Genealogy Chat

DET


a tale that could certainly be true!!

My uncles were darkish skinned, it was rumoured that their father was descended from one of the Spanish sailors who were shipwrecked off Kerry during the Spanish Armada

"The Spanish Armada in Ireland refers to the landfall made upon the coast of Ireland in September 1588 of a large portion of the 130-strong fleet sent by Philip II to invade England.
Following its defeat at the naval battle of Gravelines, the Armada had attempted to return home through the North Atlantic, when it was driven from its course by violent storms and toward the west coast of Ireland. The prospect of a Spanish landing alarmed the Dublin government of Queen Elizabeth I, and harsh measures were prescribed for both the Spanish invaders and any Irish who might assist them.
Up to 24 ships of the Armada were wrecked on a rocky coastline spanning 500 km, from Antrim in the north to Kerry in the south, and the threat to Crown authority was readily defeated. Many of the survivors of the multiple wrecks were put to death, and the remainder fled across the sea to Scotland. It is estimated that 5,000 members of the fleet perished in Ireland."

This thread is very interesting, but to answer the OP, this is a post I made in April, on another thread on the same subject.

I have just been to a talk in our local village hall about DNA, given by Alastair Moffat, one of the team who does DNA testing for WDYTYA. It was very interesting and, depending what you want out of it, possibly worth the cost - £170.

He made the point that most of it is American based because, if you can prove that you aren't carrying any hereditary diseases, you can get a substantial discount on your health insurance premiums!!

The link below is for people with Scottish ancestry, but there is a similar website for Ireland and also one for Yorkshire, so I don't think it actually matters where you live or where your ancestors came from.

It is all interesting, but to see what you get for your money, click on DEMO.

http://www.scotlandsdna.com/

"All the nice girls love a Sailor". I think people generally don't appreciate that maritime trade made up the majority of inter-racial contact from the earliest times i.e. the Phoenicians some 4000 years ago are known to have traded for Tin in Cornwall. There is some evidence that the Greeks crossed the Atlantic. Most of History emphasises the warring events, forgetting that long periods of peaceful intercourse (hem hem) took place in between times. ;-)