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I have talked about Irish genetics a lot in a previous thread, but the thread itself had little to do with Ireland, I figure I should make a new thread specifically for discussion of Irish genetics.
I want to start the thread by asking people who know more than me, why are Irish so different phenotypically from people from say countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Austria etc. do not try to deny, the Irish are a different looking people.
Also, I want there to be discussion about the Basque connection in this thread, as I am really curious about that. Check these:
http://rhesusnegative.com/celts-basques.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/sc...nted=all&_r=1&
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1256894.stm
http://hubpages.com/hub/Irish-Blood-Genetic-Identity
According to BBC and New York times the Irish are more closely related genetically to the Basques, than anyone else.
"Research into Irish DNA at the beginning of the twenty-first century suggests that the early inhabitants of Ireland were not directly descended from the Keltoi of central Europe. In fact, the closest genetic relatives of the Irish in Europe are to be found in the north of Spain in the region known as the Basque Country. These same ancestors are shared to an extent with the people of Britain - especially the Scottish."
Old Irish "myths" speak of a dark-skinned people who inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts, perhaps these people were Iberians? The Romans described the Iberians as dark-skinned, and they also identified the Welsh that way, and even thought the Welsh were descended from Iberians because of dark skin and curly hair. Red hair gene also supposedly comes from the old Iberians.
I just want to ask, genetically what are the Irish, really? It seems like the original Irish were related to old Iberians somehow, and thus related to todays Basques, but I mean modern Irish. How much of this old Iberian blood do modern Irish have? I have Irish ancestors who are pretty dark, so I am curious why there are dark Irish people - maybe these people just have more of that old Iberian blood in them?
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