Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Check Out Manta Sleep: bit.ly/4d464jo and use the code HISTORY at checkout to get 10% off your order.
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Watch Next: English DNA: What is the Genetic History of England? youtube.com/watch?v=Cap6R0fXDY4&t=1s
Irish DNA: What is the Genetic History & Makeup of Ireland?
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:26 Early Irish Genetics
2:36 Bell Beakers, Language, & Eye Colour
4:35 Manta Sleep
5:45 The Celtic Disease and Milk
6:36 Ancient Celts
7:44 Vikings
8:38 Normans
9:02 Plantations & Links with Scotland
9:58 Modern Genetic Makeup of Ireland & Haplogroups
What is the genetic history of Ireland and what is the genetic makeup of the modern Irish population? Now the Irish word for Ireland is Éire, which is thought to derive from Ériu, who is a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology. Although the etymology of the word Ériu is disputed, it could ultimately descend from the Proto-Indo-European term *piHwerjon - (meaning "fertile land" or "abundant land"). What we do know is that Irish is an Indo-European language, similar to various other languages across Eurasia.
But what about Ireland’s genetic history? Well this is what Ireland would have looked like around 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. Now once the ice melted, the ancient genetic history of Ireland is similar to other western European countries. It was a fusion of early Western Hunter Gatherers who started moving into the land after the ice melted, then Early European Farmers from around Anatolia, and then steppe ancestry introduced during the Bronze Age and associated with the Pontic-Caspian steppe and the Yamnaya culture.
A really interesting study that looked at the early genetics of Ireland is worth noting in a little detail as it had various fascinating insights. It was published in PNAS in 2015 and it analysed one Neolithic woman that lived just over 3,000 BC and was found near modern Belfast, and three Bronze Age men from Rathlin Island which sits just north of Ireland, and who lived between around 2000–1500 BC.
Sources:
Lara M. Cassidy, Rui Martiniano, Eileen M. Murphy, +3, and Daniel G. Bradley - Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome | PNAS - December 28, 2015 113 (2) 368-373
Where does the name Ireland come from? (irishcentral.com)
Gilbert, E., O’Reilly, S., Merrigan, M. et al. The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland. Sci Rep 7, 17199 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17124-4
Irish DNA originated in Middle East and eastern Europe | Genetics | The Guardian
Reading the Past in Ancient Irish Genomes (youtube.com)
Top 5 Irish Ancestry Surprises All Irish Should Know (crigenetics.com)
Unique study provides the first genetic map of the people of Ireland - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (rcsi.com)
Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T. et al. Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Nature 601, 588–594 (2022). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4
More Detail for British and Irish Ancestry - 23andMe Blog
Haplogroup I1 (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
Haplogroup R-L21 - Wikipedia
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
Haemochromatosis - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Irish people - Wikipedia
Genetic history of the British Isles - Eupedia
Iron overload - Wikipedia
Milk fueled Bronze Age expansion of ‘eastern cowboys’ into Europe | Science | AAAS
Plantations of Ireland - Wikipedia
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
I1 - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_I1_Y-DNA.shtml
mtDNA H - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_H_mtDNA.shtml
mtDNA U5 - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_U5_mtDNA.shtml
Creative Commons Imagery:
TobyEditor File:Shrewton Beaker Burial.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Krakkos File:Bell Beaker culture.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Dageno File:Pair of gold discs. Bronze Age. Discovered Tydavnet, County Monaghan, Ireland.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Tim Cornbill File:Cillian Murphy-2014.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
Christine Ring File:Outlander premiere episode screening at 92nd Street Y in New York OLNY 091 (14851934923) crop.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
#ireland #ancestry #history
Check Out Manta Sleep: bit.ly/4d464jo and use the code HISTORY at checkout to get 10% off your order.
Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded: youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1
Watch Next: English DNA: What is the Genetic History of England? youtube.com/watch?v=Cap6R0fXDY4&t=1s
Irish DNA: What is the Genetic History & Makeup of Ireland?
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:26 Early Irish Genetics
2:36 Bell Beakers, Language, & Eye Colour
4:35 Manta Sleep
5:45 The Celtic Disease and Milk
6:36 Ancient Celts
7:44 Vikings
8:38 Normans
9:02 Plantations & Links with Scotland
9:58 Modern Genetic Makeup of Ireland & Haplogroups
What is the genetic history of Ireland and what is the genetic makeup of the modern Irish population? Now the Irish word for Ireland is Éire, which is thought to derive from Ériu, who is a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology. Although the etymology of the word Ériu is disputed, it could ultimately descend from the Proto-Indo-European term *piHwerjon - (meaning "fertile land" or "abundant land"). What we do know is that Irish is an Indo-European language, similar to various other languages across Eurasia.
But what about Ireland’s genetic history? Well this is what Ireland would have looked like around 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. Now once the ice melted, the ancient genetic history of Ireland is similar to other western European countries. It was a fusion of early Western Hunter Gatherers who started moving into the land after the ice melted, then Early European Farmers from around Anatolia, and then steppe ancestry introduced during the Bronze Age and associated with the Pontic-Caspian steppe and the Yamnaya culture.
A really interesting study that looked at the early genetics of Ireland is worth noting in a little detail as it had various fascinating insights. It was published in PNAS in 2015 and it analysed one Neolithic woman that lived just over 3,000 BC and was found near modern Belfast, and three Bronze Age men from Rathlin Island which sits just north of Ireland, and who lived between around 2000–1500 BC.
Sources:
Lara M. Cassidy, Rui Martiniano, Eileen M. Murphy, +3, and Daniel G. Bradley - Neolithic and Bronze Age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome | PNAS - December 28, 2015 113 (2) 368-373
Where does the name Ireland come from? (irishcentral.com)
Gilbert, E., O’Reilly, S., Merrigan, M. et al. The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland. Sci Rep 7, 17199 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17124-4
Irish DNA originated in Middle East and eastern Europe | Genetics | The Guardian
Reading the Past in Ancient Irish Genomes (youtube.com)
Top 5 Irish Ancestry Surprises All Irish Should Know (crigenetics.com)
Unique study provides the first genetic map of the people of Ireland - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (rcsi.com)
Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T. et al. Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Nature 601, 588–594 (2022). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4
More Detail for British and Irish Ancestry - 23andMe Blog
Haplogroup I1 (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
Haplogroup R-L21 - Wikipedia
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
Haemochromatosis - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Irish people - Wikipedia
Genetic history of the British Isles - Eupedia
Iron overload - Wikipedia
Milk fueled Bronze Age expansion of ‘eastern cowboys’ into Europe | Science | AAAS
Plantations of Ireland - Wikipedia
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) - Eupedia
I1 - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_I1_Y-DNA.shtml
mtDNA H - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_H_mtDNA.shtml
mtDNA U5 - eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_U5_mtDNA.shtml
Creative Commons Imagery:
TobyEditor File:Shrewton Beaker Burial.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Krakkos File:Bell Beaker culture.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Dageno File:Pair of gold discs. Bronze Age. Discovered Tydavnet, County Monaghan, Ireland.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons
Tim Cornbill File:Cillian Murphy-2014.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
Christine Ring File:Outlander premiere episode screening at 92nd Street Y in New York OLNY 091 (14851934923) crop.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
#ireland #ancestry #history
