Genealogy and archaeology offer opportunities for what might be described as romantic interpretations of our past. Nearly every bog body uncovered after a centuries-long repose in a quiet turf bank is a warrior king, a murdered prince, or a victim of a human sacrifice. A swineherd who might have drowned in a bog hole on his way home from a mid-winter knees-up remains a rarity. It is as if we need to embellish the mysteries of the past to make them fit today’s appetites for celebrity and fame.
The Irish DNA Atlas is unlikely to end that harmless ennoblement but it does paint a more accurate picture of our origins. We’re Gaelic, British, Norse, French, Scottish, and much more. Indeed, that fabled character — the True Gael — may be as rare as drowned swineherds preserved deep in our bogs. Like every nation, we are a mixumgatherum people.
As one of the authors of the atlas points out, “this study challenges many of our received narratives on the origins of the people of Ireland…” It is part of the colour of being Irish that this freedom to imagine informs not only “received narratives on the origins of the people of Ireland” but many of what we regard as sacred foundation myths.
It would be very interesting, too, to have a crystal ball to see how the DNA of Ireland will reflect the evolution of our population over the coming centuries because, as this report shows, it is an ever-changing fabric.