English and Irish ancestry: how much separates them?

Their genetic profiles are remarkably close. In World Genetics’ Modern G25 calculator, the English and Irish population references have a distance of 1.354, classified as “Very close.”

The ancient ancestry breakdown helps explain that similarity. Both references are modeled with the same three major components: Western Steppe Herder, Anatolian Neolithic Farmer and Western Hunter-Gatherer ancestry.

Steppe-related ancestry is the largest component in both: 50.1% in the Irish reference and 46.8% in the English reference. The English reference has a slightly higher Anatolian farmer-related estimate—39.0%, compared with 36.0% for the Irish reference.

Hunter-gatherer-related ancestry is almost identical: 14.2% in the English reference and 13.9% in the Irish reference. The main difference in this model is a small shift between the Steppe- and farmer-related components.

These are population reference profiles and model estimates, rather than results for every English or Irish person. Your own ancestry can differ from the population average.

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