La Barba

Escribo estos breves artículos para practicar mi castellano. Sé que probablemente tengo errores en ellos. Las correcciones y sugerencias son bienvenidas.

La barba ahora, que es blanca.

Una de las preguntas más comunes que me hacen es: "¿Cuánto tiempo llevas creciendo la barba?" Bueno, la respuesta simple es 1970. Ese es el año en que comencé a crecer. Lo que realmente quieren decir es cuánto tiempo lleva crecer una barba tanto tiempo. Me recorto la barba una vez al mes. Esto lo mantiene a una longitud de siete pulgadas. (unos 18 centímetros). Y doy forma a los lados de la barba, nuevamente una vez al mes.

una barba celta, que a menudo es roja.

Durante años usé una barba corta, pero hace unos cuatro años comencé a usarla por más tiempo. Si no lo cortara una vez al mes, sería enorme y muy largo. Recientemente he estado pensando en dejar que mi barba crezca más y que crezca más. Pensaré acerca de esto. Las barbas largas tienen poder.

The McCain DNA Project Update March 2020

The McCain family DNA project began in the late summer of 2003.  When we began the McCain DNA project many of us had been working on our family history for many decades.  For me, the search began in the 1960s.  I was born in Mississippi and grew up in north Louisiana. I lived on McCain Drive, near Monroe, Louisiana.  I had many McCain cousins, some famous, such as admirals and historians, etc. I was interested in the family history at an early age, around ten years old, the moment I realised my surname was not English, that it was Gaelic. That started the long odyssey to locate our family's origin and learn their history.  

Before we started the McCain DNA Project our family history was a mess. We had many cousins, that we knew, but often we did not know how we were related. We had some data, such as naming patterns, oral histories, etc. I wanted more, I wanted the facts.

Even our McCain origin myth was a mess. Some accounts claimed we were members of the famous Clann Dhónaill, through the Glencoe McCains, while others said we were the famous Ó Catháin clan of County Derry, Ireland. The true story of our family was lost in time, in a dim fog of the past. The McCain DNA Project was started and with it came the DNA test results. The real McCain family history was revealed through the brutal reality of genetics.

Our first two participants were myself and Joe McKane from Ballwatt, County Antrim, Ireland. Jim and I submitted our DNA samples and waited patiently for the results. These came in an email from Family Tree DNA Ltd, the company our project uses. The emails read, 'You have a match.'  And that was the start of how we discover our real history. 

From that initial DNA match we were able to methodically progress in extracting that history. There were many surprises and pseudo history uncovered. We learned we were not the Clann Dhónaill McCains and also discovered that we were not the Ó Catháin family of County Derry either. We did confirm that we had branches in New England, in Canada, and that allowed us to understand how each branch arrived in the New World and the various dates of their immigration from Ireland.     

 

Our McCain cousins in Ireland

We confirmed we had many cousins from Canada, most located in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. We located and confirmed kinship to McCains, McKeens, McKeans, McKanes, from New England and Pennsylvania. We located and confirmed kinship with a small army of McCains across the South, from North Carolina, to South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas... and confirmed kinship with other branches in Indiana, Arizona, and California. (note Mac Eáin is anglicised in many ways, McCane, McCain, McKane, McKean, McKeen, etc.)

The DNA results allowed us to locate geographic areas, or points of origin, of the McCains. Two places emerged of significance; in Donegal, the Porthall, St Johnston, and the Finn Valley area. The second location was the parish of Kilmichael Glassary in mid Argyll, in the Scottish Highlands. From there, I was able to locate 'our' McCains in the primary sources. We are the Mac Eáin family that originated in Kilmichael Glassary, and moved en masse to the Porthall area of Donegal in 1569. 

location of McCain DNA connections in Argyll

By 2017 new DNA techniques have greatly enhanced the methods of DNA research.  The use of higher level SNP test (single nucleotide polymorphism) allows much more data to be extracted from our Y chromosome DNA tests.  The mutation rates for SNPs are more stable and happen at a predictable rate.  The geneticists are finding new SNPs that allow one to research with great precision the time frame of the DNA matches through observing the discovered SNP mutation between branches of the same family.

One interesting development that the DNA results revealed is that our McCains share the same paternal DNA as the Mac Ailpín family, also of Kilmichael Glassary parish in mid Argyll.  We do not know the details of how these families began to use two different surnames. We only know they are genetically the same family and we can place them living together and interacting with each other in the records. Research on this is ongoing at this time. Gaelic surnames were not fixed, and it was normal for one branch to take another surname. Also, the reader should keep in mind that this data is specifically for the Mac Eáin family that originated in Kilmichael, and ditto with the Mac Ailpín family from there.  There are dozens of McCain families across Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, but here we are only speaking of the kinship group that is the Kilmichael Glassary McCains. This is true also with the Mac Ailpín family of Kilmichael Glassary.

To date, among the participants of the McCain DNA Project, we have not located any Scottish origin McCains. Those McCains that were born in Scotland all have roots in Donegal. It appears when the McCains left Kilmichael Glassary, they all left for Ireland. Of interest, many of the Kilmichael Glassary Mac Ailpín families also left for Ireland. We know the McCains were Redshanks, a paid soldier much in use in the 1500s. Our McCains came to Donegal with other Highland Gaels from mid Argyll as part of a military buildup to assist the Ó Dónaill clan of Donegal. This story is complex, but the details are in the book Finding the McCains.  

The link to the: McCain DNA Project.  We are still testing and encourage McCain males to participate in the projects.  We use the 111 level Y chromosome test. We also encourage our participants to consider doing the higher level SNP tests. 

A few photos of our cousins...

Magh Gaibhlin castle Porthall, Donegal, where we located William McKean the Soldier

Jim McKane, Ontario, Canada

Frank McKane, Scotland (and California)

Donovan McCain, North Carolina

Joe McKane of County Antrim

Letitia and Ivan Knox (Ivan's mother a McCain), with Bruce McCain and his wife, in Donegal

Joe  and Julie McKane of Belfast

Michael McCain born in Rome, lives south of there now

Henry McCain and John McCain of Arizona

Conar McCain of Oxford Mississippi

Mervyn and Jean McKean of Porthall, Donegal

Chris McCain of California

Jack and Dot MacKeen of Massachusetts

© 2020 Barry R McCain

Mac Eáin family icon

May Day... Lá Bealtaine

Beltane is the anglicised name of the Gaelic May Day festival.  May Day is on 1 May and is held on or near the halfway mark between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It is one of the oldest and most ancient festival days. It is widely observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, and in modern times has spread to the Diaspora.  In Irish Gaelic it is called Lá Bealtaine, in Scottish Gaelic, Là Bealltainn, an in Manx Gaelic Laa Boaltinn.  Beltane is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasa.  There are several theories on the etymology of Beltane; the most accepted one is that it is from the common Celtic Belo-tenia, meaning 'bright or shinning fire,' which in turn goes back to the Indo-European 'Bhel (to shine) tepnos (warm).

It is not a 'fire festival,' but fire is a integral part of the festivities.  Prior to modern times it was a festival to mark and celebrate the moving of livestock to summer pastures, to honour the Old Ways and old gods, and evoke blessing of fertility of the tribe and the life giving cattle.  

Beltane is mentioned in the earliest written Gaelic literature when Christian monks began to write down Gaelic lore and myths in early medieval times.  The medieval accounts were ancient even then and date back before Christianity was introduced to the Gaelic homelands. 

On the Beltane Eve the festival began.  The people gathered to feast, have drink, and make offerings to the Aos Sí, who are the old gods of the Gaels.  Byres, the windows and doors of homes, etc., were decorated with flowers.  It was a joyous festival ushering in the bountiful time when the days grew longer, the sun shined more, and the weather grew warmer.

Belenus

Beltane survived the coming of Christianity and continued on for centuries, despite the attempts of overly zealous Christian officials who wanted to stop the practice, as they were fully aware of the pagan origins of Beltane.  By the 20th century the festival had almost died out and was only celebrated and practiced in certain areas in Ireland, Scotland, and Man.  In the late 20th century there was a revival of Beltane festivities.  The focus of Beltane changed some in these more modern times, but the main core beliefs did remain.  The concept of the season change, the coming of the sun, and the start of the season of growth and plenty, etc., remain.

Dagda

Fire was and is an integral part of Beltane.  All fires were put out on Beltane Eve and then rekindled starting with the lighting of the bonfire.  It was this holy flame from which the 'new' flames of the the folk began.  It was the 'force fire' and sacred.   Many will recognise the fire ritual as the same ritual used in the Catholic Church and several other Christian denominations in the Easter lighting of the Paschal candle.  There are too many Beltane nuances and rituals to describe here, but there is one core aspect of the ritual.  This is a Deiseal procession around the sacred fire.  Deiseal means 'right-hand direction' or Sunwise (clockwise).   The Deiseal procession around the sacred fire was a Blessing of the Cosmos upon all. 

Beltane is still celebrated and the practice is growing.  It is now held not only in the Gaelic homeland, but in the Diaspora, and has been incorporated into similar May Eve and May Day celebrations in Europe.  While many see Beltane as just a good time with a bonfire, there is also a growing interest in the spiritual aspects of the festival.  The concepts of the a new growing season, the connection to the Old Ways of ancestors, and reflection upon life, are also now part of Beltane for a growing number of people.

a sacred fire of Bealtaine

Do enjoy Beltane.  A bonfire is best way to partake of course and with a Deiseal (clockwise) procession around the sacred fire.  Followed by toasts to the Old Ways, to Ancestors, to the coming season of Summer.  If you lack the means of a bonfire, a candle will do, or even a wee fire in your fire-pit.  Connect with your Ancestors and the Old Ways, as these are very good things. 

Sláinte ar Lá Bealtaine

Barry R McCain on Amazon