Some researchers have suggested the concept of "Black Irish" as the descendants of Spanish sailors was created and popularized in the 19th and 20th centuries by [[Irish Americans]] in the [[United States]] seekingwho wanted to conceal interracial children produced with [[African Americans]]. Academics researching the multi-racial [[Melungeon]] ethnic identity and other Native American groups in the southern United States found that "Black Irish" was amongst a dozen myths about Spanish sailors or other "dark" European ancestors used to disguise the African heritage of interracial children.<ref name="Vande Brake">{{cite book |last=Vande Brake |first=Katherine |author-link= |date=August 2009 |title=Through the Back Door: Melungeon Literacies and Twenty-first-century Technologies |url= |location= |publisher= Mercer University Press |page= |isbn= |quote=Calling someone "Black Dutch" or "Black Irish" was a way to acknowledge the person's dark skin without insinuating a Negro ancestor}}</ref><ref name="Estes">{{cite journal |last1=Estes |first1=Roberta |date=2010 |title=Revealing American Indian and Minority Heritage Using Y-line, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X Chromosomal Testing Data Combined with Pedigree Analysis |url=https://dna-explained.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Revealing-American-Indian-Heritage-Pedigree-Analysis.pdf |journal=Journal of Genetic Genealogy |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages= |doi= |access-date= |quote=Any classification other than white meant in terms of social and legal status that these people were lesser citizens. Therefore, Native American or African heritage that was not visually obvious was hidden and sometimes renamed to much less emotionally and socially charged monikers, such as "Black Dutch", "Black Irish" and possibly also Portuguese.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hirschman |first1=Elizabeth C. |last2=Panther-Yate |first2=Donald |date=2007 |title=Suddenly Melungeon! Reconstructing Consumer Identity Across the Color Line |url=https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1016/S0885-2111(06)11011-X/full/html |journal=Consumer Culture Theory |series=Research in Consumer Behavior |volume=11 |issue= |pages=252 |doi=10.1016/s0885-2111(06)11011-x |isbn=978-0-7623-1446-1 |access-date=8 December 2023 |quote=While some contemporary Melungeons are quite light complexioned, even having blonde or red hair and fair skin, the majority are darker, with what is commonly described as ‘‘olive’’ or ‘‘copper’’ toned skin, brunette or black hair, and dark brown eyes. Ironically, despite having Mediterranean or Middle Eastern physiognomies, many Melungeons grew up confident of their ostensibly Northern or Western European ancestry. This self-deception often originated with parents or grandparents who told the individual that s/he was Scotch–Irish, English, French, and/or German. If challenged by the skeptical child that s/he seemed to be darker than most Scottish or German persons, the parent/grandparent might reply that this was due to some Black Dutch or Black Irish ancestry}}</ref> A primary source told researchers, "They would say they were "Black Dutch" or "Black Irish" or "Black French", or Native American. They’d say they were anything but Melungeon because anything else would be better ... because to be Melungeon was to be discriminated against."<ref name="Podber">{{cite journal |last1=Podber |first1=Jacob J. |date=September 2008 |title=Creating Real and Virtual Communities Among the Melungeons of Appalachia |url=https://dspace.nku.edu/bitstream/handle/11216/1295/Creating.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Journal of Kentucky Studies |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |access-date=}}</ref>
In the early to mid-20th century, the myth of the 'Black Irish' was used occasionally by [[Aboriginal Australians]] to [[Passing (racial identity)|racially pass]] themselves into white Australian society.<ref name="Hughes">{{cite journal |last1=Karen |first1=Hughes |date=2017 |title=Mobilising across colour lines: Intimate encounters between Aboriginal women and African American and other allied servicemen on the World War II Australian home front |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/5e898beabb25aebee88288f5f9d1d916/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=5048050 |journal=Aboriginal History |volume=41 |issue= |pages=47–70 |doi= 10.22459/AH.41.2017.03|access-date=|doi-access=free |quote=Black Irish’ is a popularly used term to account for people in Ireland with dark hair or complexions, thought to be descended from the Spanish Armada. Occasionally in Australia, Aboriginal people seeking to escape widespread discrimination borrowed the moniker ‘black Irish’ to conceal their identity, particularly in the early to mid-twentieth century when state-sanctioned child removal was especially rampant.}}</ref>
