Three direct line male descendants (two Potts and one Dunn) of Walter Dunn, Jr., 1788-1850 tested their Y DNA with FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) and their results match each other and other males whose ancestors have the Daughety/Daugherty surname with many spelling variations. This occurrence could have been casued by a "non-parental event" usually a result of adoptions or maternal transfer of the surname.

It is documented that Walter Jr. was the son of Walter, the son of Newman Dunn who lived in Craven County, NC as early as 1754. There were Daughertys living in Craven County at the same time but Y DNA proves they were not related to these Dunns.

It is believed our Craven/Lenoir County, NC Dunns came from Virginia. There were Dauthertys in Virginia in the mid to late 1600s. Research. No Dunn connection was found.

One of the FTDNA Group Administrators states "our branch definately looks like a major Daugherty Clade. The Daugherty's traditional territory is County Donegal, Ireland. The age estimate of the connection is based upon the average number of Big Y700 'private' variants on the haplogroup tree diagram (shows average of 3 'private' variants). On average SNPs form about every 83 years or so so 83 x 3 = 249 years before one's birth. Generally assumed to be 1960 then 1960 less 250 is about 1700 AD. There is a significant uncertainty so likely +/- 100 years."

Another of the FTDNA Group Administrators states I'm guessing about 1400-1500 to Most Recent Ancestor with their line and yours.

FTDNA's analysis confirmes a Dunn-Potts connection to Niall of the Nine Hostages

Your Y chromosome matches this profile.

A recent study was conducted at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, which found that a striking % of men in Ireland (and quite a few in Scotland) share the same Y chromosome, suggesting that the 5th-century warlord known as "Niall of the Nine Hostages" may be the ancestor of one in 12 Irishmen. Niall established a dynasty of powerful chieftains that dominated the island for six centuries.

In the study scientists found an area in northwest Ireland where they claim 21.5% carry Niall’s genetic fingerprint, says Brian McEvoy, one of the team at Trinity. The same area of Ireland has previously been the subject of Anthropological writings…and has shown a strikingly high % of men from Haplogroup R-M269 (85.4%). According to McVoy this area was the main powerbase of the Ui Neills, which literally translated means "descendants of Niall".

McEvoy says the Y chromosome appeared to trace back to one person. Following the genealogists trail, McVoy comments: "There are certain surnames that seem to have come from Ui Neill. We studied if there was any association between those surnames and the genetic profile. It is his (Niall's) family."

Of note to FamilyTreeDNA customers, this signature is found in .6 of 1% of the entire FamilyTreeDNA database.

McVoy states: "As in other polygynous societies, the siring of offspring was related to power and prestige." The study mentions that just one of the O'Neill dynasty chieftains who died in 1423 had 18 sons with nearly a dozen women and claimed 59 grandsons.

Niall of the Nine Hostages received his name from the taking of hostages as a strategy for playing mental havoc upon his opponent chieftains. He is known in folklore as a raider of the British and French coasts. Supposedly slain in the English Channel or in Scotland, his descendants were the most powerful rulers of Ireland until the 11th century.

Modern surnames tracing their ancestry to Niall include (O')Neill, (O')Gallagher, (O')Boyle, (O')Doherty, O'Donnell, Connor, Cannon, Bradley, O'Reilly, Flynn, (Mc)Kee, Campbell, Devlin, Donnelly, Egan, Gormley, Hynes, McCaul, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, McMenamin, Molloy, O'Kane, O'Rourke and Quinn.

Journal reference: American Journal of Human Genetics (February issue)