What continental ethnicity do British and Irish people resemble most? (cities, places)

[easthome]

Im not talking about the 'ethnicity' of the people in Crawley or the South East, I believe that a majority of people in the UK (whatever their ethnicity) are dark haired, not necessarily with a 'meditteranean look' but dark haired nonetheless, it seems to me that there is a smaller percentage of blond haired people in the UK compared to other North European countries. This doesne mean of course that there are no dark haired people in Norway or that there are no blondes in the UK.

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by Kentmum

...Even if you take a distinctive feature such as red hair, you could take a stab that the person might be Scottish or Irish, but even then you would only be guessing because there are other Europeans that also have red hair.....

As do half the people in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

[dragonborn]

Originally Posted by sunshineleith

As do half the people in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Isn't NS predominatly Scottish-Canadian? The very name means "new Scotland" in Latin. I've heard accents from people there and there is definitely a massive Scottish influence.

[erasure]

Originally Posted by callmemaybe

Would you say British Isles people have more of a 'Nordic' or a 'Mediterranean' look?

As an "outsider," I'd say right away that they have clearly more of a "Nordic" look, however there are certain types among Britons, that you don't see among other European Northerners.
Have no idea what it's all about - Celts, Welsh - have no clue)))

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by callmemaybe

I wasn't even talking about race, I was talking about physical appearance. I do think British Isles people have quite a distinct look, though there are several different sorts of 'looks' you encounter there. Also I am of Isles extraction even though I'm from the US.

Well I can generally tell an Irishman by the way he walks..hard to describe unless you've lived there. There's a bit of a swagger that I can't quite describe. I can also tell whether they're from the country or city (country folk tend to talk out of one side of their mouth). The mannerisms is how one can tell but only if you are familiar enough with the culture/general population.

As for looks, well my husband is Irish (not American) and has (or had) black hair, fair skin with fading freckles and blue eyes. On of his brothers is very dark skinned, black hair, dark eyes, and could probably pass for Spanish. The other brother is blonde hair/blue eyes no freckles. There's really no one look that you can categorize although a lot of Americans like to think they can...there's a lot of stereotype that they are all red headed (this isn't true at all) and they have freckles (not really any more than here in America!)

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by dragonborn

Isn't NS predominatly Scottish-Canadian? The very name means "new Scotland" in Latin. I've heard accents from people there and there is definitely a massive Scottish influence.

Yes to all that except the accent (to my ears anyway!)

[callmemaybe]

Originally Posted by clongirl

As for looks, well my husband is Irish (not American) and has (or had) black hair, fair skin with fading freckles and blue eyes. On of his brothers is very dark skinned, black hair, dark eyes, and could probably pass for Spanish. The other brother is blonde hair/blue eyes no freckles. There's really no one look that you can categorize although a lot of Americans like to think they can...there's a lot of stereotype that they are all red headed (this isn't true at all) and they have freckles (not really any more than here in America!)

Would it be broadly correct to say the Irish are a mix of Northern Spanish and Norwegians, genetically speaking?

[Scotslass]

Originally Posted by callmemaybe

Would it be broadly correct to say the Irish are a mix of Northern Spanish and Norwegians, genetically speaking?

It's the same with the Scots. The Galician people settled in Scotland and Ireland, the cultures are very similar (Celtic) I was surprised how similar Galicia was. There is a smidgen of this is in Asturias too.

[mxcolin]

A census is not fact. People lie to make themselves more interesting. 1/64 Irish in the UK/US = Irish in many people's eyes. 1/32 (anything exotic Spanish/Italian) for example = Spanish/Italian. The ethnicity question from censuses should be changed to "what ethnicity that you have a tenuous link to makes you sound the coolest?"

[Scotslass]

Originally Posted by mxcolin

A census is not fact. People lie to make themselves more interesting. 1/64 Irish in the UK/US = Irish in many people's eyes. 1/32 (anything exotic Spanish/Italian) for example = Spanish/Italian. The ethnicity question from censuses should be changed to "what ethnicity that you have a tenuous link to makes you sound the coolest?"

Who mentioned anything about making ones self more "interesting" or to sound the coolest?

Around 1,000 BC the whole of western Europe was overrun by a group of people called Celts. Those in France were called Gauls, and those in Spain were called Celtiberans. They were all Celts originally. As the Romans developed, Ceasar started the Gaulic wars and drove a wedge between 'France' and 'Spain' and they delineation between the Gauls and Celt-Iberians was created to reflect the difference in the two campaign fronts. (This information was generously submitted by Rick of Celtic Store) They were tribal not "civilized" and lived in small settlements... The Celts in many cases finally stopped struggling and became colonials... but many fled to the west, to Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and Galicia in north west Spain... The French based Celts kept moving north by sea across the English channel, and ALSO later under pressure from the Romans, to migrate up into Cornwall and Wales, bringing their brand of "Q" gaeilge to the lower quadrant of what is now known as 'England' (This information was generously submitted by Rick of Celtic Store) Basques were in the Pyrenees before anyone then, and Basques aren't Celts, at least linguistically. The Celtiberans came there a couple of thousand years later than the Basques. Basques and Celts probably interbred over 3,000 years of living close to each other.

Now here is the difference between Galicia and Asturius. The two regions are separated by a river, and each occupy a different mountain range. The Romans traveled by both sea/river, and land, creating this division. However, they were never able to conquer either region. Prior to the Romans the Spanish based Celts migrated north by sea into Ireland (the legend of King Mil or the Milliesans), the Isle of Man, and Scotland, and with further migrations during the Roman era. Here they brought their brand of "P" gaeilge, which is common to Irish, Scots, and Manx gaeilge.

The Basques are a tribe of unknown origin that originally were from north of the Pyrenese mountains, but shifted into the lower western Pyrenese under pressure from the Northmen, Norse, or Visigoths. They stopped there rather than treading into the Picos de Europa mountain range occupied by the Asturian Celts

Galician language is called Gallego, whereas a different language exists in Asturias called Pable or Asturian. While very little of the original P gaeilge exists in the language of both regions, it is an amalgum of 3 Latin based languages in both regions. The music closely resembles Irish **** and reels, but is influenced by the 'processional' music of Christian traditions. The dance more closely resembles Breton dancing. 'Step' dancing is not part of either culture as its root is distinctly Irish.

There are also claims that the first kilt came from Galicia.

The Galicians are Celts, first cousins to the Irish, Welsh, Scots, Cornish and Bretons and used to speak a language of the same family... They have many ancient customs in common with the Irish (their music sounds Irish too!) and the same laws of inheritance
Iberian Civilization - Anita Kelly, Ph. D.

Ortigueria Festival Galicia

Galicia history

Celtic nations