Black Irish

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I am an American with family history of a great deal of Irish ancestry on both sides of my family. There is a swarthy look to many people of my family on both sides. I took an autosomal DNA test through DNAtribes expecting to find Irish as my strongest match. My results came up with very strong hits in various regions of Spain (especially with Basque Country) and also Italy, but only a very weak Ireland match. I am now hypothesizing that my Irish ancestry was likely from people in one or more of the western Ireland port towns that had a great deal of “contact” and “trade” with Spaniards and Basques. Does this sound reasonable based upon known history?

Also, I have heard the term “Black Irish” and “Black Dutch” used for various family members. …maybe there is a connection there

2

Welcome to the SDMB, Dave.

A link to the column you’re commenting on is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: Who are the “black Irish”? - The Straight Dope

3

sorry…
I should also note that come to find out… I actually do have Basque and Italian ancestry down the line, and less Irish than I once thought. oops…

This makes my prior post moot :smack:

4

How did you come to take the autosomal DNA test? That sounds like something I’d like to do…

5

I used two companies over the past few years…
dnatribes.com and 23andme.com

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Since this is already discussed elsewhere, I’m closing this thread. For discussion, go here: The Black Dutch and Black Irish - Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports - Straight Dope Message Board