the family branches.  To read more about the Quinn Surname visit Wikipedia.

We are most focused on those individual's bearing both the Y-DNA (Male) and the mtDNA (Female) lines where the last name, or maiden name is Quin, or Quinn. We include by default the surname with an O', Ó, Mac, Mack, Mc as the prefix. Ultimately these names are descendant names of Cuinn and Quin(n).  Irish spelling is with the C and a double n, where as English is Q and may be intermingled, or mixed based more on phonetic characteristics.

The idea is to give our project members and other interested parties a more granular view of the Quinn surname, its variant surnames and the associated genetic information that bind us all together as the Ancient and Royal Descendants of Conn Cétchathach.  Through Conn's son Art mac Cuinn the 2nd century surname proginitor reigning over the Connachta in Ireland, Scotland and other Viking areas of interest on the isles.

For example, the surname Conn historically is known as the parent surname for all the various Quin(n) variant surnames and establishes them as descendants of Conn Cétchathach, the son of Fedlimid Rechtmar.  Conn is more widely known as Conn of the Hundred Battles, a High King of Ireland in medieval Irish legend and Irish historic tradition.

There are many groupings of our surname and they all diverge with Conn.  Art mac Cuinn is simply meant as; Art, the seed of Conn and thus the birth of the Quinn surname.  

From this point forward the path is wide.  You will find as time goes on which of the following pathways you are closely associated with.  If we had everyone's PEDIGREE charts, the process would move more quickly.  Without them, maybe in 5-10 years we will know much more.  

There are several elemental factors to consider when thinking of the Quinn surname.  That is, you descend from Conn.  No question there less you be the result of a paternal, or maternal event that joins you to our genetic line.

IRELAND (1st Century AD)

Most families in Ireland claim to be descended from the Uí Néill through Ulster, which is to say they are descended from either Niall of the Nine Hostages, or Niall Glúndub mac Áedo, aka Cenél nEógain.  Ultimately however, Niall was the son of Eochaid Mugmedon making Conn Niall's 4th Great Grandfather.  His son Art his 3rd Great Grandfather, Cormac mac Airt his 2nd and so on.

At the time of Conn the island of Hibernia was divided equally among Conn and Mugh Nuadat.  Leath Cuinn (Conn's Half) and Leath Moga (Mugh's half) refers to a legendary ancient division from the island north of the Esker Riada of Ireland, known now as the east-west drumlin belt from Dublin to Galway Bay.

1000 years into the influence and reign of the Conn's descendant families saw the death of Niall at Clontarf in 1014 many family divisions occured.  To add fuel to the fire by 1348 the "Black Death" plagues  would last until 1350 estimating to have killed between 75,000,000 and 200,00,000 million people worldwide.

Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity (1378–1416) excited wars between kingdoms and princes with peasant uprisings and a  widespread concern over corruption of the church and its sovereinty.  By his thesis of 1517 by Martin Luther the Protestant Reformation had all but begun.

200 years later in 1550 the onset of long-term weather event known as the Little Ice Age began to influence the whole of Europe extending to around the year 1850.  This large 300 year range also coincides with the Flight of the Earls occuring 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe. The earls left from the town of Rathmullan on Lough Swilly on a French ship with some of the leading Gaelic families in Ulster. This town was said to have witnessed the end of the old Gaelic order, in the sense that the earls were descended from Gaelic clan dynasties that had ruled their parts of Ulster for centuries. The Flight of the Earls was a watershed in Irish history, as the ancient Gaelic aristocracy of Ulster went into permanent exile. Despite their attachment to and importance in the Gaelic system, the Earls' ancestors had also accepted their Earldoms from the English-run Kingdom of Ireland in the 1540's, under the policy of surrender and regrant. Some historians argue that their flight was forced upon them by the fallout from the Tudor conquest of Ireland, others that it was a strategic mistake that cleared the way for the Plantation of Ulster.

This not to be confused with the term "Wild Geese" which refers generally to Irish soldiers who left to serve as mercenaries in continental European armies in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.  The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on October 3, 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland.  Many Quinn's are listed amoung his army of loyal soldiers.

The English Civil War that lasted officially from 1642 to 1651 culminating with the Roundheads deporting tens of thousands of Irish Catholics to the plantations of Barbados and the West Indies as white slaves.  Headed in large part to become the property of the great and mighty sugar barons still loyal to the crown and her enterprise.

The Irish Famine of 1740-1741 further pressed the Irish population to seek relief from direct and daily control to the expansion of the realm in North America.

Then again, within the 300 year Little Ice Age in 1845, massive European and Irish potato crops are wipped away in less than 1 growing season and would not return until 1852, but more robust in 1853.

Quinn Clans are distinctly represented within the five original provinces of Ireland.  Ireland has historically been divided into five provinces: The Connacht, Meath, Munster, Leinster and Ulster.

The Irish word for the territorial division that included Meath was cúige, when literally translated from Irish Gaelic means "fifth part."  Meath, was later incorporated into Leinster and Ulster.

Quinn, thus in Gaelic Irish tradition literally means “five ways” and becomes embedded in this tradition through Conn Cétchathach the first principal King of the Connacht and a High King of Ireland.

SCOTLAND (2nd Century AD)

Siol Cuinn is listed in the book descent of the Highland Clans as the founder of Clan Rory, Clan Donald and Dugal and which is attributed to maormors of The GallGael, or Norse Gaels.  The title of maormor was peculiar to the Scottish Gael, and was altogether unknown among the Irish-Celts. It was exclusively confined to the north of Scotland, and was never held by any Saxon or Norman baron.  

All a part of the maormar Norse Gaels are Siol Cuinn is associated further with Siol Gillivray, Siol Eachern, Clan Donnachie and Clan Pharlane.  From Siol Gillivray descends Clan Neill, Clan Lachlan and Clan Ewen.  From Siol Eachern descend Clan Dugall Craignish and Clan Lamond. From Clan Donachie we have Chief Robertson and finally with Clan Pharlane we have Chief Macfarlane.

These houses as well as the other houses resulting from Conn in Ireland are very much a part of the present and past Royal Genealogies for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The following Surnames are currently included in this project:

Cuinn, Mackquein, Mackquien, MacQuinn, McQuinn, Ó Cuinn, O'Quin, O'Quinn, Quin, Quinn

Quinn Surname DNA Project is open to all families with this surname, of all spelling variations, and from all locations.  
(If your surname is not included please contact the Project Administrator.)   

Reasons to Order Your DNA Kit

1. Help researchers from common or related families work together to find their shared heritage. 
2. Identify how the participant's families are connected, both genetically and through paper trails.
3. Identify and confirm genetic Lineages of ancestral families.
4. Ultimately catalog pedigrees and genetic connections of all of the known project families.

Recommended Testing Levels

Participating in a Surname DNA Project provides:

• The participant's genetic DNA, which is very close (and sometimes identical) to his earliest known ancestor.
• The participant's "deep" ancestry (Haplogroup), which identifies the paternal ancestor's prehistoric origins.
• A sense of camaraderie, which is particularly strong for those who share a genetic ancestry
• Stimulation to family research and renewed sharing of information
• A wider sense of identity and relationship, as we begin to realize how much we are a World Family.
• A chance to compare your genetic ancestry with those of your Surname and the spelling variations
• Your genetic matches who do not share your common surname
• The knowledge to understand our ancestors better - particularly where the records have been lost

Click here to order a DNA test in the Quinn Surname DNA Project project and here to connect with us on Facebook.