Maura Derrane found out that she’s related to Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh on the Late Late Show last night.
The RTÉ star was on the show alongside sport analyst Eamon Dunphy, Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae and comedian Jason Byrne, who took part in a number of DNA tests with Ancestry.ie to discover their heritage.
“We found an Irish cousin for you too,” Ancestry.ie’s Mike Mulligan told Maura.
“And here’s the interesting thing: you know her… She’s a fourth cousin.”
“In fact, not only do you know her,” said Tubridy, “we all know her.”
“Could you hazard a guess of somebody that’s possibly in the same business, who might, eh, ‘speak-ah the lingo’?”
After members of the audience started guessing that she was related to Gráinne and Síle Seoige – it was finally revealed that Maura is, in fact, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh’s distant cousin.
“With Connemara cousins, it can be complicated. We haven’t been able to tie it down, but we think it might be on the Connolly line [Derrane’s mother’s side of the family],” Mike said.
“But a Connolly in Galway, I mean… It means you probably share a great, great, great grandparent.”
