In the early 2000s as DNA testing became more popular as an aid for genealogical research, Glenn Allen Nolen ( see https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nolenancestry/page1.html ) commented on the Y-DNA test results posted at the FamilyTreeDNA.com website. Following is what he had to say about the two major Nolan lines identified through DNA testing. Introduction This forum presents … Read More

Reference: 2026-05-30 Excerpt from “Claude”, an AI standalone program Based on the detailed research at NolanFamilies.org, the answer is nuanced — there isn’t a single fixed number of haplogroups, because the research is ongoing and the data keeps growing. Here’s what we know: The primary haplogroup associated with Nolan family lines is R1b-M222 (a subclade … Read More

Recent discoveries resulting from an analysis of the Y-DNA results of certain clan lineages has put into question the genealogies as documented by the medieval Irish Annalists. For example, “Eóghanachta Fitzpatricks have lived for the past three hundred years and more, going by their ‘corrupted’ surname. Their identity is bound to Fitzpatrick and whatever narratives, … Read More

Based upon currently known Nolan Y-DNA test results (at the FamilyTreeDNA website) we know that most modern-day Nolan descendants, like most males with European origins, belong to the R1b subtree/haplogroup of the human family. Armed with this fact, you may also want to explore what modern-day archaeogeneticists have discovered about the early wanderings of our distant Nolan … Read More

Based upon currently available DNA test results, few as they are, it is already evident that there are possibly dozens of distinct Nolan “blood lines”, some known to have originated in County Carlow and others with uncertain origins. To understand how this could be, it is instructive to look back in history and consider how … Read More

Table of Contents Introduction According to the “Annals of the Four Masters” aka “the Annals”, the Carlow Nolans descend from a 2nd century Irish prince, Eochaidh Fionn Fuathairt, who was exiled from Tara in Co. Meath settling on lands in Leinster which had earlier been granted to him and his posterity in perpetuity by the … Read More