There are a number of different claims as to the origin of the term, none of which are possible to entirely prove or disprove. The term is commonly used to describe people of Irish origin who have dark features, black hair, a dark complexion and dark eyes.
In Gaelic, the Irish native language, the word for black (or dark) is 'dubh', and foreigner is 'gall'. With this, Irish people and families began to associate with the collective surname of O'Dubhghaill. In fact, O'Dubhghaill is the Gaelic version of the very popular Irish surname O'Doyle.
The term “black Irish” refers to persons of Irish descent who are supposed to be descendants of the Spanish Armada, which sailed around the middle of the 15th century, and had dark hair and or eyes. The term is used among people of Irish descent and sometimes confuses people since it doesn't refer to dark skin color.
Some "Black Irish" are of Irish-African descent, tracing their ancestry back to the slave trade. Many of these people live on Barbados and Montserrat. Some readers, writing below, with typical Black Irish coloring have had genetic testing done to confirm that they have Spanish, Portuguese, and Canary Island heritage.
Hunter gatherer population inhabited Ireland before being replaced by early farmers. Prehistoric Irish people were dark skinned and had blue eyes, a new documentary claims. The hunter gather population that lived in Ireland 10,000 years ago do not have any of the pigmentation profiles associated with light skin.
Prehistoric Irish people were dark-skinned and had blue eyes, an Irish documentary claims. People who inhabited Ireland some 10,000 years ago had dark or black skin and bright blue eyes, geneticist Dr. Lara Cassidy reveals in the 2021 Irish documentary "The Burren: Heart of Stone."
Another theory of the origin of the term "Black Irish" is that these people were descendants of Spanish traders who settled in Ireland and even descendants of the few Spanish sailors who were washed up on the west coast of Ireland after the disaster of the Spanish Armada of 1588.
They were also found to have most similarity to two main ancestral sources: a 'French' component (mostly northwestern French) which reached highest levels in the Irish and other Celtic populations (Welsh, Highland Scots and Cornish) and showing a possible link to the Bretons; and a 'West Norwegian' component related to ...
From as far back as the 16th century, historians taught that the Irish are the descendants of the Celts, an Iron Age people who originated in the middle of Europe and invaded Ireland somewhere between 1000 B.C. and 500 B.C. That story has inspired innumerable references linking the Irish with Celtic culture.
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.
Obama's maternal roots have been traced back to Moneygall in County Offaly, Ireland in the 19th century. Moneygall has a population of 298 people.
Celtic people. The Irish are an ethnic group who come from or came from the island of Ireland. There are two countries on the island of Ireland: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Historically, the Irish have been primarily a Celtic people.
Black Irish is a whiskey spirit drink at its darkest. Triple distilled Irish whiskey aged in deep-charred American oak barrels meets black Irish stout, dark chocolate malt, roasted barley and spice. The result is an unmistakably smooth whiskey enchanted with heady notes of coffee, bitter chocolate and spice.
Black is a surname which can be of either English, Scottish, Irish or French origin. In the cases of non-English origin, the surname is likely to be an Anglicisation.
In Ireland, when we say the Black Stuff - we are referring to that wonderful black Irish stout - Guinness. It represents wholesomeness, honesty, hard work and heritage.
Currently, Ireland has a majority of “White Irish,” as 94.1% of the population. There are other sizable populations of Black citizens from African countries, such as Nigeria and Mauritius, plus Asian citizens with the majority from China, India, and some from Hong Kong.
The biggest horse racing event that takes place in Ireland is the Punchestown Festival. It is a five-day festival that takes place at the end of April each year at the Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare.
Members of the ancient Irish elite practiced first-degree incest, archaeologists and geneticists analyzing genetic material from a series of Neolithic tombs have discovered.
Irish ethnicity developed from multiple groups such as the Gaelic Celts and the Anglo-Normans, which included the English, the Vikings, and the French.
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.
A male's surname generally takes the form Ó/Ua (meaning "grandson/descendant of") or Mac ("son/descendant of") followed by the genitive case of a name, as in Ó Dónaill ("grandson/descendant of Dónall") or Mac Siúrtáin ("son/descendant of Jordan").
The earliest confirmed inhabitants of Ireland were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, who arrived sometime around 7900 BC.
But not all Irish citizens are Catholic. Some are Protestant. While the Irish Catholic tradition is associated with the color green, Protestants associate with the color orange because of William of Orange, the Protestant king who overthrew Roman Catholic King James the second in the Glorious Revolution.