For many years, I have examined the possibility of Basque ancestry among the Black Irish. When the Yamnaya invaded the Basques, they pretty much replaced the previous y-DNA gene pool with their then previously absent R1b. Could it be that some of them took their new families to Ireland or that some of their offspring migrated there? Similar to the Vikings bringing Celtic women and their offspring to southern Scandinavia? Basques tend to have dark hair and pale skin. As of 2016, 10,100 Irish nationals of African descent referred to themselves as “Black Irish” in the national census. The term “Black Irish” is sometimes used outside Ireland to refer to Irish people with black hair and dark eyes. One theory … Continue reading Do the Black Irish have Basque ancestry?