Was Tony Blair's grandmother Lipsett Jewish?

Answer 1

Unlikely .The Lipsett family of Ballyshannon are believed to have arrived in Ireland from possibly Germany in the 17th Century and fought with King William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. For their loyalty to the protestant cause they were apparenlty given land by King Billie around Cashel in Co.Donegal. The family remained almost exclsusively protestant "Irish planters" in Donegal up until this day. Whereas it may be possible that the Lipsetts were of Ashkenazi Jewish origin , the fact of their being essentailly protestant mercenaries some 400 years ago suggests that this would not probably be the likley profile for European continental Jewry at that time. More likley they were of German or Flemish low country ancestry.