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Notes -
It might be, which has no bearing on its reality.
Lost the source but I recall reading that in fact Irish immigrants were ruthlessly genetically culled for generations in the era before the welfare state. Apparently most of them have few or no surviving descendants. Those who do, have been selected for traits more in line with modern society.
My understanding is that the modern narrative of "See Irish were originally thought of as different but now we know better" is deeply unfounded.
ETA: Quick searching indicates that the majority of Irish immigrants to the US died without forming families. Mainly this seems to have to do with hard working conditions, poor access to nutrition, and disease in overcrowded slums, but if those aren't effective mechanisms of selection I don't know what is. The ones who escaped or overcame those filters reproduced and here we are today.
So yeah, take the top couple deciles of Irish immigrants and fast forward to the present and I'm not surprised that they're about average. Especially given the inevitable admixture over that time frame.
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