Modern Irish are the population most genetically similar to the Bronze Age remains, followed by Scottish and Welsh, and share more DNA with the three Bronze Age men from Rathlin Island than with the earlier Ballynahatty Neolithic woman.
Who Are the Closest Genetic Relatives of the Irish? Today, people living in the north of Spain in the region known as the Basque Country share many DNA traits with the Irish. However, the Irish also share their DNA to a large extent with the people of Britain, especially the Scottish and Welsh.
For the most part, the Irish ethnicity is Gaelic, a group of ethnolinguistic Celtic families. However, the island was also influenced by Romans, as well as invaded by the Vikings, the English, and a Viking-English-French mixture called the Normans.
There is no definitive figure of the total number of Australians with an Irish background. At the 2021 Australian census, 2,410,833 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry.
United Kingdom: With around 500,000 people of Irish descent, the UK, Ireland's closest neighbor, is home to more people of Irish heritage than any country other than Ireland itself. Most live in Northern Island and surrounding British Isles. 2.
More than half the population of Ireland have blue eyes, according to a new study. That figure is higher than any other country on the Irish and British isles. The research was carried out in 2014 by ScotlandsDNA and also revealed that blue is the most common eye colour on the two islands.
The highest concentration of people with green eyes is found in Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe. In fact, in Ireland and Scotland, more than three-fourths of the population has blue or green eyes – 86 percent!
The Irish have Viking and Norman ancestry in similar proportions to the English. A comprehensive DNA map of the Irish has for the first time revealed lasting contributions from British, Scandinavian, and French invasions.
By examining the remaining genetic information, we have shown that there is indeed a small but noticeable legacy of Viking influence in Ireland.” The researchers also looked at Irish genetics in the context of Britain and found additional signals of migration between the two islands.
In Mid-Ulster, about 1 in 150 people carry a genetic mutation to the AIP gene that leads to an overproduction of growth hormone resulting in acromegaly, also known as gigantism. The hormone disorder is spurred by a tumor on the pituitary gland, a pea-sized organ at the base of the brain.
While people from Ireland, Britain, or Scotland tend to be genetically similar, genetic clusters show that even within countries, there are distinct regional differences, and this update captures some of that.
Other traits far more prevalent among people of Celtic ancestry include lactase persistence and red hair, with 46% of Irish and at least 36% of Highland Scots being carriers of red-head variants of the MC1R gene, possibly an adaptation to the cloudy weather of the areas where they live.
Compared to people in the rest of Europe, Irish people have higher rates of cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, and galactosemia, a metabolic disorder that prevents the breakdown of sugars in dairy, legumes and organ meats.
Most people living in Ireland have fair skin (i.e. skin type 1 or 2) which burns easily and tans poorly, so are particularly vulnerable to UV damage and skin cancer. A person's skin type is genetically determined and does not change or vary, based on level of tanning.
Ireland has many unique geographical features. Some of the major features include its mountains, lowland peat bogs, rivers, and peninsulas.
Now you know what is the most common hair colour in the world, but what about the rarest? The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland.
As with any population, Irish people have a natural range of hair colors that are determined by genetics. In general, Irish people tend to have a range of natural hair colors that vary from dark brown to blonde, with shades of red and strawberry blonde being the most prevalent.
The largest concentration of green eyed people is in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Europe. In Ireland and Scotland, 86% of people have either blue or green eyes. There have been 16 genes identified that contribute to eye colour.
Irish migrants accounted for one-quarter of Australia's overseas-born population in 1871. Irish migration was influenced by the politics of colonial immigration which tended to favour those born in England and Scotland. Fluctuations in the economies of Australia and of other prospective destinations also had an effect.
Sydney, Melbourne and Perth – largest Irish-born populations.
1 in 4 US adults have Irish ancestors or relatives. That's 25.75% of the adult population of the USA, equating to over 52 million people. 8.23% of US adults suspect they have Irish heritage, that's around 1 in every 12 people.