The number of organisations offering DNA services in the field of genealogy has risen markedly in the past 5-10 years and it can be confusing knowing which service would best serve your needs. Although Ulster Historical Foundation does not currently offer Ancestral DNA analysis, we are happy to recommend the services of Family Tree DNA.

In April of 2000 Family Tree DNA started offering its first tests, pioneering this new field of Genetic Genealogy, and helping answer questions such as:

  • Is this person possibly related to me?
  • If so, when could our common ancestor have lived?
  • What is his or her ancestral background?

With the growth of the database, people that tested started also finding matches with close relationships: long lost relatives, adoptees finding information about their paternal and maternal lines, and even linking families across the ocean

This service has been now available for over twenty years, tested more than 300,000 people, and its database has now a critical mass of anglo-saxon surnames. By analyzing one’s DNA we can now find long lost relationships, have hints of ancestral origins, or tell if someone in fact belongs to the line being researched or a different line: it can verify a possible adoption that could have happened generations ago, as well as determine if the two families with the same or similar surname are related. DNA tests provide new solutions to old genealogical challenges.

Note: This service is performed by Family Tree DNA and not the Ulster Historical Foundation.

Did your paper trail end? Are you up against a brick wall?

Let "genetic genealogy" help trace your family history!