Milesians Not Irish Founders

We have been taught for a few generations that the Irish descend from the Celts. The King of one wave of Celts was Milesius. Milesius is the most famous Celt in legend I think. Some call him the founder of the Irish people - but it looks like it is mostly a fanciful story.

First Irish Families

DNA studies are now telling us that Ireland was settled centuries earlier than thought. It was not first settled by the Celts of legend.

Ice Age Survivors

It was actually those who survived the last
ice age about 10,000 years ago, holding out
in northwest Spain. As things warmed up,
they found their way to Ireland.
In fact, the closest DNA match with the
Irish in all Europe is with the Basque.
Take a look at the film 'Blood of the Irish'
and you'll become a believer.

How They Got Here

Current theory is that they came by boat
to Ireland, which was settled much later
than Britain, which was connected by
land to the continent. They did not come
from Scotland, but from Basque country.
So, at least they came from around Spain like
some of the Milesian legends speak of.

Our New Ancestors

We still have to double check all the findings
but it seems pretty convincing. The Irish and
the Basque are brothers, so to speak. As far
as we can see, our earliest ancestors were
the Basque people. So there is the point to
start your genealogy in Ireland !

Books

If you want to see some of the legend that
came from the story of the Celts and
Milesius there is a book. It is titled
Families of Ireland' that I published
several years ago.
 
Book of Invasions
If you want to see a real classic, take a
look at the 'Book of Invasions', one of our
oldest written stories about who settled
Ireland. This book gives that the Irish
originally came from Spain. This is the
ancient book that O'Donnell took to the
court of Spain, trying to strengthen the
ties between the two countries. Looks
like there was some truth there.....
 
All of this should make doing current
day research on your Irish family history
seem a lot easier....
Just remember, Every Day is a holiday....
 
 
-Mike O'Laughlin
 
About the author of this blog
Mike is the most published author in
his field, and also founded the first audio
show on the internet, on Irish Families
and genealogy.