We now have 230 tested members, plus three others who are awaiting their results. FTDNA credits us with 252 members, thus making us the 82nd largest surname projects, but FTDNA includes kits ordered. Many of these are never returned (some kits were requested much as four years ago). I recently introduced a “Join Request” requirement for new applicants because we were being “joined” by so many people with other surnames. Also, the application form requires one to list his Earliest Known Ancestor, information that some earlier members never have provided. If a person with another surname suspects a Non-Paternity Event (NPE) in his ancestry, he is welcome to test with us, but most of the “other surnames” who mistakenly wish to join have a Burns/Byrne/Beirne in their maternal line. We cannot help them since we test the Y-chromosome only. Our largest clusters continue to be the Northwest Irish with 47 members, Leinster with 45, and the Airghialla-2 group (Monaghan cluster) with 26. Our R-U106 group, which divides into several sublineages that are only distantly related, is fourth with 16. The remainder of our over 20 lineages/clusters have 10 or fewer members. All, of course, can be seen at www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/byrne/results. Some, such as Louth (Lineage IV) and Roscommon (Lineage VI) have been geographically identified, but we still are seeking the origins of others. For that we must turn to SNPs. Paul J. Burns of Florida < Back to DNA