[NakedAnt]

Black Irish refers to black haired irish. Black hair from the spaniards. Not African complexion. Incidentally the redheaded Irish are descended from Vikings (please varify).

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Name : NakedAnt, City : Philly, State : PA, Country : United States, 

[Thomas]

Yes, it is used in two different ways, though. Some refer to Irish with Iberian features, but other times it is generalized to Irish people with very dark hair and light blue eyes. I, unfortunately, did not get the Iberian features, just the hair and light blue eyes.

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Name : Thomas, City : Delran, State : NJ, Country : United States, 

[Danny]

Actually, the term only shows up in America and is pretty much meaningless. About the best explanation I’ve heard for it has to do with the Potato Famine that led to so much emigration to the US. The potatoes would turn black and the Irish coming to the US, particularly the South were called Black Potato Irish. The idea that it came from the survivors of the Spanish Armada has been pretty much disproven. Another suggestion that holds a little more water is that it refers to the Irish who were descended from the Vikings who invaded and settled. They were said to wear black armor. However, if either of these had any real teeth to them, the term would also be found in Ireland, and it is not. Danny

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Name : Danny, City : Carbon Hill, State : AL, Country : United States, 

[SadhbhDC]

Spanish sailors did wash up on the Irish shore, and they did stay and intermarry; that much is well documented. Anecdotal evidence points to their having made a small genetic contribution to the population, but scientific research doesn’t confirm this. Many scientists are skeptical. The term ‘Black Irish’ is never used to describe these sailor’s descendants. The term is rarely ever used at all in Ireland, and if it were, it would be used to describe African immigrants to Ireland.

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Name : SadhbhDC, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 15, City : Dublin, State : NA, Country : Ireland, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[TimB]

What you are talking about is a myth. Black Irish is simply a term for dark-haired, dark-eyed, Irish people – who actually tend to have an extremely pale, white, skin tone. for example the singer Bono from the band U2). They were around long before there was a “Spanish Armada”; the reality is, most of the Spaniards, Welsh, and Irish are of the same Gaelic families. The Spanish in general aren’t any darker than the dark-haired, dark-eyed Irish. Essentially, these people are the original inhabitants of Ireland, while the fairer haired people came from later invasions by tribes from mainland Europe.

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Name : TimB, Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 39, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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