Technical Approach

The principal objective of the Barrymore Project is to illuminate the origins and evolution of the Barry family, a prominent Anglo-Norman-Irish dynasty. To accomplish this, an effort is being made to conduct DNA testing of the remains in the Barry mausoleum in County Cork. Phase I of that effort has now been completed and planning is under way for Phase II.

The first step was a detailed examination by forensic anthropologists of the remains in the mausoleum. The initial goal was to identify the biological sex, age-at-death and distinguishing physical characteristics of the individuals interred there, and to assess their consistency with historical information about the Earls of Barrymore. Radio-carbon dating may be employed at a future date to estimate the age of the remains. The examination documented salient points regarding the conditions of the remains and any light and their medical and personal history.

Once the remains had been examined and evaluated, several femoral samples were be taken for DNA and dating analysis.

The samples were packaged securely, preserved, and shipped to two laboratories, one at University College Dublin and the second at Gene by Gene in Houston, Texas, USA. There the samples were prepared for testing, and extraction of DNA.

The DNA testing in Phase I involved initially the identification of short tandem repeat (STR) markers, for comparing the results of this project with test results of other men with the Barry surname and for estimating the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA). Polymerease chain reaction (PCR) amplification and fragment size detection were accomplished with a 3730 DNA Analyzer and with individual primers developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or in-house by Gene by Gene.

Once a YDNA haplogroup (deep ancestral group) could be predicted from STR results, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) testing was attempted, using Sanger Sequencing, to assist in confirming the haplogroups of the individual whose remains are in the mausoleum.