Irish Origins, DNA and the Bible!

New Irish DNA research shows that more than 4,000 years ago, ancestors of the Irish came from the Middle East by way of Spain. They also came from Russia and the Ukraine (BBC, December 28, 2015). “The ancestors of the Stone Age farmers began their journey in the Bible lands, where agriculture first began, and arrived in Ireland perhaps via the southern Mediterranean... These settlers were followed by people, initially from the Pontic steppe of southern Russia, who knew how to mine for copper and work with gold, and who carried the genetic variant for a blood disorder called haemochromatosis, a hereditary genetic condition so common in Ireland that it is sometimes called Celtic disease. These people also brought with them the inherited variation that permits the digestion of milk in maturity” (The Guardian, December 28, 2015).

The Bible, oral traditions and historical sources indicate the Israelite tribes migrated from these same regions and along the same routes at a later date. The Apostle Paul’s mission to reach Israelites (Acts 9:15) took him to Spain (Romans 15:24-28) and to Britain, Peter sent letters to Israelites in Asia Minor/Turkey (1 Peter 1:1) and Andrew went to Scythia where the Scots claim to have originated. Irish legends claim their ancestors came from the Eastern Mediterranean. Modern genetic research is shedding an interesting light on the origins of people in the Western Isles. For more on this fascinating subject, read The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy and consider taking the Living University course THL 215–The Lost Tribes of Israel in History and Prophecy.