The chance discovery of ancient bones under an Irish pub in County Antrim in the mid-2000s has cast doubt over whether Irish people are actually related to the ancient Celts at all.

In 2006, Bertie Currie was clearing land to make a driveway for McCuaig’s Bar on Rathlin Island off Antrim when he noticed a large, flat stone buried beneath the surface.

Currie realized that there was a large gap underneath the stone and investigated further.

“I shot the torch in and saw the gentleman, well, his skull and bones,” Currie told the Washington Post.

He eventually found the remains of three humans and immediately called the police.

A number of prominent professors at esteemed universities in Ireland and Britain analyzed the bones and said that the discovery could rewrite Irish history and ancestry.

DNA researchers found that the three skeletons found under Currie’s pub are the ancestors of modern Irish people and predate the Celts’ arrival on Irish shores by around 1,000 years.

Essentially, Irish DNA existed in Ireland before the Celts ever set foot on the island.

Instead, Irish ancestors may have come to Ireland from the Bible lands in the Middle East. They might have arrived in Ireland from the South Meditteranean and would have brought cattle, cereal, and ceramics with them.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science said that the bones strikingly resembled those of contemporary Irish, Scottish and Welsh people.

A retired archaeology professor at the highly-renowned University of Oxford said that the discovery could completely change the perception of Irish ancestry.

“The DNA evidence based on those bones completely upends the traditional view,” said Barry Cunliffe, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Oxford.

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ancient-bones-irish-celts

PermeateFree said:

The chance discovery of ancient bones under an Irish pub in County Antrim in the mid-2000s has cast doubt over whether Irish people are actually related to the ancient Celts at all.

In 2006, Bertie Currie was clearing land to make a driveway for McCuaig’s Bar on Rathlin Island off Antrim when he noticed a large, flat stone buried beneath the surface.

Currie realized that there was a large gap underneath the stone and investigated further.

“I shot the torch in and saw the gentleman, well, his skull and bones,” Currie told the Washington Post.

He eventually found the remains of three humans and immediately called the police.

A number of prominent professors at esteemed universities in Ireland and Britain analyzed the bones and said that the discovery could rewrite Irish history and ancestry.

DNA researchers found that the three skeletons found under Currie’s pub are the ancestors of modern Irish people and predate the Celts’ arrival on Irish shores by around 1,000 years.

Essentially, Irish DNA existed in Ireland before the Celts ever set foot on the island.

Instead, Irish ancestors may have come to Ireland from the Bible lands in the Middle East. They might have arrived in Ireland from the South Meditteranean and would have brought cattle, cereal, and ceramics with them.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science said that the bones strikingly resembled those of contemporary Irish, Scottish and Welsh people.

A retired archaeology professor at the highly-renowned University of Oxford said that the discovery could completely change the perception of Irish ancestry.

“The DNA evidence based on those bones completely upends the traditional view,” said Barry Cunliffe, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Oxford.

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ancient-bones-irish-celts

> DNA researchers found that the three skeletons found under Currie’s pub are the ancestors of modern Irish people and predate the Celts’ arrival on Irish shores by around 1,000 years. Essentially, Irish DNA existed in Ireland before the Celts ever set foot on the island.

Nice work.

How come we didn’t know this before?

Let’s look at the Celts. Celtic language locations.

“It’s believed that the Celtic culture started to evolve as early as 1200 B.C. The Celts spread throughout western Europe – including Britain, Ireland … The existence of the Celts was first documented in the seventh or eighth century B.C. … By the third century B.C., the Celts controlled much of the European continent north of the Alps mountain range, including present-day Ireland and Great Britain.”

So “Celt” is seen more as a culture than as a genotype.

OK. That makes sense.

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

All this on top of them finding out that their star signs are all wrong.

It’s enough to drive an Irishman to drink.

captain_spalding said:

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

All this on top of them finding out that their star signs are all wrong.

It’s enough to drive an Irishman to drink.

our one stays at home and drinks.

captain_spalding said:

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

All this on top of them finding out that their star signs are all wrong.

It’s enough to drive an Irishman to drink.

Not necessarily. “Celtic” was always a dubious term in relation to the so-called Celtic peoples, referring mostly to the eventual languages of those regions rather than their deep history.

I think you’ll find most Irish take pride in their neolithic (pre-Celtic) monuments and ancient legends of the earliest people such as the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

Anyway, I think the pre-Celtic civilisation in Ireland should be given greater significance by everybody.

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

Anyway, I think the pre-Celtic civilisation in Ireland should be given greater significance by everybody.

shuffles feet

OK then.

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Bubblecar said:

>How come we didn’t know this before?

We did. It’s long been known that the early Irish peoples were of different stock to the later Celtic language settlers.

What these DNA findings are apparently showing is that the modern Irish are more closely related to the earlier people than was assumed.

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

Anyway, I think the pre-Celtic civilisation in Ireland should be given greater significance by everybody.

It’s complicated by the use of the technically dubious term “Celtic” to describe a distinctive fringe of cultures whose heritage is really a lot more ancient.

party_pants said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

Anyway, I think the pre-Celtic civilisation in Ireland should be given greater significance by everybody.

shuffles feet

OK then.

:)

Thanks.

Bubblecar said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

I wonder when and where the original Irish inhabitants and the Celts ancestry first separated.

Also it seems strange that substantial DNA from the original inhabitants was not the default assumption.

Anyway, I think the pre-Celtic civilisation in Ireland should be given greater significance by everybody.

It’s complicated by the use of the technically dubious term “Celtic” to describe a distinctive fringe of cultures whose heritage is really a lot more ancient.

Where did the Celts come from originally?
Ancient writers gave the name Celts to various population groups living across central Europe inland from the Mediterranean coastal areas. Most scholars agree that the Celtic culture first appeared in the Late Bronze Age in the area of the upper Danube sometime around the 13th century BCE.Jul 22, 2016

Celts – Ancient History Encyclopedia