The Iberian/Irish connection

[Picenian]

Yes please, though my read-list is becoming ENDLESS I'd really like to get started seriously on this subject (after I'm done with a very old book on the mediterranean Bronze Age I found at the flea market)

[Blooo]

Here's a good read: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/gafm/

Obviously not a historical source, but fun

[Brennus]

Yes please, though my read-list is becoming ENDLESS I'd really like to get started seriously on this subject (after I'm done with a very old book on the mediterranean Bronze Age I found at the flea market)

For a quite comprehensive overview I would recommend Barry Raftery "Pagan Celtic Ireland" (1997). However there are more specialised and regional studies such as Mallory and McNeil (1994) book on the archaeology of Ulster.

[HopliteLegion]

This is a very interesting thread, especially considering my family's Irish heritage. I had always wondered why I don't "look" Irish (dark hair, brown eyes, tan skin). Iberians settling in southern Ireland would very much explain that (where I can best figure the largest number of the Gallagher surname originate). Now if I can just figure out where the size of men in my family comes into play (tall and broad). I had read somewhere about Viking settlements in that same region of Ireland, which would make sense, considering my oily skin (believed to be a trait of ancient peoples in cold climates). Given the name Gallagher dates back to people who were known as friendly to foreigners...

Anyway, I'm pulling this way off topic. My apologies.

[Picenian]

This is a very interesting thread, especially considering my family's Irish heritage. I had always wondered why I don't "look" Irish (dark hair, brown eyes, tan skin). Iberians settling in southern Ireland would very much explain that (where I can best figure the largest number of the Gallagher surname originate). Now if I can just figure out where the size of men in my family comes into play (tall and broad). I had read somewhere about Viking settlements in that same region of Ireland, which would make sense, considering my oily skin (believed to be a trait of ancient peoples in cold climates). Given the name Gallagher dates back to people who were known as friendly to foreigners...


Anyway, I'm pulling this way off topic. My apologies.

well, if you want to know an opinion coming from "the other side", since I am born of a typical Italian looking family (dark curly hari, short but stout) I have always wondered why I have green eyes and my uncle has blue eyes (without any "nordic" traits in our family as far as I recall). So I've always believed since I was a nerdy history-loving child that this comes from Celtic ancestry since we all were born near the land that belonged to the Senones :D

[Brennus]

I wouldn't say it was pulling it off topic.

I am always skeptical of the idea that certain traits are indicative of certain ancestors, but nevertheless there are certainly national stereotypes. Have either of you considered having your DNA tested to trace your matrilineal and patrilineal lines?

[Gaius Sempronius Gracchus]

I wouldn't say it was pulling it off topic.

I am always skeptical of the idea that certain traits are indicative of certain ancestors, but nevertheless there are certainly national stereotypes. Have either of you considered having your DNA tested to trace your matrilineal and patrilineal lines?

Yep. Europe (and consequently the Americas) is, particularly, a cacophony of genetic heritages; for every 'typical' Italian or Irishman or German (etc.) I could counter with what would be seen as an a-typical example. There may be variations in the form of clines but its a pot that has been well and truly mixed.

[HopliteLegion]

I have considered it, but I've never looked into how much such a thing would cost. It is interesting to think about, but research is largely impossible if one is trying to go back that far. My mom had done the whole ancestry thing and got as far back as the 1770s, on only her mother's side. This took about 2 years.