Differences Between English, Scottish, Irish & Welsh DNA…

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:09 Ancient Genetic Differences
1:04 Viking DNA Impact
2:45 Genetic Clusters
4:45 Get Member-Only Videos
4:55 Anglo-Saxons
6:18 Physical Traits and Disease Rates
7:08 DNA Haplogroup Differences

Differences Between English, Scottish, Irish & Welsh DNA…

What are the DNA differences between English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh people? How different are they, and which peoples cluster together?
Now at their core, all four populations descend from the same three major ancestral sources that shaped much of Europe: Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG), Early European Farmers (EEF), and Steppe ancestry, which was introduced during the Bronze Age. Yet these 3 sources had slightly different impacts on the 4 populations.

A fascinating paper from 2022 published in Nature found that between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not in northern Britain (Scotland). This was due to a migration of people who were genetically closest to those from ancient France. And if you look at this table, you can see that EEF ancestry is slightly higher in England and Wales, with Steppe ancestry a little higher in Scotland and Ireland. So there are small differences in ancient DNA, yet later events had a much greater impact.

Now one of the most profound differences across this region was the impact of the Norse or Vikings. Although Viking activity affected all four populations, its genetic impact varied dramatically by region, and by Scandinavian source. Norway-derived Vikings had their strongest influence in northern and western Scotland.

Sources:

Leslie, S., Winney, B., Hellenthal, G. et al. The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population. Nature 519, 309–314 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14230

Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T. et al. Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Nature 601, 588–594 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04...

Gretzinger, J., Sayer, D., Justeau, P. et al. The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool. Nature 610, 112–119 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05...

Margaryan, A., Lawson, D.J., Sikora, M. et al. Population genomics of the Viking world. Nature 585, 390–396 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-26...

Welsh people - Wikipedia

English DNA 'one-third' Anglo-Saxon - BBC News

BBC News, Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-1...

Major DNA study shows Irish have higher rates of MS, cystic fibrosis, celiac disease
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/dna...

Who do you think you really are? A genetic map of the British Isles | University of Oxford

Celtic History Decoded: English DNA: What is the Genetic History of England?

New Genetic Insights into the Anglo-Saxon Transition in Britain | UCL Division of Biosciences - UCL – University College London

FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-M222

FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-L1335

E. Gilbert et al. The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116 (38) 19064-19070, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904761116 (2019)

Gilbert, E., O’Reilly, S., Merrigan, M. et al. The Irish DNA Atlas: Revealing Fine-Scale Population Structure and History within Ireland. Sci Rep 7, 17199 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17...

Shanmugam, A., Merrigan, M., O’Reilly, S. et al. A genetic perspective on the recent demographic history of Ireland and Britain. Eur J Hum Genet 33, 538–545 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-025-01...

Irish Heart Ireland has highest rate of Haemochromatosis in the world - Irish Heart

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