In fact, in Ireland and Scotland, more than three-fourths of the population has blue or green eyes – 86 percent! Many factors go into having green eyes.
More than half the population of Ireland have blue eyes, according to a new study. That figure is higher than any other country on the Irish and British isles. The research was carried out in 2014 by ScotlandsDNA and also revealed that blue is the most common eye colour on the two islands.
One physical trademark of Irish people is their olive or green-colored eyes, which are rare in other parts of the world but are pretty common in Ireland. Ireland is also one of the countries with the most green-eyed people, as more than 75% of green-eyed people have heritage in just two countries: Ireland and Scotland.
Though a minority is still brown-eyed. The Irish have one of the highest proportions of light eyes in the world! Approximately 86% of them have blue or light eyes. Though the proportion of blue eyes does vary by region with very slight differences, in every single region of Ireland, at least half have blue eyes.
In Ireland blue eyes are most common in Connacht, where 53% people have them. The figures are only slightly lower elsewhere, with 52% in Leinster and 50% each in Ulster and Munster. The research was conducted by ScotlandsDNA, a company that researches the genetic origins of Scots and those of Scots descent.
The Celtic people had a broad range of eye colors, such as blue, light blue, grey, and green, as well as the more common brown. The blue, grey, and green are thought to be mutations that occurred over thousands of years due to the Celts who lived in the far north of the world.
The most prevalent place to find people with blue eyes (and where those percentages are considerably higher) is in the Scandinavian region. Europe also has pocket where people with blue eyes can be more commonly found. While the color blue is beautiful in the eyes, it is also evidence of less melanin production.
However, while green is the de facto national colour of Ireland, representing Ireland in many sporting, cultural, and business events, azure blue is still found in symbols of both the state and the island.
The modern Irish usually have light features – pale blue or green eyes, reddish or brown hair and fair skin with freckles.
The Irish are generally considered to have a fair complexion.
They were also found to have most similarity to two main ancestral sources: a 'French' component (mostly northwestern French) which reached highest levels in the Irish and other Celtic populations (Welsh, Highland Scots and Cornish) and showing a possible link to the Bretons; and a 'West Norwegian' component related to ...
Freckles occur in people with heritage from around the world. Because they're often seen in people with red hair, freckles are commonly associated with Ireland and Scotland, where this hair color is common as well.
True brown eyes are rare in the Irish race. This eye here is called a mixed Iris, which is a mix of blue and brown, so essentially it is green. There is a basic blue background with a brown/orange overlay. The iris often appears light brown to greenish brown.
Green, which is the least common eye color. Only 9% of people in the United States have green eyes. Hazel, a combination of brown and green.
This is why it became customary to wear green clothes, accessories and shamrocks in celebrating St. Patrick's Day. So even with all this green iconography, blue is the favourite colour of the Emerald Isle!
Ireland has many unique geographical features. Some of the major features include its mountains, lowland peat bogs, rivers, and peninsulas.
The main geographical features of Ireland are low central plains surrounded by a ring of coastal mountains. The highest peak is Carrauntuohill ( Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1041 m (3414 ft). There are a number of sizable lakes along Ireland's rivers, with Lough Neagh the largest in either Britain or Ireland.
While people from Ireland, Britain, or Scotland tend to be genetically similar, genetic clusters show that even within countries, there are distinct regional differences, and this update captures some of that.
Many might believe that the Emerald Isle and the color green are linked because of the country's verdant landscape, but the association actually traces its roots to Irish political history. In fact, blue is believed to have been associated with Ireland before green was.
The term “black Irish” refers to persons of Irish descent who are supposed to be descendants of the Spanish Armada, which sailed around the middle of the 15th century, and had dark hair and or eyes. The term is used among people of Irish descent and sometimes confuses people since it doesn't refer to dark skin color.
The National Flag of Ireland, a tricolour of green, white and orange, is intended to symbolise the inclusion of and the aspiration for unity between people of different traditions on this island.
Your children inherit their eye colors from you and your partner. It's a combination of mom and dad's eye colors – generally, the color is determined by this mix and whether the genes are dominant or recessive. Every child carries two copies of every gene – one comes from mom, and the other comes from dad.
When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.