Brady – Genealogy and Jure Sanguinis

My ethnicity from ancestryDNA

Brady, Burke, Cruice, Cuthbert, de Guehery, Downie, Giambrone, Millonzi, Palmeri, Parisi, Wilson Comments Off

Jun 242015

I recently completed a DNA test from ancestryDNA.com.

The DNA test largely confirmed what I knew based on my genealogy:
Italy/Greece 39%
Ireland 35%
Great Britain 13%

There was also trace evidence – meaning either a small amount or a spurious evidence – for the following:
Iberian Peninsula 2%
European Jewish 2%
Europe West 1%
Middle East 4%
Caucus 2%

The most obvious region was Italy/Greece – Palmeri, Giambrone, Millonzi, Parisi. Sicily and southern Italy were settled by the Greeks in the 7th and 8th centuries BC; Magna Grecia – Greater Greece – referred to these areas. Today, some of the best Greek ruins are found in Sicily and southern Italy.

Some of the trace amounts are also consistent with my Sicilian heritage. The three most common other regions seen in natives of Italy and Greece are Caucus, Middle East, and Iberian Peninsula. The Caucus and Middle East DNA could be explained by the Islamic control of Sicily from around 827 to 1061. Muslim Sicilians were living in central Sicily, in the region that includes both Montemaggiore and Serradifalco, well into the 1200s. And from the 1400s to the middle 1800s, Sicily was controlled by the Bourbons of Spain – the Iberian Peninsula.

The other obvious component was my Irish DNA. The Cruice, Wilson, Brady, and Burke families all came from Ireland. This DNA could also include my Scottish heritage, from the Cuthberts and Downies.

The remaining major portion of my DNA is from Great Britain. While I have no English heritage that I know of, the map includes areas of Scotland (Cuthbert and Downie) and areas of France (de Guehery). Also, the Wilsons, from Northern Ireland, who were Presbyterian, could have originally come from England or Scotland.

The last trace amounts are listed as Europe West and European Jewish. Both of these maps cover portions of France (de Guehery) and Germany (Mack). The European Jewish is an interesting possibility. I wonder if there could be some Jewish ancestry, perhaps in the same family tree as the Macks from Germany.

Our relationship to Bishop Burke

Brady, Burke No Responses »

Apr 242012

Growing up, I always heard stories that we were somehow related to Bishop Burke. He was Bishop of Buffalo from 1952 until his death in Rome in 1962 while attending the Second Vatican Council. Finding my great-great-grandfather's death certificate has given me some confidence about the relationship between my family and the Bishop.

It appears that Anthony Burke was the brother of Joseph Burke, the father of Bishop Burke. I knew that they were close – possibly first cousins – based on correspondence my aunt had from the Bishop. Joseph Burke's death certificate only listed his father as Patrick, his mother was unknown. My great-great-grandfather, Anthony's death certificate lists his father as Patrick and his mother as Ann McNulty. It's likely they were brothers, making my great-grandfather and the Bishop first cousins.

But my mother also said they were "more than first cousins". I think now that was more by marriage than blood. Bishop Burke's mother was Amelia Howard. Her brother was Henry Howard, who was the first husband of Anna Brady, who appears to have been both sister-in-law and second wife to Anthony Burke. (Another possibility is that Anna Brady and Maria Brady are the same person, though that seems less likely for several reasons I posted about before.)

So Bishop Burke's father, Joseph, was my great-grandfather's uncle. And Bishop Burke's mother, Amelia, was my great-grandfather's step-mother's sister-in-law. Not quite "two brothers married two sisters" either but it makes some more sense now.

relation between Bishop Burke and Arthur Burke

invitation to my great-grandparents from the Bishop

papal blessing of my great-grandparents from Bishop Burke