The Fomorians
There are many oblique references to the presence of Black people in ancient Ireland. Ancient Irish mythology refers to the original inhabitants of the island as being a giant, sea-faring people called the Fomorians (Fomors), which means “dark of the sea”. According to the ancient lore, they were a cushitic people from the African continent. Often depicted as demons, they defeated the first few incoming waves of invaders, but could not defeat the Firbolgs, who settled the land and lived side-by-side with the native Fomors.
Those myths may have a factual historical basis. It is proposed that the Formorians were a real people who were in all likelihood sailors from the African continent.
Two more invasions, the first led by the godly Tuatha de Danaan, and the second by the Celtic Milesians, took control of Ireland, mixing together with the Fomorians until they were no more.
There are credible sources for the African association with Ireland. The most likely of these is that they were Phoenicians and/or Egyptians. The Phoenicians were Canaanites, which came from the line of Ham. Ham is the mythological ancestor of the Black nation.
The Phoenicians were also well-known for their sailing skills, and are said to have traveled to the British Isles, which they called the “Tin Islands”. Perhaps, before Ireland was a Celtic domain, which it wasn’t until a few centuries BCE, the Phoenicians colonized it. It is noteworthy that the name Fomorians sounds a bit like Phoenicians.
There is also a legend that an Egyptian princess, Scota, left Egypt with some followers and journeyed to Ireland. Legend has it that Egyptians left many ancient tin mines all over Britain but especially Ireland which was their major source of the valuable metal.
Another idea is that they were Taureg Berbers. The Berber language is Hamitic, and the Berber people live in an area from which travel to Ireland would be easily accessible. The Berbers perhaps set sail from western Morocco, and settled on Ireland before the Celts, making it their new home.
Moorish Science Temple founder Drew Ali teaches that Ireland was once part of a Moorish empire, and that the Irish are a Moorish people. Perhaps there is a common root between the “moor” sound in Fomor and the word Moor?
Selkies and Half-Breeds
Another Irish legend tells of the Selkies, a sort-of “wereseal” that is a seal during day, but a human by nightfall. Sometimes, in an Irish family of fair-skinned, light-haired people, a child is born with dark hair eyes, and skin, and is called a Selkie.
The concept of the Selkies appears to make subliminal reference to the half-breed children that resulted from the extensive miscegenation that occurred between the Celts and the dark skinned original inhabitants that they had met upon their arrival in Ireland.
Many people of Irish descent have distant and recent African roots, and these features can still be seen in the people and in the culture. There are some Irish people with Afros (just like Andre the Giant a late continental European wrestler with afro-hair). In Southern Ireland, some people, referred to as “Black Irish”, are noted for their strikingly dark features, as opposed to the fair-skinned, light-haired north.
Although many Irish descendants are particularly pale, they do have pronounced Africoid facial features, as well as dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair that is sort-of kinky, especially in moist conditions. A sub race of the Irish called the Bronn are noticeably Mediterranean (read: African) in features especially their hair.
In addition to all of this, Celtic music is distinctly different from the rest of Europe, and easily comparable to African music.
Black, Viking and Irish
Unlike Scotland and England, Ireland was never colonized by the Romans. As a result, Ireland remained relatively isolated.
The Vikings established port cities like Dublin. The Viking texts left stories and descriptions of African soldiers captured in Ireland whom they called blaumen[blue-men].
Most Viking references to ”black” in Norse would have signified having black hair as opposed to skin color but blaumen meant black skinned. Most of these blaumen were captured soliders from Moorish Spain. It was observed that:
“A prominent Viking of the eleventh century was Thorhall, who was aboard the ship that carried the early Vikings to the shores of North America. Thorhall was “the huntsman in summer, and in winter the steward of Eric the Red. He was, it is said, a large man, and strong, black, and like a giant, silent, and foul-mouthed in his speech, and always egged on Eric to the worst; he was a bad Christian.””
“Another Viking, more notable than Thorhall, was Earl Thorfinn, “the most distinguished of all the earls in the Islands.” Thorfinn ruled over nine earldoms in Scotland and Ireland, and died at the age of seventy-five. His widow married the king of Scotland. Thorfinn was described as “one of the largest men in point of stature, and ugly, sharp featured, and somewhat tawny, and the most martial looking man… It has been related that he was the foremost of all his men.””
What about Scotland and Wales?
“Any comprehensive account of the African presence in early Europe should include England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Scandinavia. The history and legends of Scotland confirm the existence of “purely Black people.” We see one of them in the person of Kenneth the Niger. During the tenth century Kenneth the Niger ruled over three provinces in the Scottish Highlands.
The historical and literary traditions of Wales reflect similar beliefs. According to Gwyn Jones (perhaps the world’s leading authority on the subject), to the Welsh chroniclers, “The Danes coming in by way of England and the Norwegians by way of Ireland were pretty well all black: Black Gentiles, Black Norsemen, Black Host.””
Ogu Eji Ofo Annu
Sources:
Ancient And Modern Britons, by David Mac Ritchie
Nature Knows No Color-Line, by J.A. Rogers
It is, and will always be, impossible to know the physical features and skin color of the first humans as their soft tissue has long since eroded from any bones that will ever be found. You can use tissue markers to attempt to reconstruct a face on a skull, but the reality is, the result of the reconstruction is based on the opinion of the artist and is formed by ‘known norms’. You cannot apply present day ‘known norms’ to an ancient body that predates any documentation of appearance. The most you can do is test for DNA, and genetic make up doesn’t equal physical appearance. If it did, ‘white’ and ‘black’ people couldn’t share the same genes, or conversely, would look the same. It’s proven that there is a genetic marker that we all carry from one common ancestor, but again, it is, and always will be, impossible to know what the physical appearance of that human used to be. All that can be done, is speculation based on current features of people who have long since evolved and adapted to environments and are long since removed from the first humans. The fact is, back then, there was no white and black. Those humans were just humans, and that’s what we all need to remember. I, for one, don’t care what the skin pigment was of the first humans. I don’t care from where the ancient peoples of Ireland came. I am proud of the place Ireland has become. I am proud to be Irish, but it makes me no better or worse than anyone else. ‘Race’, to me, is nothing but an arbitrary grouping based on like features. Unlike another poster, if a survey says “do you consider yourself “white non-hispanic” I say yes. My skin is indead ‘white’, and I am not hispanic. If my only choice is “caucasian” I chose “other”, because as we have seen here, the Irish are not ‘caucasian’. Therefore, this term does not apply to me. Terms like ‘African American’ and ‘Caucasian’ are the result of the attempt to make politically correct terms for a very unpolitically correct process of grouping people by skin color without regard to ethnicity.
From out of darkness came light. Africa is the parent, white skin is its recessive child. Africa set out to civilize and populate the world, then mutations came dividing the people. From out of darkness came light. Dominant genes can produce recessive, but recessive cannot produce dominant. it’s elementary, those who refute it have their own agenda. Facts do not take away anyone’s whiteness or Irishness.
I’m not even sure how I stumbled upon this site, but I feel compelled to include my two cents, and hopefully, this will be the last post in this thread.
History… means HISTORY
Studying history is important, however, taking it to the ultra geekdom level to try to define yourself is ridiculous. Regardless of what race you think you are, I can pretty much guarantee you got a whole bunch of other shit somewhere in your lineage.
What race you define yourself with, will not help you achieve your goals in life… at all.
If you associate the achievements of your claimed ancesotrs, with yourself, you are merely fooling yourself. You are nothing. You are born nothing. The achievements, or sins of your ancestors have no bearing on you. You really shouldnt be proud, or ashamed of either.
It doesnt matter who invented the wheel, someone would have invented it.
It doesnt matter who invented the light bulb, someone would have invented it.
It doesn’t matter who invented racism, WE ALL INVENTED IT.
The best part of history is learning from its mistakes, not taking credit for accomplishements that were done long before you were even a semi drop of semen.
We are all capable of achieving anything.
Race is a moot point because you have no idea of your true lineage, and you never will… ever… The world is far to old. So stop trying to look back so far and look ahead. Because whats ahead of you is all that matters at this point.
THE END
I think it’s a matter of correcting what we in the black community call, HIS story. This site shows the true relationship and closeness that all man share no matter how many efforts are made in order to refute.
The Celtic Amazigh are never mention by the Europhiles,these are the true roots of the back gypsie celts who left their homeland due to aggression from the European invaders of the East.The DNA of the Amazigh of North Africa is totally diffrent from the neighbouring tribes and the Amazigh DNA is 50% diffrent from the Arab tribes.These were the original so -called Celtic race. The Irish and indeed all Europeans are trying to push this Celt history away from them and insist at some length that they have Eastern Baltic roots- there in a state of denial.If you feel that this is yet another way the African races are being disenherited you can set the record straight on WikiAnswers were there is an African History dedicated section.I seem to be the only one posting to set the record
straight – but history is always written by the victorious white race.
Have been reading the comments and being the uneducated person that I am, wondered if it occured to anyone that the enviornment that groups of people migrated to from Africa may be what affected each group of peoples evolution and that at the time of migration “out of Africa” we were still humanoid not yet quite what we are today. (Thank goodness or there may not be people today.) I don’t think that “people” decided to go to Asia because they had golden skin, and Europe because they had white skin etc. But of course since I wasn’t there and didn’t see it of course I may be mistaken. As with all history, there is probably a grain of truth in many of the stories that are passed down, however please remember that most history is told by the “winner” and that no matter how hard what we try not to, we as human beings tend to see history in our own best light.
To Liam regarding your comments of 10/07/07. Yahoo!!! I myself am not sure how I found this site. After reading for some time I decided that I needed (wanted) to make a comment. I truly am not as well educated at you seem to be and am pleased that smeone with more formal education than I have may have noticed some of the same things. Gee, I aint so stupid after all.