My Greatgrandma Jane MacDonald lived in Portabello, Scotland. Her parents were Peter MacDonald and Catherine Mulvey Both of them were born in Ireland (from census records), and I have a fair amount of info since their marriage in 1866, but nothing beforehand. I don't know if they came over from Ireland together, or if they met in Scotland. From their marriage record and their death records I know their parents were Michael MacDonald and Anne Reynolds, and John Mulvey and Bridget Faughman respectively. Apart from knowing which were deceased in the 1866 marriage, I don't know anything else. Just having names and rough dates in Ireland is stumping me. If anyone could give me any advice or help out with this detective work, I'd be very grateful. I keep coming back to it and not getting any further. Thanks in advance! Matt
There are currently 2849 participants in the FTDNA MacDonald surname project. There is a good chance that your grandather's line is already represented in there. A lot of the research activity is apparently conducted on another site too "clandonaldusa.org". You could email the admin at https://clandonaldusa.org/index.php providing the link to your ancestor https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacDonald-9311 and inquire about his particular MacDonald line. YDNA results from male MacDonald direct descendant would be most desirable as the results could just be compared and you'd know the exact line. However, just asking them for guidance is a worthwhile start as Irish/Scottish descendants with particular surnames tend to have a lot of genealogical interest.
