Pic: Tucson Celtic Festival

Celebrate the history and culture of Scotland, Ireland and Wales just as it’s been done for centuries… with lots of great music, dancing, food, athletic events and way too much fun! Enjoy great Entertainers all day long, massed Bagpipe Bands, great Food, unique Celtic Merchants, Scottish Clans, Heritage & Cultural Booths, Historic Re-enactments, Highland Athletics & more. Stop by the Dance Stage for Irish & Scottish dance performances. You can even join in for a workshop! Cheer on your favorites in the Celtic Music, Highland Dance and Solo Bagpipe Competitions! There are games, crafts, jumping castles, storytelling, a petting zoo and even a Junior Highland Games Athletics for the kids! New to the Festival this year is the life-sized Board Game, Quest of the Castle Keep, in the Urchins’ Corner. Did we mention Sheepherding demonstrations?

So says the website of the 2008 Tucson Celtic Festival which starts tonight and lasts all weekend. I’m definitely up for the Urchins’ Corner Continue Reading »

The Website of Unknowning reviews this book and says: This big, gorgeous book with Patrick and Brigid on the cover belongs in the library of any lover of Celtic Christianity. Edward Sellner is a natural storyteller, a worthy successor to the great Irish bards of old. In this book he collects together folklore and tales concerning the lives and miracles of over 25 holy men and women from the golden age of Celtic Christianity — the sixth through the ninth centuries — featuring saints both renowned (David of Wales, Kevin of Glendalough, Brendan on Clonfert) and lesser known (Declan of Ardmore, Petroc of Padstow). Introductory chapters on the nature of Celtic spirituality help to orient the reader to the mystical world of the Celtic saints, and gorgeous illustrations by Susan McLean-Keeney add to the charm.

Sean on Amazon tells us that:

Sellner, an associate professor of pastoral theology, brings historical interest and spiritual insight to his fine book on the celtic saints. Continue Reading »

Pic: The Irish Image Collection/Corbis

Tarawatch reports that the Hill of Tara features in a new book entitled ‘500 Places to See Before They Disappear‘, published October 20 by Frommers, and written by Holly Hughes. This is further evidence of how negatively the international community still views the M3 motorway works. Tara is currently on the 100 Most Endangered Sites List published by the World Monuments Fund in 2008, and will remain on the watch list until 2010. The entry in the Hughes book for Tara reads, in part: “Hill of Tara, Co Meath, Ireland: The ancient seat of Ireland’s high kings is threatened by the proposed M3 highway which runs close by and is due to open in 2010″ The Frommers web site catalogue reads as follows:

500 Places to See Before They Disappear enables passionate travelers and the eco-conscious to learn about and plan a visit to see rare cultural, historic, and natural places before they are irrevocably altered or even gone forever. Here are one-of-a-kind landscapes, fragile ecosystems, rare bird habitats, places to see the last remaining species of big game in the wild, cityscapes in peril, vanishing cultural kitsch, petroglyphs, and more—500 thoughtfully- chosen treasures that will inspire and enlighten travellers of all ages. Each entry explains why it’s been included, gives its history, the nature of the threat against it, brief practical information on how to visit, and what visitors can to do protect it. A Geographical Index allows travellers to locate attractions across the world.

Continue Reading »

Hungate excavations project director Peter Connelly said:

To find these timbers so well preserved is very exciting. Viking cellars were used in different ways by different people, much in the same way as cellars are used today. Craftspeople appear to have worked out of their cellars as well as using them for storage, with the living quarters on the floor above.

The trust is carrying out the excavations in York over a five-year period on behalf of Hungate (York) Regeneration Ltd, a joint venture between Crosby Lend Lease, Evans Property Group and Land Securities, which are creating the new Hungate neighbourhood.

Read the full story at The York Press.

Pic: gary

In this story, which is part 2 of the 2 part story of Fintan, we hear the tale of the oldest and greatest Seanachi or Story-teller of Ireland and how he meets his end. Before he does however, he meets the world’s oldest Hawk, an old friend never before seen, and they share their life histories. It was the job of the Shannachie to travel the land of Erin and collect stories from far-flung corners and this tale tells of his long life and his place in the history of the magical Isle of Erin. He first appears in the Histories before the great flood and the first settlers of Erin and doesn’t disappear until well into the historical period, this tale taking place around 600 A.D.

We are very fortunate to have again been given permission to use the amazing harp music of Anne Roos for the Story of Fintan and you can hear three of her tracks when Fintan picks up his harp and begins to tell his tale. You can find out more details about Anne in the Shownotes for this episode or on her Contributor page.

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Pic: BBC

The BBC reports that the chief executive of MG Alba will ask the BBC Trust to consider allowing the broadcast of the new Gaelic digital television channel on Freeview. Programmes, launched a month ago, are available on Sky and Freesat, but it was not planned to show them on Freeview for another two years.

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said the Scottish Government had been very impressed at the reaction to the programmes. She added:

As we consider the recommendations of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission’s report, it’s great that BBC Alba has launched with such distinctive and high quality programming.

The culture minister said she would support efforts to secure the coverage.

[Source]

Pic: Metro

It may look like a grubby bit of rock but this ancient carving has caused a stir among archaeologists and hedgehog lovers, Metro.co.uk reports. It is a prehistoric toy hedgehog and was unearthed from a three-year-old child’s grave at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

Thought to be about 2,500 years old, it is the earliest known depiction of a hedgehog in Britain.

Amid the aura of gloom that surrounds Stonehenge, it comes as a beam of light to find a child’s toy.

said archaeologist Dennis Price.

[Source]

Pic: Kormákur & Chydzik

Agreements have been reached with producers that a huge Hollywood movie on Vikings directed by Iceland’s leading director Baltasar Kormákur and written by Icelandic screenwriter Ólafur Egilsson will be shot in Iceland. It is by far the largest project that I have ever participated in. We are talking about an USD 40 to 60 million [EUR 23 to 44 million] movie. Huge deal. Kormákur told Fréttabladid.

The movie is based on scenes from the Icelandic Sagas and has been introduced as a “spaghetti-western-Viking-movie.” Shooting is scheduled to take six months and the story takes place in winter, spring and summer. The film’s working title is Saga.

Its production demands considerable manpower and is expected to have extensive positive effects on Iceland’s film industry and the country’s economy as a whole.

Saga has the same producers as Kormákur’s Inhale (formerly known as Run for Her Life), a company called 26 Film.

The company’s representative Michelle Chydzik Sowa is currently in Iceland and on Friday she and Kormákur flew over the highlands in a helicopter to scout shooting locations.

See the full article in visir.is

[Source]

Pic: Ysgol Llandegfan

The Welsh Daily Post reports that pupils at an Anglesey school are to be given reward points for speaking Welsh to each other in the playground. Teachers at Welsh medium school Ysgol Llandegfan have introduced the scheme to encourage pupils to use the “language of heaven” at playtime.

It comes full circle from the 19th century attempt to wipe out the language in schools, when children heard speaking Welsh had a piece of wood hung around their necks.

The pupil with the “Welsh Not” at the end of the day was lashed. Continue Reading »

Pic: Beyond the Veil

We are very proud to announce our second Special Guest Blogger and it is none other than Sela Carsen; paranormal, historical and romance author. She has titles such as Not Quite Dead, Love & Lore, The Virgin Courtesan and Romance by the Cup available as well as anthologies of short stories. You can find her work at Samhain Publishing as well as on the Sela Carsen website. Here she turns her hand and her keen eye for research to the subject of Breton Mythology. Let’s pass you over to her… At the very northwestern tip of France lies a region called Brittany, or Bretagne. Directly north of it, across the English Channel, is Cornwall. And a very long time ago, they weren’t so different from each other.

When the Romans came to Gaul, they called the area “Armorica.” Trade between Armorica and Britain had been long established and Brittany had far more in common with Cornwall than with its Frankish neighbors to the south. They even shared a language across the strip of sea. Continue Reading »