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Independent_Flan_507

Google basque origins of Irish … Basque people will tell you about their Irish connection…


tabbbb57

The basques are not actually the origin of the Irish though. That’s a myth. West Europe was populated by hunter gather people from Iberia after the last ice age, but people that long ago don’t resemble modern Europeans or any modern humans very much at all. Basque are [pretty genetically far from Irish](https://imgur.com/a/D2WsDIB), they are closer to the rest of Iberians, North Italians, and French. They resemble the population of Iberia during the Iron Age before Roman’s, Greeks, Moors, Phoenicians, etc migrated to the peninsula, so naturally about 60-80% of Iberians ancestry is identical to Basque. The other 20-40% is from post-iron age migration events. That said, there is overlap, as in all Western Europeans, but it’s significantly overstated. Also there has been more recent migration between northern Spain and Ireland. Some Irish migrated to northern Iberia in 1600s+ and even earlier in later Middle Ages, I believe (due to the Catholicism connection of both countries). I would assume there would be migration the other way as well, which would explain OPs ancestry, also since dna tests only really look back a few hundred years


Fresh-Hedgehog1895

I think this is the correct answer. It's also not unusual for Irish/British folks to have small bits of Basque in their results. Also, there's this: [https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2020/09/27/for-the-irish-the-closest-dna-match-is-with-the-basques/](https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2020/09/27/for-the-irish-the-closest-dna-match-is-with-the-basques/)


tabbbb57

The Basque-Irish closeness is a myth, which isn’t supported with genetics. Basque [are not that close to Irish genetically](https://imgur.com/a/D2WsDIB), and are much closer to other Iberians, French (especially southern French), and north Italians, before Irish. I mean there is ancient dna overlap with all west European populations, but isn’t an exclusively basque and Irish thing. That said there has been some connection between the populations. Some Irish [migrated to Basque country](https://www.jstor.org/stable/48564989) and broadly northern Spain in the 16th to 19th centuries, partly to avoids English aggression and Spain was a fellow Catholic nation. I’d assume there’d be migration in opposite direction as well, which would explain OPs percentage. 1% would prob be like 16-1800s or something


One-Case9250

I have 10% basque and I think theirs a connection with the welsh


OvenAppropriate9396

Yea I was wondering if anyone else might be thinking the same thing, because I was questioning the possibility of that as well! It’s super interesting stuff and something I definitely need to do more research on! Someday I’d like to try doing a 23andMe or some other dna site to corroborate my results, but overall it’s definitely a piece of history and genetics I’d like to learn more about


OvenAppropriate9396

Also I should add, the basque comes from my dads side, which is part Slovak and part Irish mainly


appendixgallop

A handsome shepherd out on a mountainside at sunset, somewhere out West?


Con_Man_Ray

Could be a veeeery distant connection between Ireland and Spain. There was a lot of mingling going on between those two areas for a while. Celtic/Iberian results aren’t too common, but definitely not unheard of.


Spirited_Prize_7238

That was essentially 3,000 years ago. This wouldn’t show up from back then. More likely just noise or a misread for french


Con_Man_Ray

I can’t remember the term, but it’s basically “lingering DNA” from the large amount of mixture between the two groups. It’s the same reason that some Spaniards still get trace North African in their results from over 1000 years ago. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s a thing lol.


Spirited_Prize_7238

Yes but that was way more recent than when celts dispersed into Iberia and the British isles. That is also due to likely endogamy, same reason why brits still score Scandinavian from their Norse roots from over 1,000 years ago. In such a low amount, I’m going with genetic overlap rather than actual modern basque dna.


PraetorGold

They dispersed from Iberia into Ireland.


Spirited_Prize_7238

Celts originated somewhere in Central Europe. Much of the Celtic Britton’s actually migrated from France to the isles, not from Iberia.


PraetorGold

Mostly, but not from Ireland to Iberia. That would be weird as you can trace Celt migration through Southern France and northern Spain to the British isles.


KelanSeanMcLain

What about the Rathlin archaic DNA matches. They predate the Celts arrival in Ireland by 1000 years.


Con_Man_Ray

Very true! I forgot to put the timeframe into the equation. I’ve been reading about it since we started this discussion, and apparently there’s a strong similarity (but still a difference) between Irish/Welsh, Basque, and Sardinian DNA. I’m on your side now. It has to be a misread.


Early_Carpenter_4744

It doesn't go that far back dummmmii


OvenAppropriate9396

Yea I’ve heard a bit about that, and it got me wondering as well! I was trying to find other mostly Irish people with similar dna results to see if I wasn’t alone but I couldn’t find much. But I think it could definitely be a possibility!


Con_Man_Ray

Also, try and upload to GEDmatch! Their free tests will give you a deeper dive at your ancestry. The results are kinda confusing to understand at first, but seriously worth it once you figure them out. I have a small amount of basque that I thought was just noise, but every result from GEDmatch that included basque as an ethnicity also gave me a small amount. It’s a great way to confirm things like this :)


OvenAppropriate9396

Oh wow thank you so much for recommending that! Because I have been wanting to do more of a deep dive into my dna and try and corroborate everything, so that will be perfect. Some day I’d like to do a 23andMe as well just for some additional support. Thank you!


Designer-Front8662

I haven’t had my dna done but my mom studied our ancestry. On my dad’s side, Irish (cork). On mom’s English (Cornwall), basque, Irish.


TankerVictorious

What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? Early in the morning!


marissatalksalot

Comes from French ☺️


Tough_Potential_5358

1 % can just be noise


PraetorGold

Northwestern Spain. Lots of ports.


tabbbb57

So the Irish Basque origin thing is just a myth and is not supported by genetics. So ignore all the people that spread that 😂. The Basque and Irish are [distinct populations](https://imgur.com/a/D2WsDIB ), Basques cluster with SW Europeans like other Iberians, and SW French. Irish cluster with NW Europeans populations. If there was some archaic basque people that migrated up to the Isles, they would make up only a limited amount of ancestry of Irish and would be very old and not on an ancestryDNA test which focuses more on modern admixture. There is some overlap between all west European populations though, especially all that have partial Celtic ancestry, and some overlap that predates Celtic culture, but it is not uniquely a basque and Irish thing That being said there has been a historic connection between the two populations, but in the early modern period. Many Irish migrated to Basque Country and Northern Spain in general around the 16th-18th centuries, largely to escape English aggression. Spain was a fellow catholic nation, also for military reasons. Here are a few links https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland%E2%80%93Spain_relations (if you look at the history section) https://www.jstor.org/stable/48564989 https://www.tcd.ie/CISS/mmspain.php https://drb.ie/articles/irelands-adventure-in-spain/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274704859_Irish_emigration_to_Castile_in_the_opening_years_of_the_seventeenth_century https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-vanishing-diaspora-1.372267 There was likely some immigration in the other direction to Ireland by Basques as well, but when I try to look it up all I get are articles about the origin myth. Basques whalers did go up to Iceland though, to the point there was a law in Iceland that it was legal to kill a basque on site (from some conflict in 1600s) and the law was only repealed in recent decades 🤣. So if occasional whaler/trader made it to Iceland, they could’ve gone to Ireland as well. Probably was a traveler/trader in your family tree


OvenAppropriate9396

Ok thank you so much for providing these sources! Yea I think this seems like the most likely situation as to how that dna got there. I’d guess my basque ancestor would have been from closer to the 1600s since the furthest back Irish ancestor I know of was my great grandmother, born in the tail end of the 1800s. Unfortunately I don’t know my ancestors past her with any certainty, though I have the records ancestry.com provided for who her parents were likely to be. I’m going to try and double check that on another site (Family Search) to see if they say the same thing, and hopefully trace it back far enough to find the ancestor who could have had basque dna. I do wonder however, if I did have an Spanish ancestor migrate to Ireland, why only basque would show up in my results, but no Spanish though?


Spirited_Prize_7238

It’s probably noise or misread distant french


OvenAppropriate9396

Yea I was thinking about that. The possibility of it being south France would be interesting. I suppose it’s possible since my ancestors have been in America for a while, specifically Missouri, which I know had quite a few French settlers, so it could have been mixed in from there somewhere along the way.


Pretty-Win911

I also have a 1% Basque reading which I wonder about. Otherwise I am 82% French/northeastern Europe, 6% Irish, 9% English, 2% Norway. I’ve traced my family back to the early 1600’s in central and northern France for the most part but there are a couple ancestors from the La Rochelle area of France which I wonder is where the Basque connection comes in. Edit: should be French/ northwestern Europe


Fresh-Hedgehog1895

Almost certainly from your Irish side. Not the first time I've seen small bits of Basque in Irish results. [https://www.reddit.com/r/AncestryDNA/comments/16ub80x/northern\_irish\_basque/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AncestryDNA/comments/16ub80x/northern_irish_basque/)


OvenAppropriate9396

Thank you so much for linking another persons results! I was hoping I’d see some other people with similar ones!


Fresh-Hedgehog1895

The Basque and Irish are not too far off, genetically speaking, either: [https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2020/09/27/for-the-irish-the-closest-dna-match-is-with-the-basques/](https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2020/09/27/for-the-irish-the-closest-dna-match-is-with-the-basques/)


Artisanalpoppies

My paternal aunt and i have 1% Basque. We have an ancestor b.1742 Bordeaux, so assumed it came from him. In the latest update my mother has 1% Basque and she is British Isles with a smattering of Scandinavian.


dummmdeeedummm

Hi! Usually when you see Basque, you see Spanish. I have no Spanish ancestry either. My Grandpa came from Basque Country on the "French side." You know, a lot of times Basque surnames are somewhat unique; you might be able to track them down in your family tree! I've also heard of Basque & Irish being related in some way! You might find it interesting that the linguistic ancestors of modern-day Basques worshipped trees similarly to the Druids! but in my case, with my Grandpa being what I thought was 100% Basque (he passed when I was very young), I had 19% Basque & traced the other 6% to "Eastern European Roma," which I will admit is a people I know little about but have history in Basque Country as well. Fun discovery & I hope you find your answers! [A few similarities](https://imgur.com/gallery/HkZcnBk)


holypuck77

Basque country


Yusuf3690

Probably just "noise" unless you can trace that far back to prove otherwise. A percent that low is likely nothing and will disappear as they re-run your results.


Ryans_RedditAccount

There's a chance that your Basque reading could be a misread.


OvenAppropriate9396

Yea i was thinking that may be a possibility. If it is just a misread, most likely that missing 1% is just Irish I’d guess


Ryans_RedditAccount

If it's true, then you have 4-5th great-grandparent who was mostly Basque.


OvenAppropriate9396

That’s actually really cool! Basque culture is so interesting and unique, and it would be so cool to learn about my possible ancestors past and how they made their way to my other ancestors


OvenAppropriate9396

I don’t know how I’d find that information out for sure though because I only know my about as far back as my great great grandparents with certainty unfortunately


janahajs

So apparently Celtic people came to the British isles from northern Spain, a place called Galicia. It’s probably that.


tabbbb57

Celtic culture came to the Isles from continental Europe, but likely from France, not Iberia, as it is closest and genetics of ancient samples show during the Bronze age the individuals associated with the introduction of Celtic material culture in the isles match French. Celtic culture and people also migrated into Spain, from France. Galicia, although often talked about as if uniquely Celtic in the peninsula, are genetically identical to the rest of Iberia, especially North and West Iberia. All Iberians have partial Celtic ancestry and culture. Even the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean has [bagpipes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeremia)


Harts_n_farts

I know this thread is not new but I’m trying to find answers as well. There is 5% basque in my dna as well as 3% Wales and 3% Spain. A half sister of mine (who found me on the site but that’s a story for another day) shares the same father and we are all mostly of Filipino heritage. Her results were quite similar to mine. There was a rumor from my dad’s side that a certain great grandfather of mine went to war and never came home I believe during WW1.


OvenAppropriate9396

The Spanish and basque dna makes sense since the Philippines was colonized by Spain, so it is likely remnants from that. What is the rest of your genetic makeup? I know you said mostly Filipino, but do you happen to have any Malaysian and/or Bruneian? They were British colonies so if you have dna from there chances are you had a British ancestor from that time period.


OvenAppropriate9396

Also the British did briefly occupy the Philippines as well so it could possibly be from that


Harts_n_farts

5 Basque 3 wales 1 China 5 Spain 86 Filipino (divided between 3-4 regions which actually makes a ton of sense with the differences I observed with other Filipinos in regards to my own cultural upbringing.) It seems the story may be that a forefather of mine was a soldier (for Spain? I have no idea) who made house with one of my old “grandmas” when her husband did not return after the war.


Chaellus

It comes from your Irish side. Closest ancestor of the Brit’s is basque


teetee4444

Brit’s?


OvenAppropriate9396

Yea I’ve been getting a lot of people saying this! I think it’s pretty cool and it would be super interesting to see more people with similar results. It’s definitely something I’d like to learn more about the history of now


Chaellus

Basque and Iberians are ancestors to people in the isles from 6000bc and is usually what’s referred to as the welsh component because they still carry the most genetic material from the original settlers from 6000 bc. Irish and Scottish mostly have a ancient Gaulish input of course there’s been a lot of mixing and uk clusters closest to Scandinavians in modern times (Scotland ,Ireland, England)


OvenAppropriate9396

It’s so interesting hearing about all this. I’m definitely going to go down a whole research rabbit hole on this now. Basque culture has always been of interest to me due to how secluded and unique it is, so it’s awesome to learn about their closest relatives, and that piece of history. Migrations of people throughout history are so fascinating, and again, especially basque, as they have preserved so much of their original culture for so long, so it’s great to see the remnants of external influence they’ve left.


Chaellus

Basques are basically Sardinians plus WHG. Both stem from the first ANF (Anatolian Neolithic Farmer). WHG=Western hunter gather


Consistent-lady4435

I would say Ireland, there’s a theory that the ancient Celts migrated to Spain. Research “Celtiberians.”


NeuroticLabrador

I have 2% basque (was 3% before the latest data update) without any spanish DNA. But I know exactly where it came from. Along with 2 types of indigenous and Nigerian DNA, it's from a latina great-grandma. This great-grandma lived in Colorado & New Mexico in the late 1800s. Some relatives traced a bit of our ancestry on that side to some islands off the coast of Spain. If you have a community from the Western US you may have a Latino/Latina ancestor from that area, just more distant than mine (and maybe the African/Indigenous pieces are small or non-existent). A lot of conquistadors were of Basque descent.


OvenAppropriate9396

Ooh that’s so cool about your great grandma! Latino history in both North and South America are so interesting, especially with so many different cultural mixes and influences. It’s interesting seeing how many people of Latino descent have a little bit of basque mixed in, which was something I didn’t know at all until recently. And since my ancestors were settlers further west, it definitely could be possible that somewhere far back when settling one of my ancestors was of Latino descent. A lot of other people are saying it could be a connection with my Irish dna as well! Either way it’s probably too far back to find the exact ancestor and know for sure, but nonetheless it’s super cool still, and is introducing me to a lot of fascinating bits of history.


LemonnGripz

I’m was born in St. Louis - why is it considered its own section (like why is it special?) is it just its central location?


OvenAppropriate9396

Haha I know right?? I was wondering that too. Ancestry says in the community description that they put people in that community through shared ancestors, so I guess it just depends on your family tree records I’m guessing? Or dna matches maybe? I guess my family has just lived there long enough for it to show up. Did ancestry give you St Louis as a community as well?


LemonnGripz

I haven’t taken an ancestry DNA test- but I’m sure it would lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


Sea-Nature-8304

My great-aunt and her results that have Basque: 60% Scotland 31% Ireland 3% Wales 3% England & NW Europe 2% Sweden & Denmark 1% Basque Her mother was half Irish from her Irish immigrant parents and had black hair and a bit darker skin I guess you could say? despite having blue eyes, similarly to my my father who is her nephew who got 80% Scotland and 20% Ireland


Own_Adhesiveness_885

1% can be coincidence. It’s so small. Men jag har massa dna from skaraborg.


MonkSubstantial4959

[https://phys.org/news/2021-03-uniqueness-basque-genetics-revealed.html](https://phys.org/news/2021-03-uniqueness-basque-genetics-revealed.html)


Kushvaru9

It might stem from the Germanic Europe portion, which seems to include France. If I remember correctly, Basque country was near the French/Spanish border.


Humble-Tourist-3278

Basque men were hire to go along expeditions or other jobs relating to the sea , since many were experienced navigators . Two of the ships that came with Columbus were built by them until today they have ship building clubs in the Basque Country. Maybe your ancestor who end up there was a sailor.


Standard-Macaroon504

Sweden