How was my Scotish ancestor from Ireland? I'm Black by the way?

Question

My name is Kevin Jones, I'm a Black man from the United States. I recently did a genetic test and found out that I have 93% African DNA and 7% European DNA. My European DNA was inherited from a Scotish ancestors. But according to family stores in the late 1600's one of my Black ancestors married a White man from Ulster which is in Nothern Ireland, he had bought her freedom and eventually married her.

Does this mean my family stories are wrong?

How was my Scotish ancestor from Ireland?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster   and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scot...

While Ulster IS one of the four provinces of Ireland (in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster), and is often used informally — and incorrectly — as a synonym for Northern Ireland, one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (three of the nine Ulster counties are part of the Republic of Ireland with the remaining six constituting Northern Ireland), one of the languages spoken by some is " Ulster Scots" (a dialect of Scots which is also sometimes known as Ullans) is widely spoken in rural areas throughout Northern Ireland and the east of County Donegal.

   Ulster Scots, also known as Ullans, Hiberno-Scots, or Scots-Irish, refers to the variety of Scots (sometimes referred to as Lowland Scots in contradistinction to the Gaelic language of the Highlands). Native speakers traditionally called it simply Scots, Braid (or broad) Scots or Scotch (an adjective or noun Scotch is an early modern English--16th century-- contraction of the English word "Scottish" which was later adopted into the Scots language).

   .Scots, mainly Gaelic-speaking, had been settling in Ulster since the 15th century, but large numbers of Scots-speaking Lowlanders, some 200,000, arrived during the 17th century following the 1610 Plantation, with the peak reached during the 1690s. In the core areas of Scots settlement, Scots outnumbered English settlers by five or six to one. Among academic linguists, Ulster Scots is treated as a variety of the Scots language or, along with all Scots varieties, as a dialect of English.

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(Could it be possible that your "Scottish" ancestor was indeed Irish, and spoke the DIALECT Ulster Scots??)

Answer 2

Email me if you want gigabytes of leads. The reasons are complex. The history of the Scottish in Northern Ireland, and later in North America, is fascinating.

They essentially essentially moved to Northern Ireland under James I, and then defended the Crown of William (Protestant) against James II (Catholic), then went to America because they weren't members of the Anglican Church, could not hold civil office, and were treated as second-class citizens after James II was repulsed at the Siege of Londonderry. (The Irish Catholics were treated worse, but the Scottish came to America and supported the formation of a government that did not favor any particular religion, but would allow this right to be exercise by the Individual.)

Your family history is probably not wrong at all. Regardless of race, creed, or color, the Scots were a hardy, strong, and often well-educated people, and many Americans share this heritage. Email me if you wish & I will share what I have acquired. Happy hunting...

Answer 3

Cool dna!! It actually backs your family information.

The part it does not back.. AND DOES NOT DISPROVE.. the Ulster part.  Just in theory, the man might have had ancestry from Scotland, moved to Ireland, then to the US.  That is one way that *might* explain the seeming discrepancy.

It may also be that the Ulster part wasn't correct.. family stories can have a thread of fact (white father/black mother) but the exact details can be inaccurate. I surely would value the fact that your family has kept such a detail passed down.

Kevin, I seriously wish I knew how to lead you to the paper documentation on this. The likelihood is about as slim as it gets.. but, hey, I have seen other miracles in research. It would take the most meticulous searching you can imagine, and still may not be there.

What I am saying is that there can be partial truth in both of the ends.

Answer 4

Check out . . .The Scottish Plantation of Ulster. . . on the web. . .

it deals with the history (1600's) of Scots in Ireland . . .hope it helps ! ! !

Answer 5

My husband and I were in Scotland and while site seeing we saw a sign that said " Scots are Irish that don't know how to swim"  We got a kick out of it I hope you do!