Tema: The Irish – more Spanish than Celtic?

Cousins?

The Irish – more Spanish than Celtic?

by starling on December 29, 2006


Scientists have concluded that the Celts did not invade Ireland en masse, nor did they replace an earlier group.

Despite the widely held belief that the Irish are descended from Celts who invaded Ireland about 2,500 years ago, a 2004 genetic research study at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) appears to argue against it.


The Celtic cultural heritage in Ireland is prolific and informs the common perceptions and beliefs about the national identity and its origins. From traditional cultural sources in language, legend and literature the Celtic influence is strong and can also be found in contemporary culture such as Enya and the Afro Celt Sound System. The research however suggests that our blood if not also some (at least) of our culture can or should be attributed to wider origins: Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia and North Africa.

The study, conducted by Dr. Dan Bradley and Brian McEvoy, a Ph.D student conducted this genetic study with the support of the Irish government to determine “whether there was a large incursion by Celtic people 2,500 years ago” as is widely believed.

The scientists compared the DNA samples of 200 volunteers from around Ireland with a genetic database of 8,500 individuals from around Europe. (The Celts came from Central Europe stretching as far as Hungary).

They found that the Irish samples matched those around Britain and the Pyrenees in Spain. There were some matches in Scandinavia and parts of North Africa.

The scientists concluded that ‘the Irish’ genetic makeup stems from the onset of an ice-age around 15,000 years ago that forced prehistoric man back into Spain, Italy and Greece, which were still fairly temperate. When the ice started melting again around 12,000 years ago, people followed the retreating ice northwards as areas became hospitable again.

The TCD study produced a map of Europe with contours linking places that are genetically similar. One contour goes around the edge of the Atlantic touching Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and includes Galicia in Spain as well as the Basque region.

Some archaeologists also doubt that there was a Celtic invasion because few of their artifacts have been found in Ireland.

“The primary genetic legacy of Ireland seems to have come from people from Spain and Portugal after the last ice age.â€� said McEvoy. “They seem to have come up along the coast through Western Europe and arrived in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It’s not due to something that happened 2,500 years ago with Celts.â€� We have a much older genetic legacy.

The findings are published in The American Journal of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago.

Does this finally help explain the ‘dark Irish’ phenomenon?

[SOURCE]

Iniciado por Erasmus

Cousins?



[SOURCE]

Poor Nationalist Galicians, their project has been turned upside down...

Truly the Irish and Hispanic peoples share a common ancestry! I hope you enjoy this fascinating series of videos from Pat Flannery that examines the cultural, economic, and spiritual links between these two great peoples that have together contributed so much to Western Catholic Civilization.





Sanctissima Unio Catholica de Hibernia-Hispania | Facebook

Society for Irish Latin American Studies (SILAS)

You know, if the REAL Milesian were to surf these web pages, he might invoke copyright

Iniciado por Alejandro O'Reilly

You know, if the REAL Milesian were to surf these web pages, he might invoke copyright

I think you will be interested in this information about Alejandro O'Reilly. Here is the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_O%27Reilly

Iniciado por Tamakun

I think you will be interested in this information about Alejandro O'Reilly. Here is the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_O%27Reilly

Yes, he had an impressive career indeed,
Thanks for the link.

Iniciado por Alejandro O'Reilly

You know, if the REAL Milesian were to surf these web pages, he might invoke copyright

My apologies for the oversight. I was so fascinated by the content of the sites and so eager to post them on this forum that I didn't study the copyright rules. No malice or disrespect was intended. For future postings from these or other sites I will be sure to invoke copyright.

Erin go Bragh & Viva la Hispanidad

Iniciado por Milesian

My apologies for the oversight. I was so fascinated by the content of the sites and so eager to post them on this forum that I didn't study the copyright rules. No malice or disrespect was intended. For future postings from these or other sites I will be sure to invoke copyright.

Erin go Bragh & Viva la Hispanidad

Hehe, no harm done. Just my strange sense of humour

No worries Alejandro! My cousins in Galway, County Clare and Boston have a very similar sense of humor

wow this is amazing!, now I now why there are so many similar things between the north of Spain and Irish and even Scotish, are we all from the same family? LOL

There is unquestionably a connection!
Below are images of Irish and Irish-Americans who could easily pass as Northern Spanish or Portuguese.

This is a very interesting article about the Irish Captain Johnny O’Brien, and his great contribution to the Cuba War of Independence. I was aware of those expeditions, but didn’t know that an Irish Captain was in command of the expeditionary ships.

John Dynamite: Marine Mambí [1]

By José Antonio Quintana García

Translated by David Barnwell

As is known, one of the reasons for the failure of Cuba’s Ten Years’ War against the Spanish colonial power (1868-1878) was the small number of expeditions to land on the Cuban coast with military supplies for the Liberation Army. The Cuban revolutionary leadership in exile was aware of this, and from 24 February 1895, the date on which the independence struggle broke out for a second time, it assigned priority to the task of importing supplies for the revolutionary forces. Efforts were concentrated in the United States and came mainly from among the tobacco workers, though other elements of the Cuban émigre population were involved to a lesser extent. To make the enterprise more effective, an Expeditionary Department was created, with a constitution approved on 2 August 1896. Colonel Emilio Núñez was placed at its head.

Link: http://www.irlandeses.org/0711quintana1.htm

Well, I think there's another question on this matter that needs an answer of anthropology (Valmadian, I don't really know if you have already addressed this subject here in the forum, forgive me if you did). That question is: were the ancient celts so much pale, blond or read headed, as it's commonly said?

Even if they were at the start, I believe that after such a long journey of migration, conquest and settlement, that the celts had probably been through a big deal of morphology changes, apart from the more natural cultural changes. I also believe that the celts of Bretagne could be rather different than the celts from Ireland, for instance.

According to my knowledge of history, no significant iberian presence ever took place in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, from where all of my known ancestors were; and yet, I'm as blond as the dark night, as a vast majority of modern galicians and portuguese are. Even considering that the genes responsible for clear eyes and hair are recessive, nothing explains such lack of supposed celtic influence in these peoples modern look... and the same goes for Eire...