Pagan Goddess Brigid Pic: alter-eye

Brigit, a poetess, daughter of the Dagda, This is Brigit the female sage, or woman of wisdom, Brigit the goddess whom poets adored because very great and very famous was her protecting care. It is therefore they call her goddess of poets by this name. Whose sisters were Brigit the female physician [woman of leechcraft,] Brigit the female smith [woman of smithwork]; from whose names with all Irishmen, a goddess was called Brigit.” (Sanas Chormaic – Cormac’s Glossary, trans. & ann. by John O’Donovan, ed w/notes & indices by Whitley Stokes, Calcutta, Cutter, 1868)

MOTHER OF THE THREE FIRES

Brigit is not only the goddess of inspiration, the Gael also call upon her for protection. Poets, doctors and smiths all practice arts requiring intelligence, skill and inspiration. Brigit is also called Mother of the Three Fires. She is the patroness and guardian of the forge fire, the hearth fire, and the ‘fire in the head’. Brigit bestows the gift of courage on those who invoke her name.

As Mother of Poets, Brigit grants wisdom and inspiration to bards, storytellers, and people who create with words.

As Lady of the Hearth Fire she protects the home and family. The first doctors are and were mothers. We have only to recall childhood experiences to remember to whom we went for healing when we were hurt or ill.

In many cultures grandmothers are the repositories of traditional healing practices. It is the grandmothers who teach their daughters and granddaughters which herbs are used to treat illnesses and injuries. This wisdom includes how and when to gather the plant, where to find it in each season, which part of the plant – leaf, root, stem, or all – is used, and how the remedy is prepared and administered.

This traditional knowledge is also available to sons and grandsons but in hunter/forager societies men and boys spend less time with their mothers and grandmothers than women and girls do. Therefore, since all folk were originally hunter/foragers, the healing arts were first known to and developed by women. ¹

As Lady of the Forge Fire, Brigit bestows the gifts of invention, dexterity, strength, endurance, protection in adversity, and courage on the smith. The smith’s art requires all of these elements. It may seem odd to think of courage as one of the attributes of a good smith but upon reflection we see courage is an essential part of the smith’s craft.

In her aspect of Mother of Smiths Brigit gives us the gift of courage.

WHAT IS FEAR?

Brigit, a poetess, daughter of the Dagda, This is Brigit the female sage, or woman of wisdom, Brigit the goddess whom poets adored because very great and very famous was her protecting care. It is therefore they call her goddess of poets by this name. Whose sisters were Brigit the female physician [woman of leechcraft,] Brigit the female smith [woman of smithwork]; from whose names with all Irishmen, a goddess was called Brigit.” (Sanas Chormaic – Cormac’s Glossary, trans. & ann. by John O’Donovan, ed w/notes & indices by Whitley Stokes, Calcutta, Cutter, 1868)

Bridget’s Forge Pic: Flaxton Forge

To understand courage we must first understand fear.

A life lived in fear is, quite literally, hopeless. How can we hope to realize our dreams if fear blocks the way? And yet, we all fear. The question is: How do we keep fear from ruining our lives?

We begin by learning all we can about fear. Fear is the natural physical, mental, and emotional response to any real or perceived threat to our well-being. When we are threatened our bodies go on alert. Adrenalin production increases. All of our muscles tense as we prepare to either fight or run for our lives. Our heart rate increases, we breathe more rapidly. Oxygen rich blood flows through our veins, giving us the extra energy we need to fight or run.

When we are in immediate danger we sometimes feel time has been altered. Our lives flash before our eyes or everything seems to be happening in slow motion. This is the mental response to fear. We become preternaturally aware of every detail in our environment. Things we would not usually notice are brought into instant focus. This mental response helps us instantly decide which action to take to escape from danger.

There appear to be two main emotional reactions – detachment and denial. Of these, detachment is by far the better. Detachment allows us to remove ourselves emotionally from the crisis so our bodies can react instantly to danger. The denial response has the opposite effect. We freeze and are unable to avoid the danger. The body is on alert, ready to act. The rational mind is processing information at lightening speed, ready to direct the body to action. The feeling mind denies the danger, overthrows the rational mind, and the body is left with no orders – we are petrified, literally ‘turned to stone’, frozen in place by fear.

THE THREE FEARS

Fear is our reaction to danger. There is, however, more than one type of fear. There are three kinds of fear: instant fear, rational fear, and irrational fear.

Instant Fear

Instant fear – fear of immediate danger – is one we seldom experience. This essential survival response is the fear we feel when we realize we are in immediate physical danger. This is the fear under fire on the battlefield, the fear we feel the instant before the car crash. When we encounter any situation in which we are immediately threatened with physical injury we react instantly with fear. Many people enjoy the natural high obtained during moments of danger and seek out ostensibly dangerous situations such as riding monster roller coasters and participating in extreme sports in order to induce the fear reaction. Some thrill-seekers are addicted to fear.

Rational Fear

Rational fear – fear based on reason – is an important survival response. Rational fear consists of conscious or unconscious threat assessment. That assessment depends on information we receive immediately from our senses and also from past experience or report.

Rational fear is the internal voice warning me not to walk alone and unarmed into the dark alley. The actual threat may or may not be real. According to the odds, no mugger is waiting in the dark alley. Nevertheless, my senses tell me if there is a mugger I am at a disadvantage in that my eyes are not dark adapted because I am leaving a lighted environment and going into an unlighted one.

Past experience warns me I am physically weaker than most men. If there is a mugger in the alley he is almost certainly stronger than me, and he may have a weapon. Past reports of muggings in dark alleys remind me to exercise caution in this situation. Therefore, I decide to walk round the block in the lighted street, rather than risk a mugging in an alley.

Of course, responding to rational fear by staying on the main street does not ensure I will not be mugged. It does ensure I will not be mugged in that particular alley on that particular night.

There is a second kind of rational fear. This is the fear we feel when we know we are required to do some hard thing we do not want to do. People who live with chronic pain understand this fear very well. There are days when just getting out of bed is painful. Steeling oneself to experience pain and suffering on a daily basis takes a special kind of courage.

Irrational Fear

Irrational fear – fear for no reason – is the fear we feel when we are not in immediate danger and there is no reason to avoid any threat. In other words, irrational fear is fear without cause. This is the fear children demonstrate when they refuse to sleep without a nightlight. Fear of the dark, of the boogey-man, of the monster under the bed, or the specter in the closet are all terrors many of us experienced as children.

Adults also experience irrational fear. Sometimes these fears are programmed into us when we are children. Sometimes there is no discernable reason for the fear at all. Why is one person afraid of snakes and another of horses when neither of them has ever encountered a snake or a horse? Psychologists have one explanation, people who believe in reincarnation another. Neither are much good if they do not help us deal with our irrational fears. Irrational fear is crippling. Irrational fear limits us as much as a physical disability may. A man or woman who is deaf, blind or confined to a wheelchair may still, against all odds discover ways to accomplish their goals and lead full, rich, enriching lives. A man or woman chained to an irrational fear is truly a prisoner, a slave to their self-imposed limitations.

Courage is the necessary virtue if one intends to lead a full, rich, and enriching life. Like all virtues, courage is an act of will.

COURAGE

Many imagine courage means being brave when one is endangered or afraid. Reference to the Oxford English Dictionary reveals some surprising definitions of the word courage. Indeed, the definition of courage as bravery, boldness or valour is the fourth listed. According to the OED, courage is from the Old French word corage. Courage is originally the heart or seat of feeling, thought, one’s spirit, mind, disposition and nature. Courage is also is what we are thinking or intending, according to the second definition it is our intention, purpose, desire, or inclination.

The third definition states courage is spirit, livliness, lustiness, vigour, and the vital force of nature. Bravery, boldness, and valour – the quality of mind which shows itself in facing danger without fear or shrinking is our fourth definition. Finally, there is another meaning – encourage, to take courage, take heart, or fill oneself or another with courage.

All of these meanings add to our understanding of courage. Courage is a virtue we may culitvate. None of us can escape fear. Fear is, as we have discovered, a natural reaction of our bodies and minds to external and internal stimuli. Courage is how we live with fear.

Battlefield courage, bravery, is often an instinctive reaction to danger. A man or woman reacting to preserve his/her own life and the lives of comrades. This is the courage it takes to throw oneself into the water to rescue someone drowning. Afterwards, during the media interviews we hear these heroines/heroes say: “It was nothing. I just did what I had to do. Anyone would have done the same.”

But there is another kind of courage. The courage of intention. The courage of doing that which needs doing no matter how painful, how boring, how seemingly unrewarding. The courage to love the unlovable. The courage to see myself as others see me. The courage to live well in the face of fear. The courage to strike while the iron is hot.

This is the courage – the spirit, mind, intention, purpose, disposition, nature, and heart – of the smith.

THE GREAT WORK

In many cultures the smith was also a shaman. All worlds meet in the forge. The smith is master of all the elements. The smith hammers and shapes earth, in the form of ore, transmuted through the element of fire superheated by bellowed air, and finally plunges his/her creation into water to complete the process of transformation.

Brigit is not merely the Mother of Smiths. She is a smith. Her forge is within Croghan Hill near Kildare, the centre of her cult from time out of mind. Within the hill she eternally forges the great cauldron, the Undry – the cauldron containing all of creation, the vessel containing the great pouring seas. Brigit the Smith is creatrix nonpareil. She creates not only with her womb but also with her hands, head, and heart. One wonders if the first smiths were women. It was they who tended the hearth fires. They were the ones most likely to notice copper-veined hearthstones transformed by heat. There is no way to know now, we have fogotten more than we will ever be able to remember.

Nevertheless, smiths were often healers in pre-Christian cultures. Anvil cures were still being performed in the Highlands of Scotland well into the 20th century. Smiths also performed rituals usually associated with priests. Lovers may still be married by the smiths of Gretna Green. The smith is shaman, healer, inventor, scientist and engineer. Inspiration flows from Brigit in three streams – healing, poetry, and invention.

Without courage no one can be a healer or a poet or a smith. This is why Brigit adds the gift of courage when she blesses us with her other gifts.

This is the great work of the shaman: To make and mend, to help and heal. To dwell in perfect shining moment, in the heart of the mystic rose, and be love in action.

The healer helps and heals. The smith makes and mends. The poet celebrates their accomplishments and inspires all of us to continue the great work.

ENDNOTES:

1. In agricultural, semi-sedentary, and sedentary pastoral societies men and boys spend more time in the company of women, especially during winter months when herds and flocks are brought in from distant pastures and the annual agricultural cycle of sowing, tending, reaping and storing crops is complete. It is at this phase of cultural development one expects to see transference of information between mothers and sons increase. 
   
2. Faery Shaman’s Code of Ethics, Copyright © 2001 by Tira Brandon-Evans is excerpted from The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shamans Handbook, Copyright © 2001 by Tira Brandon-Evans. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be used, copied or reproduced in any way whatsoever, including Internet usage or through other electronic means, without permission in writing from Tira Brandon-Evans and Elder Grove Press. (Society of Celtic Shamans - www.faeryshaman.org. Elder Grove Press - www.faeryshaman.org/egpdex.htm.

Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans, an editor of Earthsongs: Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, and is, herself, a Faery Shaman. Her books, The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shaman’s Handbook, Portals of the Seasons: A Celtic Wheel of the Year, The Labyrinthine Way: Walking Ancient Paths in a Modern World, and Healing Waters, are all published by Elder Grove Press. She is presently writing a book about the Ogham. You may contact Tira by email.

Brigit: Mother of Smiths copyright © 2004 by Tira Brandon-Evans, all rights reserved. Used with permission

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The henge at Lismullin, County Meath Pic: History of the World

Anne Connon (Ohio Dominican University) writes in the Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual for 2013 that the henge at Lismullin, County Meath may be an Iron Age Temple dedicated to Lugh. A summary of her article says: This paper was the first and dealt with Celtic Iron Age archaeology. It also touched on some of the controversy surrounding the the M3 motorway built near Tara Hill that sparked outrage and protests in the autumn of 2007. Attempts to prevent the build were ultimately unsuccessful and parts of the site are now covered by road.

The Enclosure

Connon showed a picture relative to the Hill of Tara. Physically, the enclosure is located within a hollow, and there is a prehistoric hill-fort overlooking the territory. Archaeologists discovered holes in a circumference in 2007 and noticed something was there; this grew into a salvage archaeology project. The temple grounds were 80m wide, and date to the fifth century B.C.. Connon showed a digital mock up of what they believed the site actually looked in the fifth century B.C. and a book on the dig called, “Harvesting the Stars” was published two weeks ago. The enclosure was felt to be a religious site of worship to the pagan God, Lug. Lug (or Lugh) was an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. He is known for his skill with a spear or sling, associated with Lughnasadh fairs that took place on August 1st and in the popular Ulster Cycle, he fathered Cúchulainn. In the early fifth century, there was a climate change (approximately  in 460) and the circularity of the enclosure was believed to be built to try and draw in the sun. Sadly, the site was only used for a few generations and then abandoned.

The Etymology of Lismullin

The name derives from Les Mo-ling, ‘the fort or place of Mo-Ling’ and the cult of St. Mo-ling who died in the seventh century. There are actually two etymologies suggested: a.) Scholar John O’Donovan suggested that Les Muilinn meant, “The fort or place of the mill” b.) Padraig Ó Riain suggested that the greater likelihood was that a church, not a mill gave name to the parish of Lismullin. There is also evidence in the Martyrology of Turin that was likely created for the nunnery at Lismullin. There is proof that Lismullin was church land and evidence of the cult of Mo-ling in County Meath. Connon looked at entries for Mo-ling and the Cult of Lug in the A Dictionary of Irish Saints. It is believed that Mo-ling was an avatar of Lug. Lug means “The Shining One” in Middle Irish, and is associated with the harvest. She also noted a few parallels between the Middle Irish “Life of Mo-Ling” and “Cath Maige Tuired”. Acallam points to links between Finn (avatar of Lug) and Mo-Ling. If the cult of Mo-Ling has absorbed the cult of Lug, then might the Lismullin enclosure be a part of cult of Lug? this might be the case as has been suggested in the nearby hill fort named Rath Lugh. Connon then asked the question: Is there anything about the enclosure that corresponds to a cult of Lug that we can notice?

Lug as a Sun God

The idea of this came from the description in Irish texts was because he was called “The Shining One” and associated with brightness but this was later discounted. He became associated with Lug as Mercury but this was again challenged in 1995 and swung back to the notion that he was a sun God. The avenue entering the enclosure is in alignment with the Pleiades “the Seven Sisters” constellation. Could Lug have an association with the stars? The Seven Sisters are also heralds of the harvest but this is speculative and not completely conclusive. Unfortunately, there is no continuity, i.e., there are no other sites dedicated to Lug to compare this site to. I really enjoyed this paper. It was fascinating and well presented. There were fantastic slides referencing the location and showing what the original site might have looked like. The history of the area and the background of Lug was very interesting. It was an excellent paper to start this conference.

[Source]

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Archaeologists in Co. Meath Pic: Irish Times

An archaeological site in Co Meath has been relying on the public for its dig outs, and has created a community-led heritage project in the process the Irish Times reports. Last August, archaeologists raised a goblet of mead in celebration when the skeleton of Richard III was unearthed under a carpark in Leicester. Now, an Irish team of archaeologists are hoping to find an ancestor of Richard III – in a patch of waste ground in Trim, Co Meath, just behind the local supermarket.

Beneath this four-acre rectangle of scrubby grass, bordered by a housing estate, lie the foundations of a 13th-century Dominican blackfriary, and a team of have been excavating the site, which contains many skeletons. They hope that one of these may be skeleton of sir Geoffrey de Geneville, a French nobleman who founded the friary.

Okay, he wasn’t a monarch, but he was well in with both king Henry III and his successor, king Edward I, and was appointed lord of Trim in 1252 and justiciar of Ireland in 1273. He and his wife, Maud de Lacy, the granddaughter of Walter de Lacy, lived at nearby Trim castle and were quite the power couple around medieval Meath. After Maud’s death in 1304, de Geneville retired to the friary, and is believed to have been buried there.

There’s a long way to go to identifying the exact skeleton – the team would need funding to do DNA testing, so let’s not break out the mead just yet. But for Steve Mandal, Lisanne O’Loughlin and Finola O’Carroll of CRDS, an archaeological and historical consultancy, there’s more to celebrate than the possible discovery of a medieval bigwig’s bones. The real excitement, says Mandal, comes from the project’s connection with the local community.

Mandal and his team set up the Blackfriary Community Archaeology Project in 2010, with support from Trim Town Council and Meath County Council, to excavate the site, determine the extent of the friary’s remains and the burials there, and to get the community and students involved via summer camps, educational programmes and information events. Recently, Mandal and O’Loughlin were invited to give a talk about the project at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Each summer, the site is a hive of activity as local and international students attend the field school in the hope of making a find – perhaps a utensil from the era, or a fragment of stained glass, or maybe even a medieval bishop’s skull. Most of the burials are just a few feet below mostly damp ground, and are in danger of completely decaying within another generation if they’re not properly excavated. It’s a delicate task, both physically and ethically. The human remains need to be treated with respect, and properly reinterred.

Impressive structure

The original Dominican friary was an impressive structure, built with Purbeck limestone, a beautiful, shell-flecked marble imported from Dorset. No expense was spared in choosing building materials, but it was reckoned to be worth it – from the time of Hugh de Lacy, who became lord of Meath during the Norman Invasion, up until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, Trim was a political, religious and economic power base, encompassing Meath, Westmeath and parts of Louth.

Read the full article on the Irish Times website.

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The CMP Logo Pic: Celtic Myth Podshow

This is the second half of our super show celebrating the Spring Equinox and Ostara! We’ve got another 4 great pieces of music, a charming piece from a book by W.B. Yeats called Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (and published in 1888!) about the Fairies and a man called Frank Martin who has ‘The Sight’ and our amazing story by Ceri Norman from her superb book, Celtic Maidens. You’ll hear an amazing poem by Rick Allen, as well as music by SJ Tucker, Damh the Bard, the Connemara Stone Company and James Olin Oden! We also announce the winner of the Competition for the Celtic Twist CD, The Visit, that we set in CMP SP34, the Imbolc Show..

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section. 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.

You can now also hear our show on Stitcher Radio – whenever you want to!

We hope you enjoy it!

Gary & Ruthie x x x

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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 Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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The “Welsh Not” Pic: Tom Law

The British Empire used language to control their various colonies during the C19th writes Tom Law in the Sabotage Times. The power of the anti-Welsh Language feeling can be seen during the late C19th with the practice of ‘Welsh Not’. The ‘WN’ initials were carved onto a wooden plaque which school kids were made to wear around their neck if heard speaking Welsh in the classroom. The pupil wearing the plaque at the end of the day would be beaten. It was a practice endorsed by Welsh parents who wanted the best for their children.

English became the “Official” Language

It was a benign method of dominating occupied nations with minimal bloodshed or confrontation – a very English form of tyranny.

Whether it was Ireland, Singapore, Nigeria or North Borneo – the method was the same. English would become the official language used for government, commerce and law. Natives chosen for positions of power would be sent off to English public schools to learn the language and the ‘British’ way of life.

It would seep down through society, exploiting people’s natural desire to better themselves, to have the best opportunities in life. In doing so, it created a vicious form of divide and rule – collaborators versus separatists, English speakers versus native speakers. It was a seed which, once planted, took on a malevolent life of its own – spreading and mutating over generations.

The Government reported the Welsh as Dangerous and Lawless

This is exactly what happened in Wales. The country in the C19th was viewed by the English as being a dangerous and lawless land – Wild Wales. It was a fear fueled by the growth of Welsh working class radicalism; the rise of the Chartist movement, outbreaks of rebellion such as the Merthyr Rising of 1831 and the Rebecca Riots of the 1840s.

These were Welsh people joining together to fight against corruption, inequality and injustice. But they were portrayed in the London media as being a kind of sub-human rabble; wild and barbaric people who babbled and plotted in their primitive language. It was a view endorsed by the Government; an 1847 report into the state of Welsh education and morality found the country’s population to be dirty, lazy, drunken and over-sexed.

Uprising Pic: Tom Law

The report concluded that the main problem with Wales was its language. And the cure was simple – the eradication of Welsh from the education system. It proposed that state funded English language schools should be set-up – and that’s what happened. It’s one of these schools where I, like most Welsh people, was taught.

So a deranged report by three English inspectors who couldn’t speak Welsh and who didn’t have any background in education became the blueprint for Welsh schooling; the reason that generations of Welsh people have been taught only English.

But the report’s other toxic legacy was to give many Welsh speakers a deep-rooted sense of inferiority and shame about their language. It was no longer something to be proud of, it was a problem that needed to be tackled. It was a sickness infecting the country, something the English had found the cure for.

Cultural Civil War?

This division of the population by language has been eating away at the country ever since. It has created two versions of Wales, two distinct cultures which view the other as a threat. What one side gains, the other side loses. What’s good for one, is bad for the other.

It has left non-Welsh speakers feeling like outsiders in their own country, forever left out in the cold and staring back in at a history and culture they can’t access; at jobs they’re not qualified to do. For Welsh speakers, they have been battered from all sides, endlessly under attack, having to justify the use of their own language – mostly to fellow Welsh people.

Eric Fraser’s Dragon Art Pic: Tom Law

It’s a cultural civil war which has brought out the worst aspects of both sides. A nation which once fought for its rights, which fought against inequality and injustice has been effectively turned in on itself. If the attack on the Welsh language was done to subdue and weaken the country, to create a servile and utterly compliant people who would accept their British medicine – then it can only be seen as a monumental success.

Wales has become a husk of a nation. The decline of the language, the stripping away of links to its history and culture, has induced a kind of dementia. It’s a country which no longer remembers who or what it is – so it simply exists. And accepts the guiding hand of its neighbour.

The removal of the Welsh personality has created a void which is being gleefully filled by the English media’s tub thumping brand of Britishness – the royal family, the Armed Forces, Team GB and all that. And there seems little hope of anything changing.

There’s no fight or energy left. No upsurge of anger. No dissent. No political will. No obvious solution. Just a blank stare, a rugby top and a grim Welsh cheeriness; a nihilistic acceptance of fate. While Scotland gains confidence and considers independence, Wales is left retreating into the arms of its abusive partner and going gently into that good night.

What can be done?

Here at the CMP, we say:

Well might you ask “What can we do?” – this is a situation we have seen again and again in Celtic Countries – Wales, Ireland and Brittany! Whether it be a ‘new’ and ‘incoming’ Government or Religion, the pattern has always been the same, change the language, change the holidays, change the names and you begin to change the hearts of the people. Let’s go back to school and re-learn the languages of our Roots – let’s listen to the Learn Welsh or Say Something in Welsh Podcast (see our Resources section), steep ourselves in the history and archaeology of our lands and find our about the folklore and beliefs of our ancestors – for these things are the ground from which we sprang!

The full, well-written and emotive, article can be found on the sabotagetimes 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 Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace  in the US.
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The Mound of Hostages Pic: Dunechaser

The Irish people have just undertaken a survey whose results were released to coincide with National Heritage week. The results are somewhat surprising. Chief among the Irish heritage locations and landmarks respondents were most embarrassed at not having yet visited was the Hill of Tara. Listeners to our stories know how central and important the Hill of Tara is to the Heritage of the Irish Celts. The three most important sites voted for were Newgrange, the Burren and Glendalough in Co. Wicklow.

The Irish Times

The Irish Times – Friday, August 26, 2011, reported:

The three most popular heritage sites are Newgrange Co Meath, the Burren in Co Clare and Glendalough in Co Wicklow.
That is according to a new survey released to coincide with National Heritage week.
However, while 450 of the 600 people interviewed claimed heritage was important for tourism, many respondents expressed some shame at not having visited popular sites.
Chief among the Irish heritage locations and landmarks respondents were most embarrassed at not having yet visited was the Hill of Tara. In second place was the Rock of Cashel and in third position came Newgrange.

When asked to choose the heritage property that most closely depicts Ireland’s history, participants chose round towers and monastic locations as the structure most in fitting with Ireland’s rich historical past. Ancient settlement sites ran a close second.
However, more than one-third of respondents (37 per cent) were unable to say whether sufficient efforts were being made to protect sites and properties.
Almost the same percentage of respondents believed more could be done (36.8 per cent) to preserve our properties. Meanwhile, the remainder, 26.2 per cent, believed that enough was being done to maintain heritage landmarks. In order of historical importance as deemed by respondents, the GPO was the only 20th century site mentioned, and came in in second place. Newgrange was top.
The survey was commissioned by Keane public relations, acting for the Ecclesiastical insurance company to mark heritage week. Ecclesiastical donates a significant proportion of its profits to charity.

The Irish Times 

The Irish Examiner

Fergus Black, in the Irish Examiner, repiorted that:

IT is 5,000 years old, famously sees the light once every year, and has now been voted Ireland’s top heritage site and most important historical landmark. The Neolithic passage tomb in Newgrange — lit up by the winter solstice sunrise in December — has been crowned the nation’s favourite, knocking the iconic GPO in Dublin and the Burren in Co Clare off the top spots for the most historically important and favourite heritage site in the country.

The Entrance at Newgrange Pic: Kevin Lawver

Yet despite its ‘top of the spots’ popularity, almost one in ten people say the Meath attraction is the one that they are most embarrassed to admit having not yet visited.
Kerry is also given the thumbs up, topping the public’s preference as the most scenic county with just one eastern county, Wicklow, featuring among the country’s top six county beauty spots.
The findings are revealed in a nationwide survey which shows that three out of four people believe our heritage is vital to Irish tourism. More than 600 adults were polled as part of a nationwide survey by the Ecclesiastical insurance company to assess the public’s views on Irish heritage. Up to last week, the most up- to-date figures show there were more than 157,000 visitors to Newgrange, its visitor centre and to the nearby megalithic site of Knowth.
The Office of Public Works which manages Newgrange and other heritage sites said that last year’s ash cloud disruption had adversely affected visitor numbers across many attractions but this year’s figures were well up and had been boosted by the “free first Wednesday” initiative at many of its sites.
According to the survey, Newgrange headed the top 10 list as Ireland’s favourite heritage site ahead of the Burren, Glendalough and the Cliffs of Moher. It was also voted number one favourite heritage structure over such landmarks as the Rock of Cashel, — visited by Queen Elizabeth during her recent trip — Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the GPO.
Embarrassed
And it came out on top again in the favourite historical site category, beating the GPO and Hill of Tara.
Despite its apparent popularity however, Newgrange is ranked third of the top ten Irish heritage sites and landmarks people are most embarrassed at having not yet visited.
The Hill of Tara tops the list with one in eight of those surveyed saying they were most embarrassed about not having visited it yet, followed by the Rock of Cashel (9.93pc) and Newgrange (9.30pc).
While almost three in every four people believe heritage is critically important to Irish tourism, the survey also revealed that more than a third were not satisfied with the level of work being done to preserve heritage sites and a similar number were unaware of the work being done to preserve them.
Irish Independent

Read more:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/newgrange-tops-heritage-site-poll-165466.html#ixzz1W7TOn3qU

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/newgrange-tops-heritage-site-poll-165466.html

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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 Descripition 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.

Originally posted 2011-10-22 08:46:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Book of Kells for iPad Pic: Book of Kells.com

The Book of Kells is one of the world’s most famous illustrated manuscripts and the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to survive from the early Middle Ages. A copy of the four gospels, it was written by Irish monks in the 9th Century on calf-skin, with spectacularly intricate designs. Today, it is on display in the Library of Trinity College Dublin and seen by 500,000 visitors each year.

Now we can explore each of the pages in high-resolution detail on our iPads. The iPad app contains all 680 pages of the manuscript allowing the user to scroll through the manuscript page by page. High resolution images of the most highly decorated pages are included at up to six times their original size.

The Book of Kells for iPad was designed and developed by X Communications in partnership with Trinity College Library Dublin. This publication follows on from the award-winning CD-ROM which was published in 2000 and then later replaced by the DVD-ROM in 2006.

The images used for the iPad app were digitised by The Digital Resources & Imaging Services in Trinity College Library from transparencies provided by Faksimile-Verlag Luzern who published a facsimile of the manuscript in 1990.

X Communications is a campus company founded in 1994 by Marie Redmond from the School of Computer Science & Statistics. The company is an award-winning digital media agency and has produced interactive installations for The National Museum, The National Library, the Hugh Lane Gallery, and the National Gallery. The Book of Kells for iPad took six months to complete; the designer is Stephanie Francis and the programmer is Killian Walsh.

All images on the app are protected by Digimarc® for Images which allows invisible persistent digital watermarks to be embedded into images to show ownership and copyright and any use of the images on the Internet is monitored.

For details on the Technical Specs for the App and how to buy it, pop along to the App’s website at BookofKells.com.

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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 Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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.

Aine Pic: Caroline Evans

Gerald’s conception was magical. His father, Earl Maurice, saw the beautiful other-worldly woman Áine on the shores of Lough Gur, Co. Limerick, which was family property. By seizing her cloak he gained power over her and then lay with her; in nine months Áine presented the son Gerald at the castle door. In maturity Gerald frequently showed his magical ability, but in many stories this power precipitates a mysterious departure. After astonishing his father by leaping in and out of a bottle, he took the form of a goose, waded into the nearby Camogue River, and swam away. More commonly, he grows to maturity and marries, but his wife is curious that he practises magic spells in a private room and asks to see them. In a twinkling he turns himself into a goldfinch who plays at his wife’s bosom, until he is pursued by a predatory hawk, which she dashes against a wall, killing it. But the lady cannot find the goldfinch, and Earl Gerald is never seen again. He is thought to live in his castle at the bottom of Lough Gur, it and the entire household having sunk there.

As his family, the Geraldines, Fitzgeralds, or Mac Gearailts, were both highly Gaelicized and powerful, Earl Gerald’s interactions with the Otherworld are rife with political implications and have numerous parallels in English, French, and German traditions. Gerald’s persona unquestionably grew more prominent in Irish tradition with the Geraldine (Kildare branch) rebellion of 1534 and the failed military career of the 2nd Earl Gerald of Desmond (d. 1583). The story of Gerald’s conception has parallels in the affair between Ailill Aulomm and Áine, and Cnoc Áine [Knockainy], seat of Áine, is near Lough Gur. Gerald’s story should be distinguished from that of Gearóid [anglicized Garret] Óg, the 11th Earl of Kildare, who lies under the rath at Mullaghmast, rising up every seven years to ride round the Curragh of Kildare on a horse shod with silver.

Historical (1338–98) Hiberno-Norman nobleman, composer of love poetry, who became 3rd Earl of Desmond (i.e. south Munster) in 1358, and around whom fabulous legends have accrued.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/earl-of-desmond-gerald#ixzz2Koj5TSlQ

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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 Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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.

The Heaven-World of the ancient Celts, unlike that of the Christians, was not situated in some distant, unknown region of planetary space, but here on our own earth. As it was necessarily a subjective world, poets could only describe it in terms more or less vague; and its exact geographical location, accordingly, differed widely in the minds of scribes from century to century. Sometimes, as is usual today in fairy-lore,

Pic :Mark Grealish

it was a subterranean world entered through caverns, or hills, or mountains, and inhabited by many races and orders of invisible beings, such as demons, shades, fairies, or even gods…

And the underground world of the Sidhe-folk, which cannot be separated from it, was divided into districts or kingdoms under different fairy kings and queens, just as the upper world of mortals. We already know how the Tuatha De Danann or Sidhe-folk, after their defeat by the Sons of Mil at the Battle of Tailte, retired to this underground world and took possession of its palaces beneath the green hills and vales of Ireland; and how from there, as gods of the harvest, they still continued to exercise authority over their conquerors, or marshaled their own invisible spirit-hosts in fairy warfare, and sometimes interfered in the wars of men…

“Many go to the Tir-na-nog in sleep, and some are said to have remained there,
and only a vacant form is left behind without the light in the eyes
which marks the presence of a soul.”
~~ A. E. ~~

More frequently, in the old Irish manuscripts, the Celtic Otherworld was located in the midst of the Western Ocean, as though it were the ‘double’ of the lost Atlantis; and Manannan Mac Lir, the Son of the Sea–perhaps himself the ‘double’ of an ancient Atlantean king–was one of the divine rulers of its fairy inhabitants, and his palace, for he was one of the Tuatha De Danann, was there rather than in Ireland; and when he traveled between the two countries it was in a magic chariot drawn by horses who moved over the sea-waves as on land. And fairy women came from that mid-Atlantic world in magic boats like spirit boats, to charm away such mortal men as in their love they chose, or else to take great Arthur wounded unto death. And in that island world there was neither death nor pain nor scandal, naught save immortal and unfading youth, and endless joy and feasting… Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-06-11 14:02:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Dale Jarvis – “Brothers Grimm: 200 Years” Pic: Dale Jarvis

Dale Jarvis is a well-known Story-teller friend of ours known for telling ghost stories, legends and traditional tales from Newfoundland and beyond.  Founder of the St. John’s Storytelling Circle, he was Storytellers of Canada’s representative at the inaugural meeting of the Federation for European Storytelling (FEST) in Norway, 2008. Since 1997, Dale has been the host of the St. John’s Haunted Hike, named “Event of the Year” by the City of St. John’s.Author of four books on Newfoundland folklore and ghost stories, Dale has taught workshops across North America on historical storytelling. He has taught hundreds of children to tell their stories, and is committed to spreading the art of storytelling. In the Telegram he reports:

The idea there are certain rocks associated with the fairies is an ancient one, and it is not surprising to find stories in circulation in the province about rocks that are fairy-haunted. I have heard stories about a special rock on the Southside Hills where the fairies were supposed to dance, and which was said to best be avoided by human folk.

In the summer of 2006, I took part in a CBC Radio Noon phone-in show with former host Anne Budgell and Newfoundland playwright Robert Chafe, whose fairy-themed play “Butlers Marsh” was then running. One gentleman caller from Seal Cove shared a story of a fairy rock which had once stood close to Empire Avenue near the north side of the Belvedere Cemetery in St. John’s. When the man was young, there was a gate at the corner of Bonaventure Avenue and Empire Avenue. Near that, just outside the graveyard, close to the gate, was a rock outcrop. In the rock were five or six little steps about half-an-inch to an inch high. The caller said:

No one could convince us that it wasn’t the fairies that owned those steps. Of course, we only saw that in daylight, because no one was going down there to check that after dark, it being so close to the graveyard. Every time we passed there, myself and my friends, we’d have to stop and sit down and look at the fairy steps.

Belvedere Cemetery Pic: Google

The association with fairies and specific rocks is a very old tradition, and one that has its roots in the old world. There are many stories from the Celtic world of fairy-haunted rocks, and the idea is particularly common in Scandinavian countries as well.

Icelandic Trolls

In Iceland, there are many rock outcrops that are said to be the homes of elves and trolls, and in some instances, particular rock formations are said to be the remains of trolls themselves.

An area in Iceland known as Dimmuborgir (Icelandic for “Dark Citadels”) is home to a series of strange rock formations which folklore maintains were once trolls. A group of trolls had been out walking one night, forgot about the time, and when the sun came up, they all turned into stone. Another Iceland formation, called the “Reynisdrangar Needles,” was formed when a pair of trolls were dragging a ship to land. When daylight broke they, too, were turned to stone. In recent years, an Icelandic road project threatened a rock formation said to be home to trolls. With great care, the road plan was adjusted, and one rock was moved. I think this says more about a local belief in the importance of their heritage and folklore than it does about whether or not the road planners really believed in the fairy folk. In contrast, when I went looking for the fairy steps on Empire Avenue, they were nowhere to be found.

Find out more about Dale Jarvis on his own Blogspot website.

Read the full article on the Telegram 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 Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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.