What is the origin of the Irish with swarthy dark features?
Emigrants at the quayside in Cork, 1851, surrounded by their baggage
The
term 'Black Irish' has commonly been in circulation among Irish
emigrants and their descendants for centuries. As a subject of historical
discussion the subject is almost never referred to in Ireland. There
are a number of different claims as to the origin of the term, none of
which are possible to prove or disprove.
'Black Irish' is often a description of people of Irish origin who had dark features, black hair, dark complexion and eyes.
A
quick review of Irish history reveals that the island was subject to a
number of influxes of foreign people. The Celts arrived on the island
about the year 500 B.C.
Whether or not
this was an actual invasion or rather a more gradual migration and
assimilation of their culture by the natives is open to conjecture, but
there is sufficient evidence to suggest that this later explanation is
more likely.
The next great influx came
from Northern Europe with Viking raids occurring as early as 795 A.D.
The defeat of the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in the year 1014 by
Brian Boru marked the end of the struggle with the invaders and saw the
subsequent integration of the Vikings into Irish society. The migrants
became 'Gaelicized' and formed septs (a kind of clan) along Gaelic
lines.
The Norman invasions of 1170 and 1172 led by Strongbow saw yet another wave of immigrants settle
in the country, many of whom fiercely resisted English dominance of the
island in the centuries that followed. The Plantation of Ulster in the
seventeenth century saw the arrival of English and Scottish colonists in
Ulster after the 'Flight of the Earls'.
Each
of these immigrant groups had their own physical characteristics and
all, with the exception of the Ulster Planters, assimilated to some
degree into Irish society, many claiming to be 'more Irish than the
Irish themselves!'
The Vikings were
often referred to as the 'dark invaders' or 'black foreigners'. The
Gaelic word for foreigner is 'gall' and for black (or dark) is 'dubh'.
Many
of the invaders families took Gaelic names that utilized these two
descriptive words. The name Doyle is in Irish 'O'Dubhghaill' which
literally means 'dark foreigner' which reveals their heritage as an
invading force with dark intentions.
The
name Gallagher is 'O Gallchobhair' which translates as 'foreign help'.
The traditional image of Vikings is of pale-skinned blond-haired
invaders but their description as 'dark foreigners' may lead us to
conclude that their memory in folklore does not just depend on their
physical description.
The Normans were
invited into Ireland by Dermot McMurrough and were led by the famous
Strongbow. Normans are ultimately of French origin where black haired
people are not uncommon. As with the Vikings these were viewed as a
people of 'dark intentions' who ultimately colonized much of the Eastern
part of the country and several larger towns.
Many
families however integrated into Gaelic society and changed their
Norman name to Gaelic and then Anglo equivalents: the Powers, the
Fitzpatricks, Fitzgeralds, Devereuxs, Redmonds.
It is possible that the term 'Black Irish'
may have referred to some of these immigrant groups as a way of
distinguishing them from the 'Gaels', the people of ultimately Celtic
origin.
Another theory of the origin of
the term 'Black Irish' is that these people were descendants of Spanish
traders who settled in Ireland and even descendants of the few Spanish
sailors who were washed up on the west coast of Ireland after the
disaster that was the 'Spanish Armada' of 1588.
It
is claimed that the Spanish married into Irish society and created a
new class of Irish who were immediately recognizable by their dark hair
and complexion. There is little evidence to support this theory and it
is unlikely that any significant number of Spanish soldiers would have
survived long in the war-torn place that was sixteenth century Ireland.
It
is striking though how this tale is very similar to the ancient Irish
legend of the Milesians who settled in Ireland having traveled from
Spain.
The theory that the 'Black Irish'
are descendants of any small foreign group that integrated with the
Irish and survived, is unlikely. It seems more likely that 'Black Irish'
is a descriptive term rather than an inherited characteristic that has
been applied to various categories of Irish people over the centuries.
One
such example is that of the hundreds of thousands of Irish peasants who
emigrated to America after the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849. 1847 was
known as 'black 47'. The potato blight which destroyed the main source
of sustenance turned the vital food black. It is possible that the
arrival of large numbers of Irish after the famine into America, Canada,
Australia and beyond resulted in their being labeled as 'black' in that
they escaped from this new kind of black death.
Immigrant
groups throughout history have generally been treated poorly by the
indigenous population (or by those who simply settled first).
Derogatory
names for immigrant groups are legion and in the case of those who left
Ireland include 'Shanty Irish' and almost certainly 'Black Irish.' It
is also possible that within the various Irish cultures that became
established in America that there was a pecking order, a class system
that saw some of their countrymen labeled as 'black'.
The
term 'Black Irish' has also been applied to the descendants of Irish
emigrants who settled in the West Indies. It was used in Ireland by
Catholics in Ulster Province as a derogatory term to describe the
Protestant Planters.
While it at various
stages was almost certainly used as an insult, the term 'Black Irish'
has emerged in recent times as a virtual badge of honor among some
descendants of immigrants. It is unlikely that the exact origin of the
term will ever be known and it is also likely that it has had a number
of different creations depending on the historical context. It remains
therefore a descriptive term used for many purposes, rather than a
reference to an actual class of people who may have survived the
centuries.
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