A pre-neolithic gene gradation starts in the near East and culminates in western Ireland.
Abstract
Ireland's position on the western edge of Europe suggests that the genetics of its population should have been relatively undisturbed by the demographic movements that have shaped variation on the mainland. We have typed 221 Y chromosomes from Irish males for seven (slowly evolving) biallelic and six (quickly evolving) simple tandem-repeat markers. When these samples are partitioned by surname, we find significant differences in genetic frequency between those of Irish Gaelic and of foreign origin, and also between those of eastern and western Irish origin. Connaught, the westernmost Irish province, lies at the geographical and genetic extreme of a Europe-wide cline.
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Hill, E., Jobling, M. & Bradley, D. Y-chromosome variation and Irish origins. Nature 404, 351–352 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35006158
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35006158
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