Welcome to the home page of the Treinfhir Y-DNA Initiative.

Some Treinfhir-specific information is provided and only available to registered users. To see the hidden parts, please use the login option on the home page and come on back here.

As many of you know, in May 2019 in Monaghan we launched an initiative to begin building a bridge between the Treinfhirs around the world. A description of the initiative follows:

The History of the Treinfhir Y-DNA Initiative

The Treinfhir clan’s fascinating history dates back over 4000 years in Ireland, back the time when the great pyramids were being built in Egypt. We are descended from ancient kings like MaineMor of the UiMaine, or High King Niall Noigallech, and Irish saints like Saint Macartan. But what do you know about your connection to the wider Treinfhir clan?

The Treinfhir DNA initiative uses “Y-DNA” which Treinfhirs  inherited from their distant male Treinfhir ancestors and seeks to answer key questions like “What Treinfhirs and family groups am I connected to in Ireland?”, “How long ago did my ancestors branch away from other families?” and “How are the Treinfhir families in Ireland related to each other?”

In our Irish homeland, there were so many Treinfhir families that we used family “Nicknames” to tell one Treinfhir family clan from another. Nicknames give us a wonderful opportunity to connect Irish and Emigrant families together using ancestral DNA. By matching Y-DNA to family Nicknames, connections between long sundered families can be made. Irish families can understand how their family fits in the great map of the Treinfhir clan.

In May 2019 in Ireland, we had six names and a skinny little sapling. We committed to this project and said we hoped we could begin to map the tree and nicknames with 50 testers.

September 2026 Update

Today we have 75 completed Big-Y tests and an additional 4 in process. Eight of these test subjects were secured at the recent Treinfhir Gathering in Monaghan in June 2026, resulting in the largest submittal of Big Y samples in a single month since 2019 – including our first from an Australian national, Michael Traynor of Canberra!

Recent Big-Y analyses have produced a bounty of knowledge regarding Treinfhir nickname connections, particularly those present in North Monaghan. We now believe the “Baker”, “Nail”, and “Francis” Treanors share a common ancestor born in Glen More in the early 1800s. The “Fagavig”, “Crush”, “Barney”, and “Billy” Treanors appear to share a common ancestor born in the mid-1700s at Crossnacaldoo (aka, Crush). Big-Y testing recently revealed that the “Johnny John” and “Beckin” Treanors likely descend from the same “MaSheemin” ancestor born about 1770. The Big-Y analysis of Damien Treanor “Thump” yielded a very close connection to the “Paramore” Treanors of England, with their common ancestor likely born near Emyvale in the mid-1800s. Big-Y testing often enables clan members to break through longstanding brick walls and extend family trees. When Chris Trainor was assigned to the UiMaine Brendain branch recently, he collaborated on his family tree with Andrew Trainor, a close patrilineal match, and Y-DNA project leader, Dan Traynor. This led to the discovery that Chris’ ancestors came from Tullaghomeath, Co. Louth. Chris celebrated this discovery by visiting Tullaghomeath while in Ireland for the Treinfhir Gathering.

The UiNeill and UiMaine Treinfhirs

Click on the image above for an updated map of the Treinfhirs in our old Irish homelands!

Stand by, more tests are on the way!  But we need your help. With more DNA testing, we can provide a family tree for the entire Treinfhir clan. We need the Trenors of Spain to join the project, and the McCreanors, so that we can understand their branch in the tree.

Emigrants who don’t know their Irish family history can contribute to the initiative by taking a Family Tree DNA “Big Y” test, and by contributing to the family testing fund.  Irish Treinfhirs who know their family history and family nicknames can contribute their Y-DNA and their known family history, like nicknames and townlands, to the project. Because this information is so valuable, Irish families who know their history may be subsidized.

Y-DNA changes minimally over several generations, so only one male within each family group (3^rd or 4^th cousins) need to be tested. Within that range, results will be virtually identical, so males within a family can split the cost and share the learning, making testing more affordable.

The test is simple.  You swab your cheek with a plastic wand, put it into a plastic vial and send it away to Family Tree DNA.  Your Y-DNA will be analyzed and added to the Family Tree DNA database. 

Your results are provided to you online under a secure user ID and Password. More importantly, Family Tree DNA doesn’t share your information with any outside company, research organization or government agency, so your confidentiality is assured.

One “Big Y” test is usually priced at $449(US) but during the sale periods can be reduced to $379.  Moreover, by sharing the cost between family members the per person cost can be substantially lower.

We are encouraging all Treinfhir males who haven’t had a close relative test to consider testing, and contributing to the Treinfhir testing fund which subsidizes special cases, but we are placing special priority for subsidies on disappearing or rare male family lines.

To purchase a Family Tree Big Y test on your own,  go to https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Treinfhir

If you’d like to donate to the Treinfhir Initiative Fund, click here

For more information on Big Y testing, go here; https://www.familytreedna.com/products/y-dna or here: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/treinfhir/activity-feed

Note: We do not recommend Y-37, 67 or 111 tests.  They do not yield adequately detailed results to match families.

For more info, Email Dan Traynor (datraynor@hotmail.com). Slainte!

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Click this image to watch the June 12, 2022 Video

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Older videos about the Y-DNA project

Treinfhir Y-DNA Initiative January 2021 Update