As a genealogy nerd, I celebrate my Irish ancestors in March, and I have a number of them in my paternal and maternal sides from various counties in the northern and southern parts of Ireland. I also have a high number of Scottish ancestors from the Highlands, Midlands and Lowlands. I have green eyes, natural red highlights (though I was blonde as a young child), and I carry the red hair gene. I inherited lots of freckles too, which also means I sunburn easily. My paternal grandfather was nicknamed Red because of his red hair, though I only ever knew him with white hair.
If you add my Irish and Scottish DNA amounts together, they make up almost half of me. I also carry Viking DNA. Vikings settled in Ireland and intermarried with Irish people so these results weren't a surprise. The highest DNA location for the other half of me is Celtic Britain. I've always been fascinated by ancient Brits, like Boudicca, so maybe my DNA explains that too.
But this month, I focus on the Irish lineages of my family tree, the wearing o' the green, and eating more potatoes. I've been a vegetarian since high school so no meats for me. Hubby is the house chef and he makes some good potato dishes. He's making one tomorrow night for dinner.
So Happy St Paddy's month! Don't forget to wear green on the special day if you celebrate. I'm lucky that with my green eyes, I never get pinched.
On a side note - I'm on a publishing hiatus for a while due to personal reasons, but please check out my previously published books if you're interested in reading my work at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dana-Davis/author/B0033HDLVC
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