One important parallel between the cultures that is proven by physical structures still in existence are the mounds. From Tara and Newgrange to Carthage, Alabama and Circleville, Ohio, the evidence is there. The presence of the mounds ties in with another cultural similarity. Both the Irish and the Choctaw have a reverence for their elders and their ancestors. Burial cairns in Ireland and Choctaw burial mounds are holy places,revered and not to be disturbed.
Just begun reading Robert Silverberg's book, "The Mound Builders". One theme that was early evident to me was that settlers in the U.S. colonies were quick to surmise that such structures as the mounds found all over the east of the new land could not have been built by the native people peoples they encountered. Theories and myths abounded to attempt to explain the source of the mounds. Since the indigenous people and their ancestors were immediately discounted as the possible source, the only 'rational' explanation was that the mounds ere built by early invasions by a 'superior' (read 'white') race. Detailed treatises were published offering theories of the mounds being built by Vikings, Romans, and even the lost tribes of Israel or extraterrestrials. All indicating white supremacy, embedding the belief of entitlement, leading to the racist position of white privilege that is stuck in many minds today.
Amazing how theories based on little or no research, presented as fact can influence beliefs that lead to behaviors centuries later in a culture fraught with race riots.
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