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DNA Results Analysis and Information on Irish Origins for the Rock Surname

What have the DNA results so far revealed? - Some Great Successes

Aside from the personal matches revealed for each individual, there are seven members who all appear to be related. This is a personal success for these people and shows how in the absence of paper trails DNA can achieve success. Reuniting a once close knit clan, from now scattered communities, a;; sharing the same surname. The most dramatic appears to be member John Joseph Barrett who matches the Rocks of Armagh. Indeed he believes his existing surname is not his correct genealogy and the DNA results show this to be the case. Not only that it has opened a closed door on his personal history, it has closed another.

Important point to Consider:
Your haplotype, (your personal set of DYS marker results), determines the amount and type of DNA matches to other surnames. For instance, both Rock testers, Kit Numbers 45758 and 33409 are determined by FTDNA as a Western Atlantic Modal haplotype (WAMH). Both these have a very broad and sporadic set of surname matches, there is nothing conclusive at all in their surname matches. Kit number 32714 is R1b1c3 and has a lot of very specific different surname matches - all historically inter-related and from the same location. So its your haplotype that is more critical not your Haplogroup.

Distance Tables for the Complete Rock Project

    DYS#
    Kit     Last Name      *      3  3  1  3  3  3  4  3  4  3  3  3  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  G  Y  Y  4  6  5  5  C  C  4  4 
H 9 9 9 9 8 8 2 8 3 8 9 8 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 A C C 5 0 7 7 D D 4 3
a 3 0   1 5 5 6 8 9 9 2 9 8 9 9 5 4 7 7 8 9 4 4 4 4 0 T A A 6 7 6 0 Y Y 2 8
p         a b       |   |   a b             a b c d   A                    
l                   1   2                               I I         a b    
o                                                     H I I                
                                                      4                    
                                                        a b                
Armagh Rocks                                                                            
28443 Steve Rocks R1b1 13 24 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17                        
26221 Martin Rocks R1b1 13 24 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 19 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17                        
25950 Kieran Rock R1b1 13 25 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17                        
26437 Kevin Rocks R1b1 13 25 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17                        
21482 Aaron Andrew Rock R1b1 13 25 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17 11 12 19 24 16 15 18 17 37 38 12 12
65250 James Rock  R1b1 13 25 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17 11 12 19 24 16 15 18 17 37 38 12 12
43096 John Joseph Barrett R1b1 13 25 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 30 18 9 10 11 11 26 15 19 30 15 15 17 17 11 12 19 24 15 15 18 17 37 38 12 12
Irish Rock - Roch                                                                            
54073 Lewis Marshall Roch R1b1 13 24 14 11 11 13 12 12 12 13 14 29 17 9 10 11 11 25 15 18 29 15 16 16 17                        
33409 Aaron David Rock R1b1 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 11 13 13 29 17 9 10 11 11 26 15 19 29 15 15 16 17                        
45758 Timothy Blaine Rock R1b 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 17 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 17 17                        
32714 Austin-Agustine Rock R1b1 13 24 14 11 11 14 12 12 13 13 13 29 18 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 14 14 16 17 11 11 19 23 16 15 18 17 38 39 14 12
Irish Rock I Group                                                                            
34046 Robert Biechele Rock I 13 22 14 10 13 14 11 16 11 12 11 28 16 8 9 8 11 24 16 20 28 12 14 15 15 10 10 19 21 14 14 16 20 34 38 12 10
29892 Richard Carey Ann Rock I 13 22 15 10 13 15 11 14 11 13 11 29 14 8 9 8 11 23 16 20 30 12 14 14 15                        
                                                                             
N8149 Ronald Rock E3b 13 24 13 9 13 15 11 12 10 14 11 30                                                  
N12299 Robert Roland Rock R1a 13 24 16 11 11 13 12 12 11 14 11 31 16 9 9 11 11 24 14 20 31 12 15 15 16                        

Irish Origin of the Rock Surname

There was always three historical possibilities or categories for the presence of the surname Rock in Ireland:

Indigenous Irish - from Native Gaelige Irish septs - like MacConcarraige/MacConcarraigeacha - simplified Carrig, Carrigy with or without a Mac prefix. Both of these renderings reflect two distinct families. Rock and Rocks (plural) is the same surname, they are not different, you can pronounce it either as Rock or Rocks in both English and Irish. In Longford/Westmeath the Irish surname MacCargy was recorded in the 1659 Petty's Census for Ardagh parish, this is possibly the origins of the Rocks in North Leinster and North Connaught.
In the 1664 hearth money rolls for Keady County Armagh there appears two individuals, an Owen and Neal Cargagh. The plural of carraig is carraigeacha, which would be rendered in Irish phonetically as cargagha, this is the origin of the surname Rocks in Keady Armagh.

Note: The elements of the surname are Con=Cú=hound and carraig=rock. MacLysaght says that the anglicised versions are (Mac) Carrig, Carrigy, Carrick. He elsewhere mentions "Mac Concharraige", which is probably more accurate and also has the feeling that the genitive and the plural can be confounded/Confused, hence Rocks instead of Rock. This has happened with Ó Dhuibhne which became Deeny (daoine) and even the surname People/Peoples - Information courtesy of Ruairí Ó Bléine (ruairi @ dnet.co.uk)
In all cases of a native Irish origin, the septs listed here are hereditary titles, they probably were guardians or custodians of the lands upon which lay the inauguration site of the main Chieftainship. For example the MacConcharrige of County Clare were Stewerts to the O'Brien chieftains.

"English" Origin - a rather grand and ill-used sweeping statement from some of Ireland's best genealogists - who should have known better. "English" encompassed everyone from outside Ireland. English, Welsh and Scottish settlers did come to Ireland in many periods over many centuries. Earliest being the Normans, with their Welsh armies up to the waves of Scottish and English settlers in the early to mid 17th Centuries. Rock as a surname existed in Wales, Scotland and England since records began, some of these came to Ireland.

Name corruptions, Roche/Roche/Roach is a fairly common Franco-Norman-Flemish surname in Ireland, it is a name meaning Rock, it has been present in Ireland since the 12th century. As it happens, in the 17th and 18th Centuries the English records sometimes recorded the name Roch as Rock. This is fairly common in England and in Burkes General Armory there are plenty of examples of this.



If you have any questions, suggestions or corrections about the Project please contact Austin Rock or Aaron Rock:
Contact: Austin Rock [Dublin - Ireland] or Aaron Rock [Hamilton City - Canada]