Hi Phyllis, I have watched your notes with interest, we have decided to have my daughter tested as we think she may also carry the trait. Would never have known about this condition without your post. Our family is mostly red heads and blondes however occassionaly black hair will pop up. My father always told us that family folklore had it that Spaniards from the sinking of the Spanish Armada washed ashore in his part of Ireland and married into the local population, and that's how we get the variation. Regards Colleen -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Phyllis Sent: Thursday, 1 February 2007 3:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] So What Is An Irishman, Anyway? Okay ... here's the next question. My mother, who is so very Irish, has black hair and blue eyes, with fair skin that freckles. Does this tell you anything about her Irish genetic makeup ... possibly Turkey, Balkan, etc influence on the Irish? I have read that the Basques of the Iberian Peninsula accounts for the black hair. Could the black hair possibly have come from a Mediterranean line such as the Turkish etc areas. Btw, I am told that Mediterranean in the sense of the Alpha Thallasemia Trait encompasses Italy, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia/Oriental. And there are other Mediterranean traits, as well. I may have another of them .. it is being explored by testing at this time. This blows all my concepts of what Irish means (genetically). I always think of Irish as being Scandanavian/Viking in origin. One of our strong lines is DOYLE, which is supposed to be descendants of Vikings. So where am I going wrong on that one? The DOYLES had the blonde hair/blue eyes, our HAGARTY/HEGARTY line had the black hair & blue eyes. Our DOYLES were from Roscommon & Galway, our HAGARTY/HEGARTYs were from Longford, Parish Templemichael ... and still are there, in the Farnagh area of northern Longford. The deceased are buried in the Ballymacormack Cemetery and the living cousins are still farming. Thanks for your information. I am puzzling through all this and I have to tell you, am rethinking the concept of "What Is An Irishman" !! (Besides being the best people in the world, that is!!) If you had to come up with the recipe of that an Irishman is, you could throw in many ingredients, apparently! that would make him a hybrid of the best sort, and hybrids are usually the strongest organisms. Cheers! Phyllis >In the studies mentioned, the closest European >population group would be the one in the Balkans >region. The gene may have been transmitted with the >early neolithic settlers from the Middle East who came >across Anatolia (modern day Turkey). This would be >Mediterranean but not necessarily Oriental or Asian. > > Because of the Mediterranean element, my guess is that it was >originally transmitted from somewhere in Asia perhaps >along a trading route and then through southern >France, southern Germany, or Switzerland. > > > > > >type O is disproportionately prevalent in both Ireland and among the Berbers of North Africa. > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message