Welsh people: Who overlaps with them?

[brunette]

Irish i'd say, because of the Celts.

[Treffie]

A significant portion of the Welsh are mixed with the other British Islanders obviously, but as someone who lives in Wessex and has on many occassion been to 'Wales' to vist family, the Welsh definately have the look of the spanish and Basques, Think Catherine Zeta Jones, Tom Jones, Gavin Henson and Kelly Jones (Sterophonics). The Welsh are also the shortest people on average in the UK, the English being the tallest.

The Health Survey for England 2008 puts the English male average between 1.753m and 1.776m which is exactly the same for the Welsh (1.770m)

[Siegfried]

Last time I checked, the Scotsmen were the tallest. Either way, I watched a rugby game the other day (Wales vs. France) and the Welsh audience looked like it could fit anywhere in the British Isles, some even in Germanic countries and some in France. Their "Iberian-ness" is rather exaggerated from what I saw.

[GeistFaust]

The Welsh just fit in with other British Islanders, especially Western English people, Southwestern/Western Scottish people, and Irish people.


I just think its ridiculous how people try to make claims between British Islanders and Iberians, because there is no immediate connection.


Also the only connection British Islanders have with Central/Northern Europe is via the Anglo-Saxons/Norse, which is only part of the story, and a small part for the Welsh.

[Caismeachd]

"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."

http://killarney-ireland.info/geneal...genealogy.html

[Sikeliot]

Icelanders surprises me as an option for this.

[Caismeachd]

Well you have the Faroe Islanders who are a mix of half Scottish half Norwegian (and geographically between Iceland, Scotland and Norway) so it's a possibility, but the migrations didn't happen that way.

[Sikeliot]

I'm just curious how someone picked Spanish but not Portuguese.

[Septentrion]

The Cornish, Irish, western Scots, Bretons and some Western French.

[Sikeliot]

Spanish often can resemble the Welsh.