Research Shows McCain Donegal Link

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Research Shows McCain Donegal Link

January 23, 2008

By Paddy Clancy

UP to 400 far-distant cousins in Ireland are backing Senator John McCain to win the Republican nomination for the presidential race.

McCain’s Irish connection –- or, at least, one of them — has been traced by his eighth cousin, writer and musician Barra McCain of Oxford, Missouri, and a 9th cousin in Stranorlar in the Finn Valley area of Co. Donegal, Ivan Knox.

The link was established through Y-Chromosome DNA genetic research and, according to Knox, whose mother was Sarah Jane McKane, 400 people have been located in the Finn Valley who could be related to the presidential hopeful.

They are the equivalent of ninth cousins and spell their surname slightly differently.

The McKanes or McKeans were cousins of the senator’s ancestor Alexander McCain, who emigrated to the U.S. from Co. Antrim in the 18th century. However Alex-ander’s uncle stayed in Ireland and eventually his children moved to the Finn Valley.

According to Knox, McCain is a direct descendant of a McKane who emigrated from Drumboe, near Stranorlar, to America in search of a better life in the early 1700s. Knox says many of the American and Canadian McCains are very aware of their Finn Valley connections and have visited the area in recent years.

McCain’s Donegal connection was established while Barra McCain was researching a projected started in September of 2003 to trace the origins of the name McCain. A call was sent forth to McCains around the world to participate. This was done largely via the Internet.

Barra McCain says on his website, “We posted announcements on various surname list sites for the McCain name and the many variations of the name: McKane, McKain, McKean, McKeen, Keane, O’Cane, O’Kean, O’Kane, etc. We went fishing, hoping to catch as many McCains as possible.”

Around the same time Knox was carrying out his own independent research in Ireland. He contacted Barra McCain. To their delight, a DNA test established that they themselves were related.

Barra McCain said, “As additional test results started coming in from the lab the two goals of the project were accomplished. We confirmed that there were several origins to the name McCain as several distinct and not related groups developed.

“We also discovered a close DNA link between several branches of McCains in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland. The results exceeded our wildest expectations.”

Knox, a businessman in Ballybofey, close to his Stranorlar home, said, “My mother’s people came from Drumboe and they owned a shop in Stranorlar. It was through Barra McCain that we finally established the U.S. side of our link with Senator McCain. I researched the Irish side of the link.

“I’m proud to be Senator McCain’s ninth cousin. Wouldn’t it be something else if someone with relatives in the Finn Valley became president of the United States of America. Look at what that would do for business and tourism in this part of Donegal.”

Knox reckoned a President McCain could be a big help to the illegal Irish in America. He said, “There are thousands of Irish stranded out there who cannot come home. They include some of my own people.”

He urged Irish Americans to give McCain their vote. “The more Irish people that vote for him the better it would be for this country in the long run,” said Knox.

“It would give the Irish a better chance of getting a green card to they can travel and work freely. That’s what we would like to see.

“We are all following the race very closely on TV and it would be great to welcome Senator McCain back home to the Finn Valley if he becomes president.”

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