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| Ireland has been inhabited for at least 9,000 years, although little is known about the paleolithic or neolithic inhabitants of the island. Early historical and genealogical records note the existence of dozens of different peoples (Cruithne, Attacotti, Conmaicne, Eganachta, rainn, Soghain, to name but a few). Over the last 1,000 years, there have been influences by the Vikings, who founded several ports, including Dublin, and Normans, with some admixture to the gene pool. However the greater part (80%) of the Irish population descends from the original inhabitants of the island who came after the end of the Ice Age. Although for many years the Irish were believed to be of "Celtic" origin, recent DNA evidence shows that people in the west of Ireland and the Welsh (and to a much lesser degree Scotland and England) have many genetic traits in common with the population in the north of Spain, formally known as Gallaecia [20]. Some theorize that, although Basque is certainly not a Celtic language, there may have been Celto-Basque cultural contact through the immigration of Gallaecians known as the pre-Celtic. This position is difficult to confirm because the information is relatively new. Culturally however, the Irish are undeniably Celtic, and more similar to the Scottish and Welsh peoples. Ireland's largest religious denomination is Roman Catholicism (about 70% for the entire island, and over 90% for the Republic), and most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the various Protestant denominations. The largest is the Anglican Church of Ireland. The Irish Muslim community is growing, mostly through increased immigration (see Islam in Ireland). The island also has a small Jewish community (See History of the Jews in Ireland), although this has declined somewhat in recent years. Since joining the EU in 2004, Polish people have been the largest source of immigrants (over 120,000) from Central Europe, followed by other migrants from Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Latvia. It is Ireland's high standard of living, high wage economy and EU membership that attract many of the migrants from the newest of the European Union countries. Also, Ireland has had a significant number of Romanian immigrants since the 1990s. Also in recent years, mainland Chinese have been migrating to Ireland in significant numbers. Nigerians, along with people from other African countries have accounted for a large proportion of the non-European Union migrants to Ireland. Crystal and Regent both offer Ireland Luxury Cruises. |
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