Folks,
My family here on Beare island, have always been known as the
[blacks] just because we are mostly black-haired or dark red with swarthy complexions, to distinguish us from other families in the area with the same surname; of which there are many.
My daughter-in-law is from Galicia in northern Spain.I've holidayed there on numerous occasions and most of the people in the that area, especially around the big alumina plant look like me and mine.
It has nothing to do with the Spanish Armada and all to do with the healthy trade that built up along the western sea-board between us and northern Spain
Relations between England and Spain were rarely cordial so a dog-leg across Biscay and up the west coast of Ireland was normal. My great grandfather and grand-father both done the Camino de Santiago.