Who Are the Closest Genetic Relatives of the Irish? Today, people living in the north of Spain in the region known as the Basque Country share many DNA traits with the Irish. However, the Irish also share their DNA to a large extent with the people of Britain, especially the Scottish and Welsh.
Historians teach that they are mostly descended from different peoples: the Irish from the Celts, and the English from the Anglo-Saxons who invaded from northern Europe and drove the Celts to the country's western and northern fringes.
The researchers expected to see differences from south to north and from east to west, similar to how lineages are organized in Europe and the U.K. more broadly. But in Ireland, genetic signatures are clustered very strongly with the four ancient kingdoms of Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster.
Modern Irish are the population most genetically similar to the Bronze Age remains, followed by Scottish and Welsh, and share more DNA with the three Bronze Age men from Rathlin Island than with the earlier Ballynahatty Neolithic woman.
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.
The Irish have Viking and Norman ancestry in similar proportions to the English. A comprehensive DNA map of the Irish has for the first time revealed lasting contributions from British, Scandinavian, and French invasions.
Scotland and Ireland are close neighbours, and it is no surprise that commercial ancestral Y-DNA testing and the resulting hundreds of Y-DNA Case Studies conducted at Scottish and Irish Origenes have revealed lots of shared ancestry among males with Scottish or Irish origins.
Irish ethnicity developed from multiple groups such as the Gaelic Celts and the Anglo-Normans, which included the English, the Vikings, and the French.
The island of Ireland has been consistently inhabited for about 10,000 years, and the earliest forms of Irish ancestry can be traced back to Celts and Gaels – a.k.a., the founders of the Gaelic language, which remains alive and utilized today.
At the 2021 Australian census, 2,410,833 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry. This nominated ancestry was third behind English and Australian in terms of the largest number of responses and represents 9.5% of the total population of Australia.
She said the hunter-gatherer Irish not only had dark skin, but also bright blue eyes – a combination rarely seen today. They operated mostly along the coast of the Burren gathering shellfish, and then moving inland to hunt wild boar and gather hazelnuts.
5 – Norway
Due to the Viking invasion that began in the 8th century, Norwegian ancestry can be seen prominently in Irish DNA. Professor Gianpiero Cavalleri, who spearheaded a recent study on Irish genetics, explained the Viking's influence on Irish genes.
Compared to people in the rest of Europe, Irish people have higher rates of cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, and galactosemia, a metabolic disorder that prevents the breakdown of sugars in dairy, legumes and organ meats.
The languages of Wales and Ireland belong to the same family; they are both classed as living Celtic languages, along with Breton and Scottish Gaelic. In Wales and Ireland, it's normal for schoolchildren to be taught their native language as part of the curriculum.
Today, the term 'Celtic' generally refers to the languages and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany; also called the Celtic nations.
Who Are the Closest Genetic Relatives of the Irish? Today, people living in the north of Spain in the region known as the Basque Country share many DNA traits with the Irish. However, the Irish also share their DNA to a large extent with the people of Britain, especially the Scottish and Welsh.
The best place to start with tracing your Irish ancestry is searching Irish Genealogy, where you can view Irish civil records for free. At present there are indexes to births (1864–1922), marriages (1845–1947) and deaths (1871-1972).
They are the Sidhe (pronounced “shee”) – mystical fairy-like people who supposedly inhabited Ireland prior to the arrival of the Celts (the Milesians). The Tuatha de Dannan are credited with naming Ireland.
Stone age hunter
The first people arrived in Ireland about 9,000 years ago (around 7000 BC). We now call them Stone Age people because they used stone tools for their farm work and for hunting.
Travellers are indigenous to Ireland. Although they are present throughout the island, about half live in or near the main cities of Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork. Only a minority of Travellers pursue their traditional crafts and services and retain economic independence in an urban economy.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term "Black Irish" referred to Irish people with black hair and dark features who were considered to be descended from Spanish sailors as depicted in Black Irish (folklore).
There was no single 'Celtic' genetic group. In fact the Celtic parts of the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall) are among the most different from each other genetically. For example, the Cornish are much more similar genetically to other English groups than they are to the Welsh or the Scots.
1 in 4 US adults have Irish ancestors or relatives. That's 25.75% of the adult population of the USA, equating to over 52 million people. 8.23% of US adults suspect they have Irish heritage, that's around 1 in every 12 people.
The “truest” Celtic bloodlines existing today belong to those from the Scottish Highlands, Perthshire, Northwest Scotland and the descendants of the ancient ruling families in Ireland and Wales.