ISOGG Ireland

The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) Ireland

The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) was founded in 2005 by DNA project administrators and citizen scientists who shared a common vision: the promotion and education of genetic genealogy. ISOGG is a global volunteer organization with over 20,000 members in 80 countries. Our mission is to advocate for and educate about the use of genetics as a tool for genealogical research, and to promote a supportive network for genetic genealogists.

ISOGG Ireland has over 7,000 members and represents the global Irish diaspora in genetic genealogy administers surname and regional projects and organizes conferences and lectures. We organize national and regional conferences and have published over 100 lectures on YouTube.

The Direct to Consumer (DTC) genetic genealogy industry is worth several billion euros and includes companies such as AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, 23andme, FTDNA, Dante Genomics, and Living DNA. Over 40 million people have taken direct-to-consumer tests and AncestryDNA accounts for a rapidly growing twenty million. Ancestry DNA has established its International HQ in the Docklands in Dublin. The DTC Companies provide a range of services including, DNA relative matches, paternal, maternal, and autosomal ancestry, and deep ancestry analysis and ancestor migrations. The Irish diaspora is among the most active genetic genealogy communities, and many Irish Americans are ISOGG members.

The technology platforms used in Genetic Genealogy are evolving very rapidly and include, Internet and social media platforms, big data analytics platforms, artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT, next-generation sequencing platforms, and genetic genealogy platforms. Ireland is developing clusters of expertise in these sectors. The Genomics and Biotech sector is rapidly evolving as the cost of sequencing is falling. Nanopore Technology such as Oxford Nanopore allows portable and cheap sequencing devices. Genomics is also revolutionizing the healthcare and precision medicine sector. In Ireland Genuity Science plans to sequence the DNA of over 40,000 Irish people, making it one of the most important Precision Medicine projects.

Unearthing your ancestry using genetic testing allows you to go beyond historical records and accounts passed down through your family to offer clues about where your ancestors might have come from and about family relationships.

Gerard Corcoran is a volunteer founder and Irish representative for the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) a citizen science organization. 

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