Irish people

Irish ethnicity is common in many countries. Many people are descended from Irish emigrants.

Descent

On the island of Ireland, most people consider themselves to be descended from a mixture of three broad groups: the nameless, prehistoric indigenous people(s) of the isles; the successive waves from continental Europe who arrived in the centuries BC (incorrectly referred to as the Gael); and subsequent groups (Vikings, Normans, English and Lowland Scots) who either invaded or settled Ireland from the Middle Ages onwards.

Related Topics:
Indigenous - Europe - BC - Gael - Vikings - Normans - English - Lowland Scots - Middle Ages

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The names the ancient peoples of Ireland (creators of the Ceide Fields and Newgrange) used for themselves are not known, nor are their language(s). As late as the middle centuries of the first millennium AD the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names – Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders; Hibernia to the Romans; Ierne to the Greeks.

Related Topics:
Newgrange - AD - Banba - Fódla - Ériu - Hibernia

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Likewise, the terms for people from Ireland – all from Roman sources – in the late Roman era were varied. They included Attacotti, Scoti, and Gael. This last word, derived from the Welsh gwyddell (meaning raiders), was eventually adopted by the Irish for themselves. However as a term it is on a par with Viking, as it describes an activity (raiding, piracy) and its proponents, not their actual ethnic affiliations.

Related Topics:
Roman - Attacotti - Scoti - Gael - Viking

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The term Irish and Ireland is derived from the Erainn or Iverni, a people who once lived in what is now central and south Munster. Possibly their proximity to overseas trade with western Britain, Gaul and Hispania led to the name of this one people to be applied to the whole island and its inhabitants.

Related Topics:
Iverni - Munster

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As may be perceived from the above, there was much ethnic diversity according to the historical inhabitants of Ireland. Or at the very least they perceived the situation as such. They included the Airgialla, Fir Ol nEchmacht, Delbhna, Fir Bolg, Érainn, Éoganacht, Mairtine, Conmaicne, Soghain and Ulaid. However, as the earliest Irish records demonstrate that they all shared a collective language and culture, in most cases these divisions may have being more apparent than real. Doubtless in many cases the divisions were of a purely dynastic or political dynamic.

Related Topics:
Airgialla - Fir Ol nEchmacht - Delbhna - Fir Bolg - Érainn - Éoganacht - Conmaicne - Soghain - Ulaid

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The shared language and culture of these peoples is one that can be placed within the realm of the Celtic/Indo-European peoples. Yet intriguingly, recent Y-chromosome (male descent) DNA studies have shown that most Irish people (in addition to the Welsh, some Scots and English) are close genetic relatives of the Basque people, setting them all apart from most European peoples (mtDNA, or female descent shows their maternal ancestors to be of broad north European origin). No fully satisfactory explanation for this apparent contradiction between ethnic origins on the one hand, and language/culture on the other, has yet been put forth.

Related Topics:
Celtic - Indo-European - Basque people

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The Vikings were mainly Danes and Norwegians and despite their notorious reputation in Irish history, did not settle in particularly large numbers nor did they significantly alter the Irish polity. The arrival of the Normans brought Welsh, Flemish, Normans, Anglo-Saxons and Bretons, many of whom suffered the same fate as the Vikings, being assimilated in great numbers into Irish culture and polity by the 15th century. The late medieval era saw Scots gallowglass families of mixed Scots-Norse-Pict descent settle, mainly in the north; due to similarities of language and culture they too were assimilated. The Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century introduced great numbers of Scots, English as well as French Huguenots. Despite these divergent backgrounds most of their descendants consider themselves Irish first and last – even where they are aware of such ancestry – mainly due to their lengthy presence in Ireland. Historically, religion has played a more divisive role than ethnicity.

Related Topics:
Vikings - Danes - Norwegians - Normans - Welsh - Flemish - Anglo-Saxons - Bretons - Gallowglass - Pict - Plantation of Ulster - French - Huguenot

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It is thought that the majority of the Irish population is descended from the initial settlers who arrived after the end of the last Ice Age.

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