'Celtic' myth exposed by DNA

I am most interest in the fact the King Tut has R1b1a2 Y-DNA, a Celtic marker!

Thanks Michael O'Laughlin, I had heard about a spainish invasion but narrowing it to the Basques was new to me. Are there any Semitic markers in Irish DNA? I have seen "Tuatha Dé Danaan" translated as "Tribe of Dan." There is a reference in the Bible where the writer complains that, while the other Hebrew Tribes were fighting, the Tribe of Dan remained in their ships and this tribe seems to have disappeared before the first invasion of Israel. The mines in Ireland and in Cornwall were know of in Biblical times.

naughtius - I wrote this article a year and a half ago! Yes, I expect new evidence will continue to come in for quite a while.

Michael, you are referring to an old DNA studie that was subsequently superceded with new evidence. George, what are you on about?

This is an article I wrote in July of 2010. A lot of hub bub coming in. In point of fact: 1) Most N. Americans do not know about the ancient origins of the Irish. 2) Many folks do consider 'celtic' as an ethnic term. (academics aside). 3) Many believe the Celts & Milesians were the first Irish, from legends. 4) I have not written a book on this topic. I have published early works. It's a big world out there, with a lot of opinions, and levels of knowledge. That is worth keeping in mind. The point is, legends aside, there were people who settled in Ireland before the Celts and 'Milesius'. Some will find this helpful, some will not.

oopps - spell it TENACITY

Reply to MURPH46 - TENANCITY FOR SURVIVAL - Sounds Irish to me

This is probably the last generation in history when we can speculate on the Irish DNA or remote racial origins. By mid 21st century there will be no recognizably Irish gene pool, just as today there is no American gene pool. The Irish, as a separate ethnic and national group, will no longer exist. As someone who loves diversity and opposes globalization, I think that's sad.

OY!! The headline of this article is faulty from the beginning, as "Celtic" is a cultural and language group, NOT related to DNA at all. Irish (Gaeilge) is indisputably a Celtic language, related to Scots, Welsh and Manx. Further down, the author states "They did not come from Scotland, but from Basque country". DUHHHH, the Celts were ALL OVER Western Europe until the Romans decided they were too independent and fierce (see Caesar's 'Gallic Wars'), and drove all but the few Gauls who became Roman off the mainland. The SCOTS came from IRELAND, and interbred/displaced the Picts - no history I have ever read claimed the other way round! Also, all human DNA is related to 99.99 percent, so analyzing modern DNA and finding traces of ANYwhere else is no proof that our ancient ancestors came from one place or another. People do travel you know, and sometimes bring home or leave a little souvenir!

lostgold: Not Norse, but pockets of an old English dialect (heavily influenced by the Irish language) that existed in 2 isolated pockets in county Wexford up until the famine years. The language was referred to as Yola (old) closely related to another dialect in Dublin called Fingalian. These were Saxons who who followed along with the Normans during the Norman invasion of Ireland.

The long comment below starting with "If some believed...." was not posted by Mickwall so please correct poster's name.z

Quit worrying about where you came from and start thinking about where you are going.

In early interpretations the Book of Invasions the Milesians ahve been seen as gaels with the Tuatha de Dannan being the original celts. One theme of the book of invasiosn is the linking of ireland to biblical events and characters, the Milesian story seems to be propaganda to give certain families in the new christian era "legitimacy" by way of connecting them to biblical characters or places that were in vogue at the time like Scythia. DNA analysis has come on in leaps and bounds since the Basque idea was put forward first. Current evidence suggests the populating of ireland being much like the original Celtic stories but more so in the bronze age than iron age with some possible male dominated military elite groups in the iron age. As said below ireland played a big role in the bronze age with trading, particularly Cork and Kerry as they had important in mines. To re-iterate the point, irish are not Basques and did not descend from them. The closest genetic match to the irish are the british.

How about the several genealogies that link the prominent Gaelic families to the Milesians? How does this fit in to the statements in this article?

If some believed that the early Irish were Celts, or that Milesius was the first, fair enough regarding your headline. However... First, regarding the classic Irish mythology: even if we accept that the legend of Milesius was analogous or a metaphor for the Celts arriving, the Book of Invasions itself recognises Milesius was not the first. The Tuatha Dé Danaan, the Fir Bolg and the followers of Parthonán/Cesair (?) were mythical/legendary peoples that preceded him/them. Also: if I'm not mistaken, even in the legends, some of the peoples in the Book of Invasions were supposed to have come from a territory that was mythologised, but later identified by the monks with Spain. Second: the Celtic League, for example, has never accepted the "racial" definition of the Celts - it is primarily a linguistic (i.e. cultural) characteristic. Not that the Basque connection isn't fascinating - but genes alone are not the definition of ethnicity. Third: Bob Quinn's "Atlantean" hypothesis posits that the entire Atlantic seaboard of Europe was a cultural and social causeway during the Bronze Age (and afterwards). The sea was not just a division, as it is seen by many today, but was a super-highway connecting territories and peoples. But fair enough for pointing out that Ireland's past isn't just monocultural (even if we love the idea of the Celts!) I look forward to reading your book, by the way.