My mother got a mitochondrial dna test and it is irish,so does that mean she is mostly irish?

Question

My mother got a mitochondrial dna test and it is irish,so does that mean she is mostly irish?

Answer 1

Mitochondrial dna testing involves the genetics of the FEMALE LINE ONLY.  It does not include anything regarding the ancestry on the father's side.

She is "mostly" Irish, if the MAJORITY of her ancestry (male/female) is from Ireland.

I am not fond of dna testing.

Answer 2

It means her mother's mother's mother's . . . was Irish.  It doesn't necessarily mean that she herself is mostly Irish.  All the other lines of her family tree could come from other countries, but she would still have the mitochondrial DNA of the mother-to-daughter line of descent.  If you have a sister, she'll pass it on to her children; you yourself have it but won't pass it on.

Answer 3

To echo what Wendy said that it does not include her father's dna.  It also doesn't include the DNA of the spouses of her direct female ancestors.

Y DNA is passed solely from father to son.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from the mother to both sons and daughters but only the daughrers pass it on to her children.

Most of our DNA is autosomal. We get it 50-50 from both parents.

Answer 4

Mitochondrial DNA tests don't identify nationalities. They can identify races - but Irish isn't a race, it is a nationality. If your mother's MDNA test was compared with an ancestor who was known to be Irish, and matched on a significant number of points, thus confirming their relationship, then she could be said to be the child, grandchild, or whatever her relationship was to the other person, and thus have a possible claim to Irish nationality, but the mitochondrial DNA by itself would only confirm the relationship, not the nationality of either person.