Michael, I have seen arguments in both directions on this subject but I have yet to see anyone arrogant enough to say from his high horse in the 21st century that there has NEVER been ANY intermarriage / intermingling between the the Irish and the Spanish. I don't think that would be the sole source of black hair - the Romans too certainly had the technical competence to arrive in Ireland. As they were able to sail and/or galley over to England, there's no reason they couldn't go to Ireland too. I have no proof they were there, but it was within there technical capacities. Let's not forget either that the Roman Legions were full of conquered peoples. Most of us on these lists have been humbled by the fact that we're trying to climb the branches our family trees and have run into brickwalls trying to find trace of an ancestor, knowing their name and where they supposedly came from. I wouldn't be so categorical. Tom Michael Cassidy <[email protected]> sur 26/03/2001 15:54:43 Pour : [email protected] cc : Objet : Re: Spainards in Ireland/Black Irish At 6:03 PM -0500 3/25/01, Mary McGinnis wrote: >The magazine ,"Ireland of the Welcomes", has just run its second article >on the Spanish in the Republic. I have followed earlier discussions on >the "Black Irish". The following are exerpts from the article entitled >"O'NEILL and O'DONNELL on the march". This will show that the Spanish >were in Ireland amd had contact with the northern cheiftans. The myth that the trait of black hair and dark eyes insome Irish come from the spanish has been debunked. The only true Black Irish are descendants of inter-marriage between African-Americans and Irish. If you go into the 1870 NYC census you'll find many marriages of Blacks and Irish; and this is only a few years after the Draft Riots. regards m ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jazz is freedom. - T. Monk http://www.panix.com/~cassidy ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!

Thomas, I agree wholeheartedly. There was some migration of Romans from Britain to Ireland. There was no "Official" Roman incursion but some Roman farmers travelled and settled in Meath..(I'm sure there were other places as well. There is archeological evidence of a roman Homestead quite close to Tara. Mike -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 7:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Ref. : Re: Spaniards in Ireland/Black Irish Michael, I have seen arguments in both directions on this subject but I have yet to see anyone arrogant enough to say from his high horse in the 21st century that there has NEVER been ANY intermarriage / intermingling between the the Irish and the Spanish. I don't think that would be the sole source of black hair - the Romans too certainly had the technical competence to arrive in Ireland. As they were able to sail and/or galley over to England, there's no reason they couldn't go to Ireland too. I have no proof they were there, but it was within there technical capacities. Let's not forget either that the Roman Legions were full of conquered peoples. Most of us on these lists have been humbled by the fact that we're trying to climb the branches our family trees and have run into brickwalls trying to find trace of an ancestor, knowing their name and where they supposedly came from. I wouldn't be so categorical. Tom Michael Cassidy <[email protected]> sur 26/03/2001 15:54:43 Pour : [email protected] cc : Objet : Re: Spainards in Ireland/Black Irish At 6:03 PM -0500 3/25/01, Mary McGinnis wrote: >The magazine ,"Ireland of the Welcomes", has just run its second article >on the Spanish in the Republic. I have followed earlier discussions on >the "Black Irish". The following are exerpts from the article entitled >"O'NEILL and O'DONNELL on the march". This will show that the Spanish >were in Ireland amd had contact with the northern cheiftans. The myth that the trait of black hair and dark eyes insome Irish come from the spanish has been debunked. The only true Black Irish are descendants of inter-marriage between African-Americans and Irish. If you go into the 1870 NYC census you'll find many marriages of Blacks and Irish; and this is only a few years after the Draft Riots. regards m ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jazz is freedom. - T. Monk http://www.panix.com/~cassidy ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! ============================== Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2