I've been researching my family tree since 1998 ，and I've long been curious about DNA as a way to learn more about my roots. The technology has come a long way in the last decade, and it's become more affordable too. Finally, I went ahead and ordered a Y-DNA test.

    The results came in my email inbox from the DNA lab! When I logged in to see the results, there are 29 living people today with whom I share a common direct male ancestor in about the last 1,000 years. They live in Ireland, England, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and probably elsewhere.

    I had two closematches, and the rest were more distant. They both live in Ireland! What makes the connection  to these two men so interesting is that most Irish genealogical (族谱的)records were burned in fires in Dublin and don't exist today. Without them, it's hard to trace Irish roots any further back than the 1800s. I've written emails to both of them and hope to hear back!

    I did some more research on my Y-DNA and found my direct male ancestors were Celtics. They seem to have lived in Western Europe at the time of Ancient Rome. Migration patterns show that my DNA group likely originated in Western Asia, living there 20, 000 and 30, 000 years ago. There are relatives with similar DNA going thousands of years back in what is now Iran, India, Syria, Israel and Turkey.

    I was so excited by these results that I decided to trace my motherly line too. My DNA is already at the lab, so now I just have to wait another month or so, and I'm sure to find more interesting things.