Just who are the Irish, anyway?

[Dughlas mor]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...mepage%2Fstory

I thought this article was interesting, and sums up pretty well the current thinking on the subject. Somehow, I am reminded of a Mark Twain quote, something like "Experts are looking into the subject and it is thought that soon nothing will be known about it at all." Happy St. Patrick`s Day!

[O'Callaghan]

Milidh (Milesius) came from Spain, according to legend. I see no reason to disbelieve that.

[Dughlas mor]

Milidh (Milesius) came from Spain, according to legend. I see no reason to disbelieve that.

Yes, it seems that the current research would lend more credence to the legend, but perhaps they arrived in Ireland a bit earlier than was previously thought to be the case.

[Reiver]

The latest research into migrations supports this...or it supports the latest theories.

That the Q and P Celt language and peoples came from the European continent south of England migrating northward thru England, Ireland, Scotland.

This is supported by numerous recent DNA studies and language names of places common to travel with migratory peoples.

This 'new' study indicate the Scots were not from Irish Island roots and the similarities in language simply indicated a normal trade 'language' to enhance commerce. It is easier to cross to Ireland than cross the terrain in many Scots areas...especially in that day of no roads and the hazards of being robbed of trade goods.
Try Ewan Campbell...."Were the Scots Irish" 2001 Antiquity 75 pp. 285-92

[GrainReaper]

My mothers side of the tree is Irish, traced back to around 940... There are a good number of olive skinned family members, with a constant hint of Mediterranean features that crop up quite often in old pics and texts. An interesting bag, ancestry is

[Reiver]

Yes, a literal mixed bag.

The old Irish invasion theory taken at face value for decades is of interest too.

Some conjecture, by those that support the non invasion thesis, contend that Scots (in the 10-1100's) claimed Irish roots at the same time claiming 'royal' Irish roots to underline a claim to specific thrones or to simply advance title.

Now, would a Scot BS for advantage.....say it ain't so.

[Michael Weatherhead]

In the book "The Story of the Irish Race," by Seamus MacManus, he tells the story of young Egyptian girl, who was the daughter of a pharoah. She was brought to Ireland (I don't remember how it supposedly happened), but she married a young ancient Irish noble. I'll have to go back, and get the facts straight.

[TheMcManus]

My mothers side of the tree is Irish, traced back to around 940... There are a good number of olive skinned family members, with a constant hint of Mediterranean features that crop up quite often in old pics and texts. An interesting bag, ancestry is

The Melisian Celts would not have been any more olive skinned and mediterranean looking than the celts of Galatia today, or the Indo Aryan tribes that they came from.
Maybe you have Greek or something in the family.

[GrainReaper]

The Melisian Celts would not have been any more olive skinned and mediterranean looking than the celts of Galatia today, or the Indo Aryan tribes that they came from.
Maybe you have Greek or something in the family.

Oddly enough DNA results have come back, Greek/Mediterranean is there, as well as Spanish, Welsh, French, Russian..... Really a sieved together mix of all of Europe.