"We are not Celts at all but Galicians "
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We are not Celts at all but Galicians
BRIAN DONNELLY September 10 2004
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CELTIC nations such as Scotland and Ireland have more in common with
the Portuguese and Spanish than with the Celts of central Europe,
according to a new academic report.
Historians have long believed that the British Isles were swamped by
a massive invasion of Iron Age Celts from central Europe around 500BC.
However, geneticists at Trinity College in Dublin now claim that the
Scots and Irish have more in common with the people of north-western
Spain.
Dr Daniel Bradley, genetics lecturer at Trinity College, said a new
study into Celtic origins revealed close affinities with the people
of Galicia.
He said: "It’s well-known that there are cultural relations between
the areas but now this shows there is much more. We think the links
are much older than that of the Iron Age because it also shows
affinities with the Basque region, which isn’t a Celtic region."
He added: "The links point towards other Celtic nations, in
particular Scotland, but they also point to Spain."
Historians believed the Celts, originally Indo-European, invaded the
Atlantic islands in a massive migration 2500 years ago.
But using DNA samples from people living in Celtic nations and other
parts of Europe, geneticists at the university have drawn new
parallels.
Dr Bradley said it was possible migrants moved from the Iberian
peninsula to Ireland as far back as 6000 years ago up until 3000
years ago.
"I don’t agree with the idea of a massive Iron Age invasion that took
over the Atlantic islands. You can regard the ocean, rather than a
barrier, as a communication route," Dr Bradley said.
Archaeologists have also been questioning the links between the Celts
of eastern France and southern Germany and the people of the British
Isles and the new research appears to prove their theories.
The Dublin study found that people in areas traditionally known as
Celtic, such as Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany and Cornwall, had
strong links with each other and had more in common with people from
the Iberian peninsula.
It also found people in Ireland have more in common with Scots than
any other nation.
"What we would propose is that this commonality among the Atlantic
facade is much older, 6000 years ago or earlier," Dr Bradley added.
There are also close links between Scotland and Ireland dating back
much further than the plantations of the 1600s when many Scots moved
to Northern Ireland in search of fertile farming lands, the research
showed.
However, the researchers could not determine whether fair skin,
freckles, red hair and fiery tempers truly are Celtic traits.
Stephen Oppenheimer, professor of clinical socio-medical sciences at
Oxford, said that the Celts of western Scotland, Wales, Ireland and
Cornwall were descended from an ancient people living on the Atlantic
coast when Britain was still attached to mainland Europe, while the
English were more closely related to the Germanic peoples of the
interior.
He said: "The English are the odd ones out because they are the ones
more linked to continental Europe. The Scots, the Irish, the Welsh
and the Cornish are all very similar in their genetic pattern to the
Basque."
The study headed by Dr Bradley was published in the American Journal
of Human Genetics."