Query on Michael Finlay

'What changes did you make re Rose Alice Wood'

None. You added a link to her profile in unknown McLain's About section. It was a busted link so I fixed it. Works now.

'If the profiles were born over 150 years ago Geni requires them to be public.'

This is news to me. It stated when I created them that "Geni RECOMMENDS that long dead profiles be made public". But I don't want to argue the point. I created Rose and Mary's profiles initially from naming considerations, not because I had evidence that the convicts sent to NSW were these people. It so happened that they aligned perfectly but that's immaterial now I guess.

I created these profiles to keep track of information I'd put in the original profiles I created that I've lost control over. I'm not sure there is a place in GENI for that now.

'It is really difficult to use atDNA to prove a specific connection where shared ancestors are 6th great grandparents.'

If you have a specific DNA overlap, especially if it's greater in size than a certain threshold (7cM), it's considered valid evidence of a connection. What you CANNOT say is that NOT having a DNA overlap greater than 7cM means there is NO connection.

In other words, you cannot use atDNA to prove "no relationship" unless the generational distance is fifth cousin or less. If you have a DNA overlap, though, it is meaningful.

I keep an extensive genome map which includes DNA overlaps for both my mother's side genome and my father's side genome. From that map I can determine, for a specific DNA overlap, what common ancestors that DNA likely came from (but not the precise distance). I can also provide links to DNA relatives that are in common for that particular stretch of DNA. I've been working on this since 2019 and analyzed thousands of DNA matches and relationships, so it's pretty advanced at this point.

'I created these profiles to keep track of information I'd put in the original profiles I created'

In particular, for Michael, I did not want to lose track of this:
Private

'No-one has been detached due to religion.'

The whole discussion around Michael Finlay's origins are whether he was born Catholic or not, fundamentally. If he was born Catholic then the 1796 Dublin baptism record for Michael being the son of James and Judy from Dublin could well be his. But that's inconsistent with the DNA as it's known which does tie him (in my considered opinion) with certain Protestant families from County Monaghan area. The whole discussion is about squaring that circle.

For me, the solution to this problem is one that meets all the data known, and not just some of it. That includes DNA evidence as well. I am attempting to do that, and it's not easy. Just trying to get full understanding of the evidence is the first step.