Black hair in northern Europe

[TheOldNorth]

Its common for northern irish too, most blondes in Ireland get their blondism from some amount of Norman, Norseman, English, or Lowland Scottish blood, as though blondism is not particularly common in say the Lowland scots either, its still far more common then the native amount in Ireland where I would say its exceedingly rare

[Septentrion]

where are noticable frequencies of very dark brown/black hair among northern Europeans ? I know Saami have a lot, but is there any data on the subject ?

Black hair as such is a rare in Northern Europe as a whole. There is no region in Northern Europe where black hair prevails.

[Septentrion]

Its common for northern irish too, most blondes in Ireland get their blondism from some amount of Norman, Norseman, English, or Lowland Scottish blood, as though blondism is not particularly common in say the Lowland scots either, its still far more common then the native amount in Ireland where I would say its exceedingly rare

It is not! There were also blonde Kelts. Not all the Vikings were blonde - haired, blue - eyed and fair - skinned! There is now scientific evidence showing that there were Vikings who were dark - haired and brown - eyed. So you are lying. Quite a few of the Beaker Folk were light - haired and light - eyed. This is way before there were even Germanic people in Scandinavia!

[Septentrion]

I think the UK may have more dark haired people than other countries at similar latitude (Belarus, Baltic states). Norway more than Sweden and Finland. I could be wrong though, it could be just a stereotype.

Yes, the United Kingdom has a higher frequency of darker - haired people than the Scandinavian countries, Finland and the Baltic States which are at similar latitude. At the same time, the United Kingdom has a higher frequency of paler - skinned, more freckly - complexioned, ginger - haired than countries at similar latitude. The higher frequency is in dark brown hair not black hair. For example Scotland has higher frequencies of dark brown hair than Latvia, but not black hair. In the Celtic Fringe, dark brown hair is most frequently combined with blue or light eyes much more so than anywhere else in Northern Europe and Europe as a whole.

[Rædwald]

Even when I lived in Norbotten, and visited Karesuando, I saw very few if any Saami with black hair.

[TheOldNorth]

It is not! There were also blonde Kelts. Not all the Vikings were blonde - haired, blue - eyed and fair - skinned! There is now scientific evidence showing that there were Vikings who were dark - haired and brown - eyed. So you are lying. Quite a few of the Beaker Folk were light - haired and light - eyed. This is way before there were even Germanic people in Scandinavia!

98886b4637f145ed4519eb20b2d42e43.png
As you can see here, the least blonde areas of Ireland are the Gaeltacht, the Gaelic speaking and their by least genetically and culturally impacted of the Irish, I'm not saying the Irish aren't naturally blonde, their mythology is evidence enough that they knew of blonde hair from an early date, I'm just saying it was rare before Germanic and French peoples came there

[Faklon]

I hear that the Dutch blackface meme started from some villages in Flanders, is it true?

[slaog]

98886b4637f145ed4519eb20b2d42e43.png
As you can see here, the least blonde areas of Ireland are the Gaeltacht, the Gaelic speaking and their by least genetically and culturally impacted of the Irish, I'm not saying the Irish aren't naturally blonde, their mythology is evidence enough that they knew of blonde hair from an early date, I'm just saying it was rare before Germanic and French peoples came there

These are Galway (west of ireland) women.
GALWAY-LADIES-V-WATERFORD.jpg
galway-1-2-1024x620.jpg

Not much difference then the rest of ireland.

Strange that you should say the ancient Irish knew of blond hair. As if it was exotic or something. You can get blond Spanish and dark hair Swedes. It's not black and white but a spectrum.

[Unknown European]

I am surprised that I can't seem to find any relevant data or studies about black hair in Northern Europe. There are studies about dark hair and brown hair but none about black hair.

[Grace O'Malley]

98886b4637f145ed4519eb20b2d42e43.png
As you can see here, the least blonde areas of Ireland are the Gaeltacht, the Gaelic speaking and their by least genetically and culturally impacted of the Irish, I'm not saying the Irish aren't naturally blonde, their mythology is evidence enough that they knew of blonde hair from an early date, I'm just saying it was rare before Germanic and French peoples came there

Those maps don't tie up with reality. Anyway just because people speak Irish language in those areas doesn't mean they are pure unadulterated Irish. Many people that speak Irish still have Norman or non-Irish surnames. Remember Vikings and Normans had already been assimilated into the Irish population by the time English was spoken. Anyway you should look up GAA teams from those areas and the majority of people are not dark.

Will post some pictures later as don't have time now.

Also Rathlin had light brown hair and the genes for blue eyes . Anyway it is obvious that Irish people didn't get their colouring from invaders.

slaog has already posted a couple of group pictures from Galway but it isn't difficult to find people with blond hair in Ireland. It's not like Scandinavia but it's baffling why someone would think blond hair is "exceedingly rare" in Ireland. Anyone would think the Irish are completely different genetically to their neighbours.

From Co Kerry.



Waterford



Limerick



Just adding I think natural black hair is rare. I think fair skin, blue eyes and black hair is quite a striking combo but it isn't something that is common in any population. Dark brown hair is of course much more common.