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Our Clan Dalton surname study is genetic genealogy at it’s finest - scientific and historical. Your potential DNA matches will align you with other family researchers, who share your Dalton roots. Our DNA analysis will help you uncover your ancestral heritage. We'll investigate your genetic and genealogical connections.

We’re all of Celtic descent and appear to have arrived with Strongbow or Hugh de Lacy in the 12th century. Extensive research indicates grants of land were received through de Lacy, Governor of Dublin and Lord of Meath. These estates were numerous and the D’Alton’s became the Lords of Rathconrath.

Nicholas D’Alton’s line was banished froM Westmeath in 1406. Are they the ancient Kildalton Dalton’s of Piltown/Owning, near Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary?

Hugh (Redmond) Dalton deeded land (Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Volume 1) in the early 15th century to the Butler’s of the King. The land between Jerpoint Abbey in County Kilkenny and the Slievenamon in County Tipperary was known as Dalton’s Country.

The Daltons were singled out by Henry's Court, because they practiced Irish Tanistry, Brehon laws and elected a Chieftain to represent themselves. (McNicholl) In 1406, 'The Dalton' banished the line of Nicholas from the country of Westmeath and they may have settled in the area known as the Golden Vale.

A book authored by Colonel Eoghan O'Neill, THE GOLDEN VALE OF IVOWEN:BETWEEN SLIEVENAMON AND SUIR sheds new light on the subject. Permission to reprint was given to K.T. Dalton-Mapstone by Teresa Nolan at geogpublications@eircom.net. The following passages were extracted by the late Barbara McDonald, who was of the Kilcash Dalton line.



"James Wall of Coolnamuck in Clare was assigned 600 acres...around him were many of his former neighbours in Waterford and Tipperary – Jeffrey Prendergast of Newcastle, Hugh Neale of Ballyneale, his cousin John Butler of Ballycloghy, his brother-in-law Richard Power of Feddans and his nephew James Everard of Glyn. In June, they were joined by Edmund Dalton of Kildalton, Piltown, who had been assigned 500 acres."


"Before the Cromwellian Plantations, the parish of Owning had been held partly by the Walshes of the Mountain, and partly by the Daltons of Kildalton, the modern Piltown. After the Cromwellian Wars these Daltons and Walshes were dispossessed and transplanted, and the lands confiscated and initially the whole of the modern parish of Piltown was granted to the Cromwellian, Colonel Ponsonby, the captor of Carrick-on-Suir. The Ponsonbys built a magnificent mansion in Kildalton and renamed it Bessborough – after Elizabeth, the wife of the head of the family. They were eventually created Earls of Bessborough and maintained the residence, as landlords of the district, right down to this century (20th). The name of this house has since been restored to the old name, Kildalton. As had happened in the case of many of the Cromwellian grantees, the Ponsonbys came to Ireland without wives, and in this case, according to long established local tradition, one of the family married a daughter of the previous owners, the Daltons, who were anxious to regain some portion of their original property as tenants. The Daltons had been members of a closely related and associated network of families in the area within a few miles of Carrick on Suir in Pre-Cromwellian days - Butlers of Kilcash, Walls of Coolnamuck, and Figlashe, Tobins of the Compsey, Walshes of the Mountain, Mandevilles of Ballydine, O'Neills of Ballyneill. According to tradition, two generations of the Daltons lived on with the Ponsonbys in Kildalton. The O'Neill family tradition is that with the help of the Daltons, Conn O’Neill became a tenant at Owning, where he and his descendants held a farm and mill from the Ponsonbys.



"There was another case which affected the lands of Kildalton, at Piltown in the same parish as Owning. Again, after the Cromwellian Settlement, these lands were given to Colonel Ponsonby. This settlement was never, of course, accepted by the Daltons. By the late 18th century, the Ponsonbys, who had renamed Kildalton as Bessborough, were still the legal owners, and the head of the family, the Earl of Bessborough, was the landlord of the area - including the O’Neill holding at Owning. However, the last of the Daltons of Kildalton in the senior line was still living. He was a cooper by trade in Carrick, but was extremely poor, and his daughter used to walk the roads around Carrick, Piltown and Owning seeking alms from the descendants of the tenants of the Daltons' former lands. By 1800, when Dalton was on his deathbed, still speaking of his rights, Lord Bessborough sent his agent, Peter Walsh of Belline, to offer him £400 (an enormous sum to a man in Dalton's circumstances), and to plead with him to desist from his claims. The offer was haughtily refused."



K.T. Dalton-Mapstone, Project Organizer, has been conducting Clan Dalton research and development since 2003. Her analysis lends credence to the theory that the County Clare Daltons were Kildalton Daltons. Still from County Westmeath, but via Kildalton, many centuries later!
Clan Dalton has a very distinctive haplotype, which incorporates our genetic signature. Our R1b1 migration brought us to the Iberian Peninsula, where we likely spent the Ice Age between the Douro and Tagus Rivers. Clan Dalton's unique YCA IIa of 22 and YCA IIb of 23 were acquired during this glacial epoch. Those showing a high incidence of these markers, alone, descend from the Lusitani and are Indo Europeans.
This phenomenon is part of a three-step mutation. The DYS 390 with its corresponding allele value of 21 is also part of our Clan Dalton signature. This is an anomaly, as it varies radically from the Atlantic Modal, which is the standard for the British Isles.
Less than 6%, worldwide, have this marker. It's rarely mentioned in comparative studies.
There are other surnames that share our unique, Dalton signature and they are being researched with good result. Dalton markers may be present in these surnames due to an exception regarding the law of primogeniture. Usually, the eldest male inherited.
If there were no sons to inherit, the eldest daughter could receive the estate.

The daughter would take a husband, who would in turn take his wife's surname. This would ensure the continuity of her surname, albeit by proxy. One such instance occurred in the greater Kildalton area of Carrick-on-Suir, which is one of our ancient patrimonies.
The Clan Dalton DNA Project enjoys spectacular results in many different areas. Genetic cousins have been introduced across three continents!
Begin your personal adventure into genetic genealogy.  It’s easy. Contact our Clan Dalton website at Family Tree DNA: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/ClanDalton/



Your kit will arrive in the mail.  It will include everything you need to test your DNA.  A return envelope is enclosed. Testing is a painless procedure. Rub the swabs on the inside of your cheeks.  Do it twice, just to be certain. The swabs are then secured in a solution for transit. 
Y-DNA and SNP testing will return results regarding your specific paternal line. From Father to Son your forebears have passed down the genetic makeup of your Dalton branch.  Y-DNA is available for males only.
The Seven Daughters of Eve reference one or more of the corresponding mitochondrial haplogroups.  mtDNA is the ancient lineage from Mother to Daughter.  A Mother can also pass mtDNA to her Son.  He cannot pass this mtDNA to his children.  mtDNA tests are available for males and females.

You have eight pairs of Great Great Grandparents and our Autosomal DNA will match their descendants.  aDNA can help you scale that brick wall, answer adoption questions or locate a common ancestor.
There are twenty-two pairs of autosomes that will identify relationships within your matches. Your X chromosome will also provide matches. Males have an X from their Mom and females have an X from both parents. Autosomal DNA testing is available for both males and females.
Stop by and visit us at: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/ClanDalton/