Welcome to The Cullen Family DNA Project--incorporating similar surnames like Culin, Cullinan, McCullen, Cullens, McQuillan, Culling, Cullum
***last update September 17, 2008***We have identified the DNA signature of the most famous Cullen family--the O'Cullens who were once rulers of northern County Wicklow near Dublin. Special testing shows that these Cullens are related to other families of chiefs of the area. Member C-4 has received his full 37 marker results now.
C-40, our first member from Co. Wexford, Ireland has received results. He does not match the Wicklow Cullens. Is this the "Norman" family of Cullens in Wexford? See our Results and Discussion ("Disc") pages for more.
We are working together to find our common heritage and find links between Cullen families throughout the world. By testing specific regions of the Y chromosome found in all men, we can determine which Cullen people are closely related to each other, and find out where our ancestors came from. Please explore all 6 pages of this site, learn about the project, and email me (berniecullen@gmail.com) if you have any questions.
We always welcome new members, whether you have not yet been tested, or already have your results from Family Tree DNA, the Genographic Project of the National Genographic Society, or another company. We now have members who live in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland and Scotland.
Another advantage of joining our project is that several of our members are amateur genealogists and can help you trace your Cullen roots. We have helped at least 3 Cullens find their ancestors through traditional genealogy as well as the DNA tests.
Two new areas of research:
- Related Irish Surnames--We now have one member named CULLINAN, one CULLING, one CULLINGS, and one named McQUILLAN, surnames which may be related to Cullen in some cases. Other people named Cullinan/Cullinane, Culling and McQuillan are encouraged to join our project and find a connection.
- Early US Cullen family--We now have five members whose ancestors were in the US before 1840. Their ancestors Isaac Cullen and Charles Cullen are from Pennsylvania and Virginia/Tennesee, as well as James and Charles Cullen from eastern Maryland/southern Delaware. Also, we have two matching members named CULLUM not previously known to be related, with ancestors in Maryland. We are looking for more members with early US roots, including people named Cullins, Cullin, McCullen and variations.
Useful Links
Cullen Genealogy Homepage by Jim Cullen. This is probably the most comprehensive website devoted to all Cullen families, and contains several pages of analysis of our DNA results. Highly recommended!--Please note the new address (Jan '08) for this important resource: http://members.bex.net/jtcullen515/index.htm
Cullen Genealogy Blog by Bernie Cullen. This site has a map showing the distribution of the Cullen and Cullinan surnames in Ireland in the mid 1800s based on Griffith's Evaluation.
O'Driscoll of Cork DNA project. This project has a much more specific focus than ours, but it has useful explanations of DNA testing.
Byrne DNA project--The Byrne name has many independent origins, just like Cullen.
Devine family DNA project--another mainly Irish surname which shows what we hope to achieve at the Cullen projectClick here to order a DNA test now
For more information on the relationship between DNA testing and traditional genealogy, visit World Families Network.
