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People differ in their opinions on who the Black Irish are. If you have been told that you have Black Irish in your ancestry, it might not mean what you think it does.
Well, there have been a few discussion on this subject on this site, and my curiosity has been piqued. There does seem to be some controversy on the origins and meaning of this expression.
It seems that the fundamental meaning of "Black Irish" is simply anyone with Irish ancestry who has dark hair and eyes, as opposed to the more typical and paler complexion we associate with people from Ireland. But there are many differing opinions on the specifics of this "ethic group", if it even really exists as a common group at all.
Ironically, the term "Black Irish" isn't used in Ireland particularly. It's mostly seen in North America.
One tale is that the Black Irish are descendents of an armada of Spanish sailors who were shipwrecked in Ireland, in 1588. It's highly unlikely that this event would have the lasting ethnic impact that people seem to believe. Most of the Spanish sailors were killed in the shipwrecks, and many of those who survived were put to death as invaders. Afterwards, it was reported to the crown that only 100 survivors remained on Irish soil. Hardly enough to have any genetic impact on the population.
Another possible source for a Black Irish ethnic group, is the island of Montserrat. Many Irish were brought to the Caribbean island as servants, and their cultural impact is still seen there today.
Though some people insist that the Black Irish is a unique and particularly ethnic group, there are too many interpretations to really nail it down. Generally, the term applies to any dark-haired people of Irish descent, whether they are a mix of Irish/Spanish, Irish/Italian, Irish/Native American or any other racial blending.
There is a mailing list from Rootsweb that focuses specifically on this group of people, and their various backgrounds.
The copyright of the article Who are the Black Irish? in Genealogy is owned by Darlene Vaillancourt. Permission to republish Who are the Black Irish? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Feb 13, 2007 2:14 PM
Gent Rama :
We often described Irish origin as Spanish or indo-European people.
The truth is that Pellazgus were the only people to emigrate to the north
and form many clusters of their trunk.
After being defeated in Troy,
pelazgus who were originally living in territories of today's Greece,
Italy, Germany, Spain and France were famous for their art of the war.
It is proven that decent Greek came from Armenia and did find work as
secretaries among pelazgus. Armenians which are known as "gypsies of
Europe" were a people that made their living by travelling and caring
on their written language. They had developed their alphabet which did used
to write all famous ancient books. This clarifies the fact that the old
Greek does not have anything to do with the new Greek language. Also the
old Greek language is only the pellazgus written with Greek letters.
The only language which carries on the true pelazgus language is
Albanian. Albanians are the true pelazgus.
In ancient times, after
their defeate, the pelazgus Alban clan left their place headed to the north
and the became settlers in Russia (where around 300 villages carry on the
pelazgus language - similar with today's Albanian). The biggest group led
by king Alban captured the sea and found a free land in today's Ireland and
Scotland. Their instrument was the bagpipe (the only place in the world
used is Albania) and their traditional clothes was the skirt (fustanella)
used only in today's Albania. Pelazgus had their popular drink named Raki a
similar drink to Wiski but made by distilling grapes. No matter what others
claim, the origin of Irish and Scottish people is pelazgus or today's
Albanians.
Feb 26, 2007 7:54 PM
Robert Hayes :
hi, you may find this hard to belive but we have the proff. At least one
person left spain in the 11th century was in Ireland/Scotland with a new
name. I am related to this person my Grandfather was the last. The strange
part is he is the only son of a only son for over 11 generations and the
trail is proveable. How it got so blown out of perportion I do know. But
you will have to read the book. We are the Black Irish. And I hope to laugh
with you all the way to the bank.
Sep 14, 2007 4:52 AM
Eddie O´Brien :
I would like to know where oldirish got his information. I am a true
blackIrish, born and bred in Ireland. My genealogy is Irish as far back as
I can go. I´ve always been told that the true celts were always of dark
skin, hair and eyes and that we came from north Africa, true spain to
Ireland. The sterotype of red hair and freckles is a nordic trait that was
introduced by the Vikings. True BlackIrish are mainly found on the
southwest, south and southeast coastal areas of Ireland and NOT the north
or northwest, as is commenly belived. The southern coastal regions hold the
strongest genealogy BlackIrish due to the geography of the region. Small
coves and harbours where the first celts arrived were taken over by the
celts, as they traveled futher north the true genealogy was weakend and
again futher still by the Vikings. As to my claim to being BlackIrish, I
have skin that is darker then some of my coloured friends, I have cousins
with afro hiar, and my Uncle was born with Sickle Cell Anemia, most
commenly found in thoes with an African origan. As for BlackIrish in
America, I believe that the Irish Slaves in the carribean and the
interbreeding of Irish and Native American have simlpy muddied the waters
with any sallow skined person claiming Irish Heritage calling themselves
BlackIrish. This is not so!A true BlackIrish is Irish by birth and with no
interbreeding with other ethnic groups! Any comments on this will be
greatfully appreciated!
Nov 16, 2007 8:51 AM
Megan :
Hi Eddie - its a bit late now in the year for a reply -but your responce,
amongst many others i read on this topic intrigued me! Since the death of
my father in 2004 I have been investigating his ancestory. His fathers
linage is fairly readilly available and links for generatons back to
Gloucester & Wales etc. They are all fairly standard, fairish
-English/Welsh peoples etc. My father though had brown eyes, dark thick
wavey hair (like mine, though I am medium brown) and maintained a deep tan
even through winter -my ex for exmple thought he was Aboriginal when he
first met him, & that was in September, just before Spring in
Queensland, one of Australias hottest states! So I investigated his mothers
family and for generations on both sides they appeared to have lived around
Limerick etc., I have a pic of his mother with long dark hair draped over
her shoulder, she also had dark eyes. As Irish go this side was staunchly
Catholic esp, my fathers grandmother. When I visited Ireland in 2006 I
noted that Limerick and the Shannon, of course, had a port etc., No one in
my family have ever been remotely interested in my fathers obvious 'latin'
looks but now I am intrigued by all these Black Irish myths. My father did
on occasion explain such away by talking about the Spanish Amada, & I
have to say that the form of Catholicism influenced upon him was almost
archaic, apocalyptic & with visions of hell & damnation reminiscent
of the Spanish Inquisition! Further, his father was fairly estrainged from
his Protestant origins & family on the insistence of my fathers
grandmother once they married etc., My older brother, who like my
father is only around 165cm and one sister has tight -though blond- wirey
curly hair, I swear, she looks almost like an albino African, except she
has a ski jump nose! They have baby blue eyes -My other brother &
myself though have dark thick wavey hair & green eyes -another brother
is the only one with brown eyes that are a bit hazel. I also realise
that my surname Baker is often associated also with Gypsys in England, but
that side is fairly straight forward English. If I can I have posted a
photo of my father in his navy outfit looking like a Flamenco dancer next
to his paternal cousin, who has more rounded v English, hips & legs! Any ideas -do u suspect old Basque most likely or might the Amada
influence be possible? Here if it works, is a pic of my father
on the right. <a href="http://photobucket.com"
target="_blank"></a>
4 Comments
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