:smack: I’ve come on to comment on the black Irish. Being of such, I was a little off set by the answer given in the archive. But I haven’t been able to comment there. Honestly though the answer was basically correct, yet lacks cultural insight. So I thought one might like to it know from the horse’s mouth. :dubious:
Black Irish are thought to be a mystery, not because no one knows who they are. Its because no one nows how they came to be. 
Right… Its best if I gave you an example:
My father Is blond w/gray eyes so is, or I suppose was, my late uncles Tom & John as well my healthy aunt Linda, but as for my self and my dear uncle William we are both black Irish. As in the eyes and hair are very dark jet as a matter of fact. The mystery or sinister implication :mad: is in reference to the fact that both your parents have blond/red/brn hair with blue/green/gray eyes as well as your siblings. Yet you some how turned up with Jet black hair and dark brown eyes. I’ve often wondered my self: “How??”. Being that I have a sister who looks almost just like me except her hair & eyes. I do somewhat remember my father say something about my mother having a Crush on dear uncle Bill so… :eek: Who knows… But That’s the Black Irish for ya.
Current Wikipedia article on the term “Black Irish.”
Bdijack, welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board! Pull up a chair, sit a spell, have a look around, but don’t, DON’T mention goats, sheep, treadmills, or other such animals. You’ve been warned.
We like to put a link to the article you are referencing in the first post of a thread, so that everyone knows for sure which article is being discussed. It’s a simple as cutting and pasting the web address in your browser menu bar. In this case, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a930730.html would be the article you are discussing, I believe.
I’m curious about this kind of thing myself. I was taught that dark hair and eyes are a “dominant” genetic trait, and that dominant traits are expressed if the gene is received from either parent. Logically, then, it seems a person can’t express a dominant trait if neither parent expresses it.
But I think this is one of those cases where I’ve been handed an oversimplification. Obviously, most traits don’t fall into a clear dominant/recessive relationship. Also, traits encoded by one gene can be affected by other genes, and I’ve read recently that chemical markers and so-called “non-encoding” DNA might play a much bigger role in gene expression than was imagined when I was in school.
Bottom line, I gather even so-called “dominant” traits (or perhaps less inheritable traits that look similar to truly dominant traits) can turn up after hiding for several generations. My Mom raised African violets, and she regularly cloned a whole batch of plants from a single leaf. (You can do that with violets.) Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention, but I recall that even among clones, a “sport” would sometimes turn up showing different traits than its parent or siblings, but similar to an ancestor.
If I had time to pursue this myself, I’d start here: Wikipedia: Genetics.
Actually Cecil is quite right that the Spanish Armada thing invading Ireland is a myth. Wikipedia can explain this more fully if you’re interested. Kinda cool bit of history. Being Blk irish myself :smack: (oops - I mean a black-haired, green-eyed descendent of the Irish) I found this quite informative.
Well… Brother… Pleased to meet another :rolleyes: … May I ask where is the land of your father??.. We r fr cork of the crest of Maher…
& what do u mean “actually” :dubious: no one was in disagreement. Yes the Spanish thing is one of the most redonkculous :smack: things to grace my eyes, second only to the idea that we share a lineage w/the Italians {>!<}in the Romans… But, indeed I submit; :o “Black Irish include people of light colored eyes”. Pls forgive(just none in my family) 
Black Irish - Wikipedia