Join This Channel on YouTube to Get Access to Perks:    / @celtichistorydecoded  

Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded -    / @celtichistorydecoded  

The Truth About the “Black Irish” DNA Mystery…

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:28 The Black Irish Folklore & The Spanish
5:00 The Scottish Connection (Mull, Clan Maclean, Duart Castle, Tobermory Bay)
8:03 Spanish Ancestry in Irish DNA?
12:57 Is the Black Irish Story a Myth?

Have you ever heard someone described as “Black Irish”? The term conjures images of Irish people with an exotic hint of Spanish or Mediterranean ancestry. Yet it’s a phrase loaded with mystery, myth and ambiguity. So in this video, we’ll uncover the truth behind the “Black Irish” story – exploring where the term came from, the legends associated with it, and what modern DNA science tells us about Irish ancestry, as it pertains to the Black Irish.

Now the way people describe the Black Irish is slightly different depending on the source. In general however, it is used to describe Irish people or people of Irish descent who have darker features than you wouldn’t normally associate with Ireland. These are more Mediterranean or Spanish looking features, darker than the typical image of Irish people with fair-skin, red or light hair, and light-eyes. And the combination of this Spanish-looking ancestry and more typical Irish phenotypes often creates interesting combinations.

The most common look people refer to as being Black Irish is someone with jet-black hair (or very dark hair at least), and piercing blue eyes, although some describe people with dark eyes are well. But for the purposes of this video and how many people describe it today, I will define the Black Irish look as someone with extremely dark hair and vivid blue eyes.

But where does this story come from, how does it link to Spanish ancestry and even some Scottish clans, and what does genetic research say about it?

Sources:

Gilbert, E., O’Reilly, S., Merrigan, M. et al. The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland. Sci Rep 7, 17199 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17...

Who were the Black Irish, and what is their story?

Irish DNA originated in Middle East and eastern Europe | Genetics | The Guardian

The Black Irish - what are the truths and myths

San Juan de Sicilia - Wikipedia

A Very British Scandal: The real-life treasure hunt off Tobermory by Duke of Argyll

Busting myths of origin | Science

Black Irish (folklore) - Wikipedia

The Beaker people: a new population for ancient Britain - https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2...

Genetic studies show our closest relatives are found in Galicia and the Basque region – The Irish Times

Home - Duart Castle

Doyle Surname Meaning & Doyle Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®

Margaryan, A., Lawson, D. J., Sikora, M., Racimo, F., Rasmussen, S., Moltke, I., ... & Willerslev, E. (2020). Population genomics of the Viking world. Nature, 585(7825), 390–396. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-26...

Ancient European hunter-gatherer was a blue-eyed boy | New Scientist

Creative Commons Imagery:

Wojciech Pędzich, Robert Molyneaux File:Yamnaya phenotype, Reconstruction, male, grave Novooleksiivka; Ukraine.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons

Matteo De Stefano/MUSE File:Homo sapiens - Neolithic - reconstruction - MUSE.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons

SKIBLY101 File:DF13 EUROPE.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons

Detlef Gronenborn, Barbara Horejs, Börner, Ober File:Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600–4000 BCE.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons

Black Irish - Irish ancestry – Irish DNA – Dark Hair Blue Eyes – Spanish Armada – Duart Castle – Clan MacLean – Tobermory Bay – Clan MacDonald – Isle of Mull – Spanish Ship Mull - San Juan de Sicilia – Black Irish Myth Scotland – Irish Folklore - Milesians

#irishancestry #ancestry #dna