The DNA test is perhaps the only chance to begin to make any family connections as many of the MacTighernan families like a smaller scale of the larger Irish Diaspora have scattered to distant lands in the world and live there today. The spelling of the surname does not really matter as the historical spelling never seems to match the current spelling in many of the families so the Gaelic spelling of MacTighernan is used to cover all the variants of our surname including McKiernan. 

To date, almost all 125 tested MacTighernans that know their origins come from this small area in Connacht in NW Ireland shown in green on the map on the left, 450 square miles more or less with a few exceptions, Gus and Terry whose verbal family history states that their line is from Scotland and David (CN)'s verbal family history states that his family is from the Kilarney Lakes, Co Kerry area of Ireland.

The below is taken from the book the life and times of Sir Frederick Hamilton 1599--1647.  The Leitrim town of Manorhamilton is named after Sr Frederick, who was also known for his addictd hobby of hanging a Catholic a day.

In or about 1620 several Leitrim locals were given lands in James I plantation effort. A Mulmory MacTernan is listed as a lesser grantee during James I Plantation effort in Leitrim. In 1641, Mulmory MacTernan, of Lisnanorrus townland, chief of the clan, was a resident justice of the peace for Co Leitrim.  Some years earlier he was the Co. Leitrim Sheriff.  As such he was an important man in the county also owning the neighboring townlands, Drumbrahade, Lisacoghil, Lisnanaw, Tullintowell and possibly Greaghnaglogh.  The 1847 Griffith's validation list possible descendents: Thomas McTernan in Lisnanorrus and James mcTernan in Greaghnaglogh.  The 1901 and 1911 census list a Thomas, 1871--, and his wife Mary, 1873--,  in Lisnanorrus with two children, John Francis, 1897--, and Anne, 1902--. 

The undertakers were listed as receiving the divided lands of The O'Rourke. Mulmory MacTernan is listed as receiving 500 acres of O'Rourke land which was at the lower end of the scale. The expectation was for the grantee to keep the local natives in check.  The grants to lesser sub chiefs [like MacTernan] were to help crush the power of the O'Rourkes once and for all.  The king took a higher percentage of the confiscated land in Leitrim as opposed to other counties as the Leitrim natives needed more civilization than the midlands.  In February 1642, Sir Frederick Hamilton sent a force of 80 horse and foot to relieve the protestants at Parke Castle. On their return to Sir Frederick's castle they were attacked by 1000 Irish rebels.  After a fierce battle the English won and killed 60 of the rebels.  Mulmory MacTernan was one of the 60 killed.

Now this is the gospel truth, 375 years after Sir Frederick Hamilton killed Mulmory MacTernan in 1642, when he saw another McTiernan inside the ruins of his castle namely myself, his ghost tried to kill me.  In November of 2017, I and my family were visiting Ireland, specifically Manorhamilton.  We were touring the ruins of Sir Frederick Hamilton's castle and about 5 seconds after I turned the corner in the photo at left, the ghost of Sir Frederick launched a 200 lb. stone from the high castle keep falling away from the castle walls.  Strange after 375 years the rock fell just when a McTiernan was walking by.  He killed Mullimury but missed me.

North Leitrim's largest town, Manorhamilton was called "O'Rourke's little fields". Its recent name was given to one of the most dreaded local rulers, Sir Frederick Hamilton who came to Manorhamilton from Scotland and founded a castle in 1638. He was the grandson of James II,  Earl of Arran. It was said that Sir Frederick was used as an example if you were trying to make Cromwell look good. He was to use the gallows in Manorhamilton daily, to hang a Catholic. One of his last and many acts of destruction was the burning of Carr Castle, a stronghold of the O'Rourkes at Glencar in 1641.

Lord Hamilton had invited the local chiefs to dine at his castle with the intention of killing them while they ate. As the time approached for the servants to do the deed, the old Irish piper providing the music for the feast played the song, "Make your visits short and far between". Too busy eating and drinking to get the hint, the local chiefs were killed by the servents. Lord Hamilton and his castle fell in 1652 when attacked by the Royalist Clanricard and Owen Roe O'Neill. As per Lorcan O'Runai in his book "From Rosclougher to Rooskey": Lord Hamilton escaped from his castle hiding in a group of women released by Owen. It is said that he shed tears as he paused on horseback to take a last look at his castle in flames.

• MacTighearnain -a Teallach Dunnchadha sept of Breifne; Lord of Tullyhunco, Killeshandra, Co Cavan.
• MacTighearnain -a Clan Fearghaile sept of Fir Manach in Co Fermanagh.
• MacTigernain -a Siol Muiredaigh subsept of ÓConor at Boyle, Co Roscommon; and Rathmactiernan, Killoran, Leyney, Co Sligo

Earlier in the 11th century two MacTighernan families were noted in Irish history as chiefs, Lord McTernan of Tullyhunco, Co Cavan and the McTernans of Co Fermanagh. Their lines may well be extent at this point in time. In recent history, at least since the famine years, most of the MacTighernans in Ireland are found in Co Leitrim. The historical family origins of the majority of the 125 DNA testers are in Co Leitrim. How we might connect to them or to each other is very difficult to prove as written records in Ireland usually only start at around the 1850s.

Unconnected McTernan Ancestors	Townland of Origin	County	Barony	Civil parish	Catholic parish	Dioceses	P L U	Probate District	DNA Group
McTernans of  Rockfield	Gortgarrigan	Leitrim	Drumahaire	Cloonlogher	Drumlease	Kilmore	Manorhamilton	Ballina	?
McTernans		Fermanagh							?
McTernans of Tullyhunco	Croaghan	Cavan	Tullyhunco	Killeshandra	Kildallan	Kilmore	Cavan	Cavan	?
Mullimory MacTernan	Lisnanorrus	Leitrim	Drumahaire	Inismagrath	Inismagrath	Kilmore	Manorhamilton	Ballina	?

According to John C. McTernan's recent book titled Sligo Families, vol II,  Leet's Directory (1812-1814) listed three McTernan 'seats' or residences, namely that of Con at Rockfield [noted above], James of Leonagh and Hugh [ T group baseline ] at Mount Allen in Co Roscommon whose family was originally from Sweetwood townland in Co Leitrim.  A diagram of the family links along with the connection to the O'Conors, http://mctiernan.com/3links.htm

A recumbent tombstone in Killargue's old cemetery behind the chapel bearing the family coat-of-arms, is inscribed with the names of Farrel McTernan, 1752--1818 and his wife Mary Dolan, 1752--1798. Farrel is the given name of the earliest known ancestor of Hugh McTiernan (Bos) family line who is in the T2 DNA Group.

The Chapel of Creevelea was the traditional burial place of the McTernans of Rockfield, Mount Allen and Heapstown [and Sheskin] where large recumbent flagstones mark their final resting places. In close proximity another memorial links the families of O'Rourke and McTernan and is inscribed as follows: Here lyeth the bodye of Hugh O'Roirk and Catherine McTernan who departed this life May 22, 1721. This is the mysterious gravestone that has the symbols of playing cards: heart, spade, diamond and club along with the etching of a cat which in O'Ruaric history is supposed to have awaken him from a nap in a pasture preventing him from being captured by enemies. The foot of the McTernan Achievement at left states: The McTernan coat of arms hereby illustrated is officially documented in Burke's General Armory. The original description of the Arms [at left] is as follows: Two lions pass., GU. When translated the Blazon also describes the original colors of McTernan Arms as: Ermine; two red lions walking on a field of caltraps. Caltraps were home-made 4 inch wooden spikes bound together like jacks in pick-up-jacks.  When running away from the Calvary you threw these over your shoulder and when one horse steped on one the Calvary stopped and you got away.  Above the shield and helmet is the crest which is described as: A Red Griffin Standing, Green Wings Raised.

This info can be complex so please read the headers and footers in all the following grids to better understand it.   http://mctiernan.com/read.jpg

The 20 separate, distinct and different MacTighernan DNA groups start with the letter T which is just a naming convention as each of the DNA Groups are in all ways equal, none being more pure than the other.

The goal is to map the genetic and geographic profile of all MacTighernans, our origins and connections.

The ancestors of the two McTernan families from Leonagh in Co Leitrim, Rory's from Sweetwood in Co Leitrim, Heapstown, Co Sligo & Mountallen, Co Roscommon and mine from Sheskin, Co Leitrim all of whom are in the T Group are buried in the Abbey of Creevelea, Co Leitrim. Rory's earliest known ancestral home is in Sweetwood, Co Leitrim and then in Mountallen Townland in Co Roscommon which has the date 1671 etched in the fire place mantle which implies the year of construction of their family home.  From Mount Allen the family moved to Heapstown, Co Sligo.  John C. McTernan [T3a], the well known Co Sligo arthur and retired Chief Librarian of Co Sligo in his book Sligo Families II writes that the Mount Allen / Heapstown McTernan family originally came from Sweetwood, Co Leitrim and relate to the Leonagh, Sheskin and Rockfield McTernan families, see http://mctiernan.com/3links.htm. Three of these four families are buried at the Abbey of Creevelea with the Rockfield McTernans whose male line has become extent buried in their family vault at Brockley Cemetery, Parish of Lewisham, Kent, England.

Relationship of the DNA Groups to each other: The T and T3 Group baselines only have 16 out of 25 DYS markers that match. More than 1/3 of the markers do not match resulting in a 9 loci pattern mutation event difference. The T2 Group baseline has an 8 loci difference to the baselines of both the T Group and the T3 Group. Philip O'Rorke, The O'Ruairc of Bréifne has a 9 loci mutation event difference with the baselines of the T and the T2 Groups but only a 7 loci mutation event difference with the T3 Group baseline. The O'Conor Don has a 21 / 25 match to the T3a baseline. If you are in one DNA group you do not genetically relate to any MacTighernan in any other DNA Group

Our name may have been part of the inward migration of colonists and displaced people in the 17th & 18th centuries.  The native Irish names of North Leitrim previous to the 17th century were O'Rourke, MacClancy, MacKinnaue, O'Meehan, McMurrow, and MacGoldrick.  The O'Rourkes were the ruling family of the former kingdon of Breifne, MacClancy was the ancient tribal clan from Dartry in the north of the region and the MacKinnaues in the Lough Allen area;  the O'Meehams migrated from South Munster before the 11th century. The MacGoldricks were a clan of some consequence in and around that part of the region that adjoins Co Fermanagh. 

When the personal names in North Leitrim are examined we see there has been a great migration of people into the area of North Leitrim.  Some of the more prominent names in the area today are;  Rooney, McGowan, Kelly, McMorrow, Clancy, Connolly, McTiernan, McGloin, Feely and Dolan.  The most significant migration seems to have occured from Ulster.  Numerious northern families were displaced by the plantation of Ulster and after the Famous Diamond Fight in Armagh in 1793 many settling in Leitrim.  [above 2 paragraphs from; Glenfarne - A History]

Those in the baselines for each of the 20 separate MacTighernan DNA groups are a perfect 25 / 25 genetic match to each other in their group
DNA Group	Total # in Group	# in Baseline Group	Those MacTighernans with a perfect match in their specific DNA group forming their group baseline are below, excludes The O'Ruairc of Bréifne. & The O'Connor Don   12 of the 20 DNA groups have only one individual so far
T	41	21	Mark (673), Michael (CN) (3436), Martin (3713), Rory (1029), Thomas (CA) (17363), John (ST) (49265), Tony (106135), Josh (419002),  John-P (134141), John-Rev (149591), Hugh-K C. McKiernan (158701), Gerard (170331) , Terry (303655),  MartinJ (121178), Bill (347072) & LeoJ (428502), Ray (449898) , MattT (735115), Hugh  (748577) & Paul-Aus (MK41107)
T a	4	4	Scott (AU) (639), Richard (135598), Adrian (106134) & James (MK30341)
T b	1	1	John (USA) (635)
T c	1	1	Sgt Chris (31885)
T d	1	1	John Frank (117676)
T e	1	1	Myles (187076)
T f	1	1	Colin (192960)
T 2	30	18	Geoffrey (3435), Bernie (2145), Max (71428), Eugene (128783), Jim-SP (155834), KevinM (170332), Mike-PA (175937), Mike-Eng (172135), Jerry (251863), Brandon (330351), Barry (201474), SeanJ (282944),  Michael-S (310360), Matt (446316), JimT (498238),  JohnN (770274) & Brian (MK41109)
T 2 a	2	2	Patsy (121178) & Nigel (261247)
T 3	20	11	Leo (21151), Eoghan (636), Jim (NJ) (1010), Scott (CO) (5451), Jim (MA) (9497), John W (31885), Cathal (117675), Sean-SF (135597), Edwin (201472), PeterS (449899) & David-CA (MK30340)
T 3 a	8	7	David (NJ) (2392), John C. (637), Cathal-NI (243949), JohnV (293153),  Paul-C (419001), Raymond (MK32497) & MartinNI (MK42834)
T 3 b	1	1	Gus (8724)
T 3 c	4	2	Ed (NJ) (8723), & Michael-MH (748578)
T 3 d	4	2	Sean (128774) & Paul-NI (180027)
T 3 e	1	1	Peter (138619)
T 4	1	1	Warren (251864)
T 5	1	1	Clay (313992)
T 6	1	1	Joe-NY (201475)
T 7	1	1	DaveS (699535)
T 8	1	1	Donald (MK34895)
sub total	125	79	completed test
in process at lab	2		Paul-Eng (MK61910) & Victor (MK63281)
TBR = to be returned	5		JohnT (190362),  Nick (347071),  Sam (770272), SeanP (MK41108) & Declan (MK42835)
Total	132		79 or roughly a bit less than 2/3s of the total testers are in their group's baseline

125 tests completed in the MacTighernan DNA test as of June 22, 2019 In process means the kit is at the testing lab, TBR means kit is to be returned by tester			In process at lab	TBR	Total
MacTighernans	125		2	5	132
The O'Ruairc of Bréifne: Philip O'Rorke		1
The O'Conor Don: Cathal Crovderg O'Conor		1
Totals	125		2	5	132

How we match, 25 is perfect match--the T, Ta, Tb, Td, Te & Tf Groups
How 50 of 125 MacTighernans in 7 of the 20 DNA Groups match each other  based on mutation event differences
Group -->	41 in the T Group															4 in Ta	Tb	Tc	Td	Te	Tf			DNA Group
Individual	Mark, Martin, MattT, Ray, Michael (CN), Neil, Hugh, Thomas (CA), John (ST), Rory, Tony, John-P, Gerard, John-Rev, Hugh-K, Terry, Bill, Josh, LeoJ, MartinJ & Paul-Aus	Michael	Jim (CA)	Jim- SGL Tom, John-con, Martin-Red & Patrick	Mike -UK	Pat Joe	David (CN) & + Bob (CN)	Michael (NJ)	MichaelS	RayI +	Douglas +	Mick	Sean -sol & Noel	Larry	Gene	Scott (AU), Richard, Adrian & James	John (USA)	Sgt. Chris	John Frank	Myles	Colin	Philip O'Rorke	Cathal Crovderg O'Conor
Mark, Martin, MattT, Ray, Michael (CN), Neil, Hugh, Thomas (CA), John (ST), Rory, Tony, John-P, Gerard, John-Rev, Hugh-K, Terry, Bill, Josh, LeoJ, MartinJ & Paul-Aus	25	24	24	24	24	24	24	23	22	24	23	23	23	23	22	22	21	21	18	18	22	16	14	T
Michael	24	NA	23	23	23	23	23	22	21	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	21	15	10	T+1
Jim (CA)	24	23	NA	23	23	23	23	22	21	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	20	22	19	19	21	17	14	T+1
Jim - SGL Tom, John-con, Martin-Red & Patrick	24	23	23	NA	23	23	23	22	21	23	22	22	24	22	21	21	20	20	17	17	21	15	8	T+1
Mike-UK	24	23	23	23	NA	23	23	22	21	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	23	15	11	T+1
Pat Joe	24	23	23	23	23	NA	23	22	21	23	23	22	22	23	21	21	20	19	17	17	21	15	13	T+1
David (CN) + & Bob (CN) +	24	23	23	23	23	23	NA	24	23	23	24	22	24	22	21	21	20	22	19	17	21	17	13	T+1
Michael (NJ)	23	22	22	22	22	22	24	NA	24	22	23	21	23	21	20	20	19	21	18	16	20	16	13	T+2
MichaelS	22	21	21	21	21	21	23	24	NA	21	21	20	22	19	19	21	18	19	17	17	19	15	12	T+3
RayI  +	24	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	21	NA	22	23	22	22	22	21	20	19	17	17	21	16	17	T+1
Douglas (CN) +	23	22	22	22	22	23	24	23	21	22	NA	21	23	23	20	21	20	23	18	17	20	17	13	T+2
Mick	23	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	20	23	21	NA	21	21	20	20	19	19	16	16	20	14	12	T+2
Sean-sol & Noel	23	22	22	24	22	22	24	23	22	22	23	21	NA	21	20	20	19	21	18	16	20	16	12	T+2
Larry	23	22	22	22	22	23	22	21	19	22	23	21	21	NA	20	21	20	21	16	17	20	17	13	T+2
Gene	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	19	22	20	20	20	20	NA	19	18	20	15	15	19	13	12	T+3
Scott (AU), Richard , Adrian & James	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	21	21	21	20	20	21	19	NA	20	20	15	17	19	15	11	Ta
John (USA)	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	18	20	20	19	19	20	18	20	NA	19	16	16	22	14	11	Tb
Sgt. Chris	21	20	22	20	20	19	22	21	19	19	23	19	21	21	10	19	18	NA	16	16	22	14	11	Tc
John Frank	18	19	19	17	19	17	19	18	17	17	18	16	18	16	15	15	16	18	NA	21	17	15	11	Td
Myles	18	19	19	17	19	17	17	16	17	17	17	16	16	17	15	17	16	17	21	NA	17	15	11	Te
Colin	22	21	21	21	23	21	21	20	19	21	20	20	20	20	19	19	22	18	17	17	NA	14	9	Tf
Philip O'Rorke	16	15	17	15	15	15	17	16	15	16	17	14	16	17	13	15	14	18	15	15	14	NA	14
Cathal Crovderg O'Conor	14	10	14	8	11	13	13	13	12	17	17	12	12	13	12	11	11	13	11	11	9	14	NA
DNA Group	T	T+1	T+1	T+1	T+1	T+1	T+1	T+2	T+3	T+1	T+2	T+2	T+2	T+2	T+3	Ta	Tb	Tc	Td	Te	Tf

Above numbers for perfect match of 25 / 25 are in red background - for their specific DNA groups, the red +  and  green + sign means the grouped individuals are related.
Gene who is in the T Group is an exception as his 3 mutations occurred in only one locus and is considered a radical mutation but is still listed as being in the T Group.  Mark may relate to Martin from Dublin as both families are from the townland of Leonagh. Peter McTiernan of Canada is related to Michael (CN). Turner Bluechel through his maternal line is related to Rory and his sister Alannah.