I've heard that it did, and that in fact the shipwrecked Spaniards were the ancestors of the "Black Irish." there are also the Irish Travellers, who are kind of like their own gypsies, with their own language. Many of them have immigrated to the US. Robert Waldrop, Oklahoma City -----Original Message----- From: Paul C. Palmer <pcpalmer@gvtc.com> > Fact is a LOT of boats bearing Spaniards shipwrecked on Irish shores in >1588, remnants of the great ARMADA, driven around the island of Great >Britain by storms and British war ships. I'm sure there were other >occasional groundings as well, but 1588 was the big year for Spaniards >shipwrecked in Ireland. Don't know if even that would have had a major >genetic impact, however.