Pic: The Belfast Telegraph

The Belfast Telegraph tells us Prehistoric mysteries uncovered in an archaeological dig at a Co Down road scheme have been revealed to the public   The team behind the dig at the A1 Loughbrickland road scheme has uncovered not just a Bronze Age burial ground but also a Neolithic settlement dating back some 6,500 years. The settlements, which contained a number of intriguing artefacts, lay on a finger of land which is believed to have been almost surrounded by water in prehistoric times. Three books on the finds have been published, including ‘Digging Down’, a children’s book, and a number of information boards at Loughbrickland lakeside were unveiled by Education Minister Caitriona Ruane this morning.

Kev Beachus, of Jacobs Engineering UK Ltd who headed the dig team, said that one-hectare site had contained a Bronze Age crematorium and round barrows containing the buried remains of eight or nine people.

“They had been ploughed into the field for years and years. On the top you didn’t know they were there, but when you dug deeper there they were,” he said.

“There were also three neolithic houses — the first to be excavated in Co Down. The three houses all dated to about 4,500BC. The barrows seem to have been in use for about 100-200 years and between the first use and end use is about 1,000 years. That means in 1,000 years we have had eight people buried. Where are the rest of them? That is the big question. Three of the houses burned down and radio carbon dating suggests that they were all burned at the same time. They were living on land between the lake and the bog and it looks like they exploited these for food and security,”

he added.

“We have evidence that they were making their own pottery and there is evidence that clay for the pottery came from the lake.” Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-07-02 08:30:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Daily Mail

On the 3rd October, the Daily Mail reported that archaeologists have discovered Stonehenge’s little sister – just a mile from the famous monument. The prehistoric circle, unearthed in secret over the summer, is one of the most important prehistoric finds in decades. Researchers have called it ‘Bluehenge’ after the colour of the 27 giant Welsh stones it once incorporated – but are now missing.

The find is already challenging conventional wisdom about how Stonehenge was built – and what it was used for.

Bluehenge was put up 5,000 years ago – around the same time as work began on Stonehenge – and appears to have been a miniature version of it.

The two circles stood together for hundreds of years before Bluehenge was dismantled. Researchers believe its stones were used to enlarge Stonehenge during one of a number of redevelopments.

Professor Tim Darvill, Stonehenge expert at Bournemouth University, said:

This adds to the richness of the story of Stonehenge.

We thought we knew it all, but over the last few years we have discovered that something as familiar as Stonehenge is still a challenge to explore and understand. It wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t more circles.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1217752/Henge-stones-Unearthed-site-monuments-little-sister.html#ixzz0TH2pbtTj

Originally posted 2009-10-07 17:58:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Felix in his wonderful Gaming Blog, tells us that straight after the final episode of Doctor Who the BBC ran a (very) short trailer which basically consisted of the following screen. He also found two Guardian news artciles that reveal some interesting facts.

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-07-07 17:45:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Forty years ago, archaeologist George Eogan became the first person in centuries to see the underground passage tomb at Knowth in Meath (Ireland), part of Brú na Bóinne (Bend of the Boyne), now a Unesco World Heritage site. A year earlier, in 1967, the Knowth excavation had uncovered a smaller underground passage leading in from the western face of the megalithic mound, but this larger east-side tomb surpassed it, recalls Eogan, a professor of archaeology at University College Dublin. “The western tomb was stunning but the east one was huge,” he says.

Pic: Spud Murphy

Knowth’s charms had lain undiscovered for hundreds of years before excavations started on the site 46 years ago, with Eogan present. The fourth volume in a series of books on the dig’s findings is published by the Royal Irish Academy later this month.

“We started at Knowth in 1962 and we have been there ever since,”

he says, detailing how the project has uncovered 18 satellite tombs around the great mound as well as unusual findings, such as a decorative flint macehead and a series of eight-century inscriptions within the passages and chambers.

But some of the findings pre-date all of that,

explains Eogan. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-11-29 10:50:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot! The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605.

Pic: James Michael Hill

Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres.  It makes one wonder if the burning of effigies was an echo of  the early Celtic practice of burning a sacrifice during  Samhain and the other fire festivals. (See the film The Wicker Man for popular imagery).  Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.

Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called “the Guy”.  There was an old tradition of children walking in the streets, carrying “the Guy” they have just made, and begging passers-by for “a penny for the Guy.” This tradition is less common today, although is still sometimes seen in small communities.

On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.  Traditional food is often served such as hot soups and potatoes wrapped in tin foil and cooked in the fire. Up to recent times it was common for people to set a fire in their gardens and set off their own fireworks with friends and family. Today there are many organised public bonfires and firework displays on or around November the 5th in England.

The extent of the celebrations and the size of the bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.

Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as “Pope Day” as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.

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Originally posted 2008-11-05 10:28:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Mr. Greenjeans

DARA MCBRIDE, staff writer for IrishCentral.com has researched the ten scariest Fey and monsters in Irish Celtic Mythology.  See how many you can guess before you look at the list

The ancient Celts had hundreds of deities, but as with most cultures, they had their demons as well. Some of the Celtic “monsters” were originally gods, but were later demonized as pagan creatures when many of the Celts became Christians. But the Celtic culture has always feared an array of evil forces.

How many did you guess ?  Time to check your answers

1. Dearg Due – the Irish vampire

Yes, Dracula himself is an Irish creation (Irishman Bram Stoker created the modern image of the monster in his masterpiece novel), but there’s also a vampire that resides right smack in the middle of Ireland.

Dearg-due, an Irish name meaning “red blood sucker,” is a female demon that seduces men and then drains them of their blood.

According to the Celtic legend, an Irish woman who was known throughout the country for her beauty, fell in love with a local peasant, which was unacceptable to her father.

Dad forced her into an arranged marriage with a rich man who treated her terribly, and eventually she committed suicide.

She was buried near Strongbow’s Tree in Waterford, and one night, she rose from her grave to seek revenge on her father and husband, sucking their blood until they dropped dead.

Now known as Dearg-due, the vampire rises once a year, using her beauty to lure men to their deaths.

Not to worry, though – there is one way to defeat Dearg-due.

To prevent the undead from rising from the grave, simply build a pile of stones over her grave. No, it won’t kill her, but at least you’ll hold her off until next year!

2. The Dullahan – the Irish headless horseman

Another legendary Irish monster is the Dullahan, a name that can be translated to “dark man.”

Often portrayed in contemporary fantasy fiction and video games, this foreteller of death is the Irish version of the headless horseman.

The Dullahan rides a headless black horse with flaming eyes, carrying his head under one arm. When he stops riding, a human dies.

Some versions of this legend say that the Dullahan throws buckets of blood at people he passes, while other say he simply calls out the name of the mortal that will soon die.

As with most evil forces, the Dullahan has a weakness – gold.

The creature is scared of the substance, so any lonely travelers this Halloween night would be wise to have some on him in case they have a run-in with this headless horror!

3. Banshee – the Irish wailing ghost

A famous Irish creature that some say teams up with the Dullahan is the Banshee.

One of the most recognizable Celtic creatures, having made a guest appearance in “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” and all, the Banshee is a female spirit whose wail, if heard outside of a house, foretells the death of one of its inhabitants.

Several versions of the Banshee legend say the feared ghost rode alongside the Dullahan in a black cart drawn by six black horses. The pair is said to whip the horses with a human spinal cord.

But most legends say the Banshee was terrifying enough on her own.

Descriptions of her appearance vary, from an ugly old hag to a beautiful young woman, but all agree that the creature’s blood curdling wail will be heard three times before someone dies.

4. Balor – the Celtic demon king

Balor is the demonic God of Death in Celtic mythology.

Sporting one eye and a single gigantic leg, the evil creature was King of the Fomori, demons who lived in the dark depths of lakes and seas.

Balor can kill someone just by staring at them with his evil eye, so he kept it closed most of the time, so as not to constantly be tripping over dead bodies.

The God of Death would provide his Fomori with victims, but the evil race was left to their own devices  when Balor was killed by his son Lug, who shot him with a slingshot.

Now the Fomori have returned to their waters and transformed into sea monsters who prey on humans.

Perhaps it’d be a good idea to stay away from any bodies of water this Halloween!

5. Sluagh – the dead Irish sinners

Though they’re not so much “demons,” Sluagh are scary creatures that hunt down souls.

According to Irish folklore, Sluagh are dead sinners that come back as malicious spirits.

These spirits come from the west, flying in groups like flocks of birds, and try to enter a house where someone is dying to take away that person’s soul.

Some Irish families would keep their west-facing windows shut at all times to keep the Sluagh out of their homes.

Some say the Sluagh is the Irish version of the Wild Hunt, a European folktale about ghostly hounds or spirits traveling around in packs foretelling of death and disaster.

6. Carman – the Celtic witch

Carman is the Celtic goddess of evil magic.

This destructive witch roamed around with her three evil sons: Dub (“darkness” in Irish), Dother (“evil”) and Dain (“violence”), destroying anything or anyone in their path.

Carman put a blight on Ireland’s crops and terrorized the Irish until the Tuatha De Danann, the “peoples of the goddess Danu,” used their magic to fight and defeat her, and drove her sons across the sea.

Guess this is one demon you can check off your list of scary creatures to worry about this Halloween.

7. Kelpie – the Celtic sea monster

The kelpie is a monster right out of Celtic myth. The creature can take on multiple shapes, but usually it appears in the form of a horse.
The kelpie galloped around Ireland, looking like a lost pony, attempting to trick women and children into riding on it. But the strange thing about this pony is that its mane would always be dripping with water.

If a woman hopped on, the monster would then run into the water, drowning its victim, and then would take her to its lair to eat her.

The Irish demon would sometimes transform into a handsome man to lure women to its trap, but a telltale sign that it was a kelpie was if that “man” had kelp in its hair.

Ladies, take note – meet a guy with seaweed on his head on Halloween night, don’t go home with him!

8. Caorthannach – the Celtic fire-spitter

Caorthannach, thought by some to be the devil’s mother, is a demon that was fought off by St. Patrick when he banished the snakes out of Ireland.

The saint is said to have stood on the mountain now known as Croagh Patrick and expelled all the serpents and demons out of the Emerald Isle into the sea to drown.

One monster, however, managed to escape – Caorthannach, the fire-spitter. The demon slid down a mountain away from the saint, but Patrick spotted her, and chased her down upon the fastest horse in Ireland, which was brought to him.

The pursuit was a long one, and Caorthannach knew St. Patrick would need water to quench his thirst along the way, so she spit fire as she fled, and poisoned every well she passed.

Though the saint was desperately thirsty, he refused to drink from the poisoned wells and prayed for guidance.

Patrick eventually made it to the Hawk’s Rock, where he waited for Caorthannach. As the demon approached, he jumped out from his hiding spot and banished her from Ireland with a single word.

The evil fire-spitter drowned in the ocean, leaving a swell behind that created the famous Hawk’s Well.

9. Leanan Sidhe – the evil Irish fairy-muse

Both a muse and a demon, Leanan Sidhe is another one of Ireland’s mythological vampires.

The fairy was a beautiful woman who was said to give inspiration to poets and musicians – but at the price of their lives.

She would make the artist her lover, sharing with them her intelligence, creativity and magic, but when she left, the men would be so depressed, they’d die.

Leanan Sidhe would then take her dead lovers back to her lair.

Rather than directly suck the blood of her victims, Leanan Sidhe got creative, and collected their blood in a giant red cauldron, which was the source of her beauty and artistic inspiration.

As with Dearg-due, to prevent the undead Leanan Sidhe from rising, one must put a cairn of stones over her resting place.

A tip to artists: perhaps you should look elsewhere for inspiration, rather than risking falling into the evil hands of the Leanan Sidhe!

10. Questing Beast – the Celtic hybrid monster

Another snake-like evil Celtic creature is the Questing Beast, a monster with the head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the backside of a lion and the hooves of a deer.
The beast’s constant cry was said to sound like the bark of 30 dogs.

The Questing Beast, known to be quick, was hunted down by many a knight, and in Celtic myth was chased by King Pellinore, an Arthurian character.

This beast appears not only in the legends of King Arhtur, but also in Edmund Spenser’s epic tale “The Faerie Queene,” which in part, tackles the troubled relationship between England and Ireland in the 16th century.

This is one scary creature you don’t have to worry about this Halloween – unless you dress up as a knight.

PHOTOS: The scariest demons from Celtic myth

Source

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: Bogensfreund

The first ever Code of Practice for Treasure Trove in Scotland is designed to ensure everyone involved with found objects of archaeological, historical or cultural significance understands the procedures which enable them to be claimed on behalf of the public. Since ancient times, the common law of Scotland has been that Treasure Trove and other property which is lost or abandoned, or has no obvious owner, belongs to the Crown.

They do not belong to the owner of the land where they were found, or to the finder, but are allocated to public museums for research or public exhibition.  The Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (QLTR) recognises the contribution of members of the public who make chance finds and will, in most cases, make an ex-gratia payment to the finder. The new Treasure Trove Code of Practice sets out the chain of responsibility for the various bodies involved and clarifies the process of determining the appropriate award for a particular object. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-02-17 10:03:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: National Museum of Denmark

Passage graves are mysterious barrows from the Stone Age. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen indicates that the Stone Age graves’ orientation in the landscape could have an astronomical explanation. The Danish passage graves are most likely oriented according to the path of the full moon, perhaps even according to the full moon immediately before a lunar eclipse. The results are published in the scientific journal Acta Archaeologica.

Claus Clausen, who graduated as astronomer from the Niels Bohr Institute, has also always been interested in archeology. There are many Stone Age graves in Denmark, where archaeologists estimate that around 40.000 large stone graves were built from around 3500 to 3000 BC. Only about 500 of the large passage graves, called giant tombs (in Danish Jaettestuer) are preserved today, but one of the great mysteries is their orientation in the landscape. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-01-04 21:00:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: raiadiff

The Clearwater Times comments on the resurgence of interest in Celtic Christianity. It says: Many evangelicals and pentecostals have left their denominations to join more ancient and liturgical denominations because they found that the time tested liturgies of those denominations better addressed their inner needs. For many that is a quantum leap.

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-12-04 11:34:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Longship Model Pic: BBC

The BBChave reported that a windswept barley field just south of Dundalk seems an unlikely spot for Ireland’s capital. But if things had been different, Annagassan near Castlebellingham might have been the principal city on the island of Ireland.Twelve hundred years ago it was the site of Linn Duchaill, one of the first Viking settlements, which rivalled Dublin in size and importance.

Folklore said it was there, but all traces of it had disappeared, until a group of archaeologists and local historians set out to prove its existence.

Extensive field research and test digs have now done that.

What they found was a huge fortified settlement up to 150 acres in size, established by 841AD where the Vikings built and repaired their ships, traded and raided into the surrounding countryside.

Artist and historian Micheál McKeown was one of those who carried out extensive field research.

Raids

He said the Vikings sailed their ships about a mile upstream in the River Glyde, then built a heavily defended position by digging a long trench between the river and the Irish Sea, to completely cut themselves off.

“Dublin developed more as a trading town, this appeared to be more of a raiding town,” he said.

“From here they attacked inland, they flattened all the monasteries in County Louth, they went to Armagh three times in one year, they went as far as the Shannon, deep into Longford.

“So there had to be a great amount of Vikings here. I would estimate four or five thousand Vikings here with up to 200 ships.”

Test trenches were dug at the site in August last year and a host of items were found.

They included ships rivets, off-cuts of silver, which the Vikings used as currency, and a tiny weighing scale.

Those are now on show at an exhibition in Dundalk’s Louth County Museum, along with other items recovered years ago in the same area, including a slave chain, and an axe head – all of Viking vintage.

Read the full article on the BBC website.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.