Hello everyone, my name is Shawn and I'm new here.
This is my story.
I am Irish and I can trace my family back for around 200 years. So I wanted to know more about my ancestors and so I had my DNA looked at and my ancestors came from Sub-saharan Africa, mostly from Lesotho. 99.5%. The origanal Irish came from Africa and I am proof of that.
I want to learn as much about Africa as I can.
Can anyone tell me where to start? Is there some place where oral traditions are written down? Where can I learn about music,language,art, people? Thank you kindly for your help.

Shawn

Hi Shawn, :welcome: to the board!

If you like to learn more about African history, you can start with the Our History forum or the All About Africa + The African Diaspora forum ... and go from there!

Welcome!!!!!!!!!

You know, of course, you have us all wondering.

Ireland is not in Africa.

Many Irish men and women are.

I am thinking your Irish ancestor(s)may, or may not, be historically Lesothoan.

As a note, I have a grandson who is Italian.

His mother is Italian-American.

His father, my son, is African American-American...as am I.

Please expand on your lineage.

PEACE

Jim Chester

[/LIST] Hi, this is Shawn again. Thanks for your reply.
I have attached my DNA tribes results that would explain what I mean. My DNA is apparently from South Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Western Camaroon, Gabon, Lisongo, Xhosa,
Venda, Bioko Island, Cape Town, Tsonga, Mozambique, Ewondo(Fabe Village, Cameroon), Equatorial Guinea,and Ovambo Bantu(Nambia).
From what I've been able to learn, after the last ice age, the first people to settle in Ireland were sailors from Africa. They settled in the west and just stayed there. The invading Celts pushed them there.
There have been stories of Black Irish, but until DNA came along, they were just stories. The first history of Ireland was written around 1600 by an Irish monk, and it talks about the origanal Irish as being from Africa. So before my Irish history, I had an African one, a long time ago. thanks for listening.
Shawn

DNA_Tribes_Report_2454270-603_Shawn_B._Hayes_Update_Update_2007-10-16_Extended_Match_Results.pdf (120 Kb, 30 downloads) dna tribes

Hi Shawn. Interesting story. I think that you should read Dr. VanSertima. He has at least two books about Blacks in Europe. Not sure if they are still in print, but I'm sure a local library or better yet a college library with his writings.
Through the various crests, you'll find that there were black Irish and black English too. Happy hunting!
Also, if I were you I would go to African Ancestry.com, you may get a more specific hit. They have the largest African DNA collection in comparison to other companies and specifically do African DNA matches.

The first history of Ireland was written around 1600 by an Irish monk, and it talks about the origanal Irish as being from Africa. So before my Irish history, I had an African one, a long time ago. thanks for listening.---Shawn

I read somewhere about African migration to Ireland...if that is what it was called at the time.

Maybe that's where the term 'black Irish' comes from.

I also read in 'The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality' by Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop that Africans settled in that part of Europe now known as Paris, France. He reports they were called 'Parisi', and that thus the name 'Paris'.

Then there are the 'black' Russians.

And 'The Black Madonna' revered by the Poles with statues all over the world.

It appears that the DNA process told you (gave you a list of names) a list of peoples to choose from, or spread yourself over.

I am certain I would find the same kind of distribution of ancestors across western Africa.

That will not provide me with identity.

I deserve better than that.

Certainly, my children do.

I defined me and mine.

Americans who are African American.

African American-Americans.

There is room enough for all of us.

PEACE

Jim Chester

Hi everyone thanks for your help. I ordered 3 books from Dr. Van Sertima, on amazon, including one about the contibutions African women have made to society.
Thanks for the quote from Malcolm X. I don't really need to be reminded that I'm a white guy, because, well,
I am a white guy and I don't share the same history or culture as African Americans, but I do share the same ancestors, as do all humankind, mine just being more of direct path. I want to trace that path and find where it leads to.
I also am helping children who have been orphaned by aids in Lesotho. thanks for listening.
have a great Christmas!
Shawn

Hi,
I have no knowledge about DNA-testing. Could you explain your result please? What's the (genetic?) difference for example between rank 5 and 7?

Thanks for your replies All of this can be found at dnatribes.com. To snswer your question, MLI scores mean most liklihood index. #5 133.49 means that I am 133 times more likely to share the same genetic makeup with African-Americans as the rest of the world. I'm more closely related to Afro-Brazilians than anyone else outside of Africa-242. I thought that I would have been Caucasian, because I am white, but I am not. The first people to reach Ireland and settle there thousands of years ago were from Africa. Over the centuries they lost the color of their skin, but not their genetic makeup. Ireland was isolated from the rest of Europe until the Celts invaded. I am one of their desendents, and an example of how Africa is the mother of us all.
Shawn

Hi!

Did you get my response? I would love to know more about our ancestry.

Dear Bill,
Hi, no I did not get your reponse, but here is some of what I have found out. There is one book, written in the Irish language and translated into English in 1902(it really is like looking for a needle in a haystack)called HISTORY OF IRELAND ,written in 1634, by Geoffrey
Keating, and on page 179 it says that" navigators of the race of Cham, who came fron Africa, they came fleeing to the islands to the west of Europe and to make a settlement for themselves."
It seems like the stories of the Black Irish might have come from this group of people. I have also read that the elders of Lesotho have always talked about a connection between the two places. It seems like there is one. The music is very similar, but I know nothing about Lesotho language, culture or art. I must go there and find out more.
I will say this. The African-American people I have talked about this and help me figure this out are some of the nicest,kindest and most patient people I have ever had the privledge of knowing.
And I am grateful for that.
Shawn

Hello Shawn!

I appreciate your responding. The DNA Tribes seemed to be ,technically, a useful resource tool and aid in tracing one's "Roots". I coincidentally learned of this site through this forum. What is your assessment of how valid the results you were able to obtain? I had already decided to pursue my history through this source.

Bill C

Hi Shawn

What was your family's reaction to this news?

I've read various reports, debates, and studies that claim the Irish were originally black, even the Irish themselves once admitted this fact.

When the early Irish came to the America's many were enslaved, not on the basis that it was believed their Catholic Religion was a pagan religion, but their features also confused English plantation owners. The thick curly hair and full lips made many state that they were white on the outside and black on the inside. They were considered the niggers of Europe.

I've read this debate recently on Rasta livewire. Few Irish accept this as fact, others view it as Afrocentric nonsense and blacks attempting to steal their history.

Have you compared those dna results with others of Irish ancestry?

Sorry, I've been on vacation. Ill answer everyone in order. Thanks for writing.
First, Bill. DNA Tribes seems to be accurate as far as my wife goes, because they said she was mostly Kurdish and Iranian and that's what she looks like.
Her parents came from Italy, but you can see the trade roots they might have followed. I'm also going to do the National Genographic to double check. But they seem valid. I questioned their results, but they said they were accurate. good turn around time, too.
Second Ms. Negrospiritual.
How did my family react?
Well, Ill try to be as polite as I can... My parents have died, but my two sisters are very prejudiced. Complete denial. Completely ironic....Now they can be afraid of themselves.
Lastly, Ms. Lynn,

No, I hadn't heard that about the English plantation owners, but I'm familiar with their treatment of the Irish.
The Rasta livewire is a great site. A lot of people
have strong opinions about this, as if it would be a threat to their Irishness in some way, but the opposite is true. My DNA is some of the oldest on the island.
I am an Irish citizen. And my roots are from Africa.
As far as others of Irish ancestry, most are from Norman or Scandanavian groups, or Germanic, such as the Celts. The African group is more common in the west of Ireland, but rarer in the east and north.
Thanks for writing.
Shawn