A new study has revealed that many Irish men may be able to trace their roots back to Turkey. Focusing on the role of the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son, the research indicates Turkish farmers arrived in Ireland about 6,000 years ago, bringing agriculture with them. And they may have been more attractive than the hunter-gatherers whom they replaced.
The genetic patterns for Irish females differ from those of men. “Most maternal genetic lineages seem to descend from hunter-gatherers,” an author of the study, Patricia Balaresque, told the London Times. “To us, this suggests a reproductive advantage for farming males over indigenous hunter-gatherer males during the switch to farming.
“Maybe, it was just sexier to be a farmer,” she added.
Eighty-five per cent of Irish men are descended from farming people from the Middle East and especially Turkey, according to the research that was conducted by scientists at the University of Leicester.
The switch from hunting and gathering to farming was a crucial one in human development. Increased food production meant that populations were able to grow.
In Britain, 60-65 per cent of the population has the Turkish genetic pattern, while in parts of the Iberian Peninsula it’s almost as the same as in Ireland. The research contradicts what was previously thought about Irish genealogy – that hunter-gatherers from Spain and Portugal who survived the Ice Age were our main genetic ancestors.
“This particular kind of Y chromosome follows a gradient, gradually increasing in frequency from Turkey and the southeast of Europe to Ireland, where it reaches its highest frequency,” Mark Jobling from the University of Leicester told the Times.
We are saying that most of that original hunter-gatherer male population in Ireland was probably replaced by incoming agricultural populations,” he added.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.drfappo | Aug 01, 2012, 07:59 AM EDT
Turks arrived to Asia minor at around 1100AD. They have nothing to do with the Irish other than mayhaps uprooting, raping, pillaging and destroying populations somewhat related to them in the area. There were no Turks in Asia minor when St. Paul was alive and active. The only Turkish contribution to the world is adding more syroup to Arab desserts and adding more chilly to Greek dishes. Oh yeah, and the toilet where you stand instead of sit.
thesavageirish | Oct 24, 2011, 03:54 PM EDT
Couldn't agree more with Richard1965. Any cursory look at early european history shows the colonization of Galatia, eastern Turkey, by Gauls of the western seaboard, the same people St Paul was so fond of writing to. A relationship exclusive to the male only line would equally apply to 'Turkish farmers descended from irish sailors'. God knows a few boatloads of good looking celtic sailors serenading the the farmers wives could do a lot. We do tend to get around! In irish we were taught that a man of african descent was 'fear goirme', i.e. a blue man. Fascinating stuff about the philological relationships though far from surprising given Richards post. If one is of the tribe of Judah then one is jewish. If you're descended from the tribe of Dan you're probably danish or in an irish context tuath de danaan. They were one of the twelve who declined to occupy their given plot and stayed aboard their boats.
Richard1965 | Jul 30, 2011, 11:14 AM EDT
Now, It is said in the Article that the markers are the least coming from Turkey and increasing to high in the British Isles...Has the Author forgotten that a Celtic tribe had conquered turkey...Glatia?....And that even St. Jerome had said that the people still spoke a Celtic Dialect...That is how recent that thaey were still retaining their identity as Celts...And Markers would be lower in Turkey with a higher frequency the closer you get to the British Isles because the origin of the Celts in Turkey is from West to East and not East to West...So, yes, the Turkish do share ancestry with those of Celtic ancestry because their indigenous ancestors were conquered by a Celtic tribe, the Galiti, from Europe...So it is logical that you would find the same markers in them that you would find in Irish males...However, If it had transpired from East to west as the author states, then don't you think the place of origin would have the highest concentration of the markers?...
hus.djemal | Apr 12, 2010, 12:47 AM EDT
To find out more common words in Irish and Turkish,Please send email to hus.djemal@gmail.com and I will respond to your email.
hus.djemal | Apr 12, 2010, 12:37 AM EDT
Box in Irish bosca and in Turkish bohca. Cup in Irish cupán and in Turkish kupa(cupa). Lid in Irish caipín and in Turkish kapak(capack). Lord in Irish Tiarna and In Turkish Tengri or Tanri(means God). Nail In Irish Inge or ionga and in Turkish iğne (ng=ğ). needle in Irish dealgándelgen in Turkish delgen. Fall in Irish titim and in Turkish itim. Foot or leg in Irish cos in Turkish cos(koş) means run. Shit in Irish cac and in Turkish kak. Strong in Irish daingean and in Turkish dincgen. You all in Irish sibh and in Turkish siz. Put, gather, assemble in Irish cóimeáil and in Turkish curmak(kurmak). Sow seed or bury in Irish cuir and in Turkish köm or göm. Stretch(cloth) in Irish sín and in Turkish sín sün or sündür. Stretch out in Irish sín ar and in Turkish süner. Woow
hus.djemal | Apr 12, 2010, 12:12 AM EDT
Let's have a look some common words in Irish and Turkish. Hay for Irish word saidhe in Turkish saman. English word for stupit, messy, dirty is salack in Irish and salak in Turkish. Nickname in Irish is leabisim and in Turkish laabisim. Hut in Irish bothán and in Turkish baraska. Trip in Irish and Turkish turas. Back in Irish is droim and in Turkish dön. Belt in Irish crois and In Turkish kolan. Barbaric in Irish barbartha and in Turkish barbarca. Boa in English boska and in Turkish bohca. I found over 500 words very similar. This is wooow.
hus.djemal | Apr 10, 2010, 06:50 AM EDT
English Celtic / Irish Turkic (Turkish) Hay saidhe saman Stupid, messy, dirty salach salak Nickname leasainm laabisim Hut bothán baraka Trip – turas turas turat(tur) Back – droim dön belt crios kusak(cusak,kolan) barbaric – barbartha barbarca box - bosca bohça(made from fabrick) beak gob gaga cup – cupán kupa Lid – claibín-caipín kapak Lord – Tiarna Tainri / tengri / tanrı (god) Nail Inge, ionga iğne (ng=ğ) needle dealgándelgen delgen Fall – titim it / tim / itim Foot, leg, cos koş (means run) Shit – cac kak / kaka Strong daingean dinçgen You all sibh/sibhse siz, size put gather assemble cuir kur sow / bury cuir kom/göm / köm Stretch (cloth) sín sün (sündür) Stretch out sín ar süner
hus.djemal | Apr 10, 2010, 06:27 AM EDT
Posted by erieshark on Feb 01, 2010, 10:38 AM EST Does this explain the "black Irish"? Dear erieshark, Irish are not black. Turks are not black. Get your eyes tested. Last thing is Blacks are nice people as well. In Ireland they use the word black for a color or none Irish. Will you get out of that and open your eyes.
hus.djemal | Apr 10, 2010, 06:21 AM EDT
There are many similar words in Irish and Turkish and yet Ireland and Turkey are to far a part geographically. At one stage they must branched out from the same ancestor.
Dompedro | Feb 07, 2010, 04:36 PM EST
it was published in PLoS Biology
Dompedro | Feb 07, 2010, 04:11 PM EST
"what do I think" --- I think first that it would have been more than informative to have a citation to the study in question, rather than having to read through Walshie's interpretation of the Times of London's interpretation of Patricia B.'s blatherings, unless of course the University of Leicester didn't publish their study and what "parts" of Iberia? wouldn't be surprising that antecedents' genes should be quite similar in Gallicia and Galatia,let alone Galway or at least Connemara and by all means read Oppenheimer, but also read Sykes
Watereskhill | Feb 04, 2010, 11:50 PM EST
Odd but true. They didn't bring a few poppy seeds or other exotic herbs to Ireland when they migrated far beyond the Turkish hills with their 'genes'. Many years years ago in Istanbul I was offered a lump of stuff the size of a bar of bath soap in The Grand Bazaar in exchange for a pair of Levi blue jeans. It looked like a clump of hard turf. I was so dumb at the time I didn't know what it was--Hashish. However; I was back-packing around Asia Minor and wherever with a Swiss and an Austrian (who remain life-long friends). One of whom immediately bartered for and bought a Jallaba robe at another stall, took off and handed the guy selling copper urns and carpets the very jeans he had on. For the next few days the three of us wandered round ancient Constantinople as high as kites. It's architecture and customs. Mea Culpa. We went to the Hagia Sophia Mosque removed our shoes at the door and did all the bowing and stuff on the mats. Being Irish Catholic I of course had scuples but comforted myself that it's walls had known the chants of Christianity. The Swiss and Austrian nodded in accord though Protestant if not Atheist. I have only the best memories of my Turkish ancestors.
SeamusRua | Feb 04, 2010, 05:12 AM EST
I suggest reading Stephan Oppenheimer's 2006 book The Origins Of The British for a more detailed explanation. Parts 1 & 2 focus on Ireland and the Celts.
TomCollins | Feb 03, 2010, 11:56 AM EST
This should not be a major surprise since the Celts have had a branch of their migration stay in Turkey as well as coastal France, the northern coast of Spain and other areas in Europe as well as in Wales & in Ireland.
kickstar | Feb 03, 2010, 11:14 AM EST
The Jews are descended from the tribe of Judah which is one of the 12 tribes of the Israelite s just to correct some posters on here, The rest of the tribes are people of many beliefs and religions and are generally unknown which makes them "Lost" in there actual whereabouts.
kickstar | Feb 03, 2010, 10:43 AM EST
Thank God I am descended from the Dane.
doogsOz | Feb 02, 2010, 09:58 PM EST
Oh for God's sake stop the Eurocentrism would you! The vast majority of people living in Turkey today are not much different genetically from those ancient Anatolians - even from way back then. Christ! Get over yourselves Europe. The Turkic invasions did very little to the gene pool. And even when Osman's ancestors arrived in the ME, they weren't purely Mongoloid anyway - Iranic & Turkic mixing predates Jesus. The point of the article is that The Y-Chromosomes in today's Turkish males link up through a long history of mutations, to Ireland. That's not necessarily the case with other Indo-European groups. Do not confuse Indo-European with Caucasian as ancient M-Easterners and peoples such as Berbers are considered of Caucasian stock but have nothing to do with Indo-European languages. Haplogroups I, J & K link the citizens of Turkey to many Europeans today. Black Irish - You clown!
McNabb1966 | Feb 02, 2010, 02:12 PM EST
This snippet of an article over-simplifies the subject. I suspect that you could write the same basic article about almost any European nation because the time of migration is so long ago that it renders meaningless terms such as or Turkey or Turkish. Also, I don't see that this contradicts the theories of migration to Ireland from Spain. I mean, how did these "Turkish farmers" arrive in Ireland, magic carpet? Again, the events described in this article are so long ago that it seems likely that it is simply an earlier part of the same migration theories that we are already familiar with. Furthermore, Scythia is mentioned in all the old Milesian migration stories. And where was Scythia located...?
mchnsph | Feb 02, 2010, 02:05 PM EST
This study is about Irish people being relatives of Turkish people, not necessarily Turkish people "in" Turkey. The first Turkish country (Hiung-nu)was established in around 4000 b4 jesus in west of today's china.
BishopSean | Feb 02, 2010, 07:36 AM EST
I once heard on TV two British scholars who were seriously claiming that the Irish are descendents of the Jewish Tribe of Dan. While I would like for us to have Jewish family roots, the Tribe of Dan got themselves in such troubles they were subsumed into other Jewish Tribes. In any case we are adopted Jews through Jesus. I agree with Slaine9, the "Turks" arrived in Turkey less than 1,000 years ago and had limited demographic impact. Their impact has been other--just ask the Assyrians and Kurds!
Searlit | Feb 01, 2010, 11:57 AM EST
I agree with slainte9's comment.
slainte9 | Feb 01, 2010, 11:32 AM EST
The "Turkish" people who gave Turkey its name arrived in Turkey less than 1000 years ago. So this article is unclear. Either Irish men are descended from people who inhabited Central Asia 5000 years ago (unlikely) or they are descended from Anatolian peoples (Trojans? Hittites? Arabs?) and that the Turkish invasion of the Anatolian penninsula had little demographic impact.
erieshark | Feb 01, 2010, 10:38 AM EST
Does this explain the "black Irish"?
irishathens | Feb 01, 2010, 09:50 AM EST
Now I know why I've always felt the attraction of counries on the Med.