A study of digital dermatoglyphics in Ireland

Handprints obtained from 600 Irish subjects (274 males and 326 females), drawn from all counties of Ireland, were analysed. There was no clear evidence of any differences between the four great provinces of Ireland, nor between east and west, such as were shown by comprehensive blood group data, and it is concluded that Ireland can be regarded as dermatoglyphically homogeneous. Comparisons of the Irish quantitative and qualitative digital dermatoglyphics with those from other samples in Britain, and from other European countries, show that Ireland occupies a near-extreme position in the European range. These results are regarded as compatible with the interpretation from blood group evidence, that Ireland represented a region of refuge for an ancient population in the face of continuing colonizing pressure from the east in prehistoric and historic times, and traces of that ancient population are detectable in the genepool today.