An artist’s impression of the hilltop fort dating from 1200 BC which was uncovered recently near Innishannon by archaeologists from UCC. Pic: Southern Star

ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have discovered what may have been Cork’s ancient capital, built 3,200 years ago at a time when Rameses III was pharaoh of Egypt. A team of archaeologists from UCC, led by Professor William O’Brien, have carried out extensive research that sheds new light on what is the largest prehistoric monument in Co Cork and the oldest dated ring fort in the country. Their three-year project, funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Royal Irish Academy, shows that huge wooden defense walls once surrounded the ring fort at Knockavilla, near Innishannon.

Radiocarbon dating shows that the ring fort was constructed about 1200BC confirming it as the oldest known prehistoric ring fort in Ireland, according to Prof O’Brien. This puts its importance on a par with prehistoric sites such as Dún Aengus on Inishmore and Mooghaun, Co Clare. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-11-25 10:52:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: bloke_with_camera

The British Government is to stump up more than £6m to promote the Irish language following top-level negotiations at Downing Street, it was revealed today. The £6.2m follows direct meetings between Gerry Adams and Gordon Brown in recent weeks which led to speculation that Sinn Fein might not renominate Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.

The cash will maintain the Irish Language Broadcasting Fund, which commissions Irish programmes for BBC, RTE and TG4, as well as providing training, for a further two years.

Sinn Fein had accused former DUP Culture and Arts Minister Edwin Poots, now replaced with MP Gregory Campbell, of threatening the future of the fund which formed part of the Good Friday Agreement.

The DUP’s Nelson McCausland said today, however, the funding would be discriminatory unless equal amounts are made available for an Ulster Scots fund.

Source

Originally posted 2008-06-18 11:26:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Discovery On

The website Discovery On tells us: An oak barrel, full of butter, estimated to be roughly 3,000 years old has been found in Gilltown bog, between Timahoe and Staplestown in Ireland The amazing discovery of the barrel, which is being described by archaeology experts in the National Museum as a "really fine example" was found by two Bord na Mona workers. The pair, John Fitzharris and Martin Lane, were harrowing the bog one day in late May when they noticed a distinctive white streak in the peat.

The two men put the barrel in the cab of their tractor and brought it back to their base.

"We put it in a black plastic bag," Mr Fitzharris explained.

And last Tuesday in the Conservation Department of the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks, the two men were reunited with the barrel in the company of Monasterevin man and one of the museum’s keepers, Pádraig Clancy and conservator Carol Smith.

Mr Clancy was contacted by Bord na Móna’s archaeological liaison officer who reports to the museum on finds like this. He travelled to the site and took the barrel to Collins Barracks.

"It’s rare to find a barrel as intact as that," Mr. Clancy explained, "especially with the lid intact, and attached. It’s a really fine example."

He estimates that the barrel is approximately 3,000 years old, from the Iron Age.

At the moment it is being dried out by staff at the Conservation Department. Once dry it will be soaked in a wax-like solution which preserves it.

"At 35ks, it’s a pretty big one," Ms. Smith explained. Other examples of bog butter they showed tended to be less intact and much smaller.

It is thought that the butter was put in the bog for practical reasons, rather than ritual.

"There are accounts dating back to the 1850’s with people used to wash their cattle once a year in the bog and then put some butter back into the bog. It was piseogary," Mr. Clancy explained, adding that the butter was usually "stolen by the following week!

"It’s open to interpretation, but we’re inclined to think that 3,000 years ago they were just storing it."

Such a large amount of butter, he estimated would have probably been the harvest of a community rather than an individual farmer.
Ms. Smith and Mr. Clancy explained that bog butter has been tasted before, "but not by us!

"It’s a national treasure, you can’t be going hacking bits of it off for your toast!" Ms. Smith joked.

"It’s important to say that we have a good relationship with Bord na Mona," Mr. Clancy explained. "They are one of the better organisations for reporting finds."

And the bogs of Kildare have yielded quite a lot of artefacts from the past, including spear heads, pottery and bodies.

"We’ve found no body parts in Gilltown bog," Ms. Smith said, before adding, "but here’s hoping!"

Source

Pic: Brothersoft

Banshees, and other Death-Warnings Of all Irish ghosts, fairies, or bogies, the Banshee (sometimes called locally the "Bohēēntha" or "Bankēēntha") is the best known to the general public: indeed, cross-Channel visitors would class her with pigs, potatoes, and other fauna and flora of Ireland, and would expect her to make manifest her presence to them as being one of the sights of the country.

She is a spirit with a lengthy pedigree—how lengthy no man can say, as its roots go back into the dim, mysterious past.

The most famous Banshee of ancient times was that attached to the kingly house of O’Brien, Aibhill, who haunted the rock of Craglea above Killaloe, near the old palace of Kincora. In A.D. 1014 was fought the battle of Clontarf, from which the aged king, Brian Boru, knew that he would never come away alive, for the previous night Aibhill had appeared to him to tell him of his impending fate.

 The Banshee’s method of foretelling death in olden times differed from that adopted by her at the present day: now she wails and wrings her hands, as a general rule, but in the old Irish tales she is to be found washing human heads and limbs, or bloodstained clothes, till the water is all dyed with human blood—this would take place before a battle. So it would seem that in the course of centuries her attributes and characteristics have changed somewhat.

Very different descriptions are given of her personal appearance. Sometimes she is young and beautiful, sometimes old and of a fearsome appearance. One writer describes her as "a tall, thin woman with uncovered head, and long hair that floated round her shoulders, attired in something which seemed either a loose white cloak, or a sheet thrown hastily around her, uttering piercing cries." Another person, a coachman, saw her one evening sitting on a stile in the yard; she seemed to be a very small woman, with blue eyes, long light hair, and wearing a red cloak. Other descriptions will be found in this chapter. By the way, it does not seem to be true that the Banshee exclusively follows families of Irish descent, for the last incident had reference to the death of a member of a Co. Galway family English by name and origin. Continue Reading »

The Phooka (old Irish), (also Pooka, Puka, Phouka, Púka, Pwca in Welsh, Bucca in Cornish, pouque in Dgernesiais, also Glashtyn, Gruagach) is a creature of Celtic origin, notably in Ireland and Wales. It is one of the myriad of faery folk, and, like many faery folk, is both respected and feared by those who believe in it.

Originally posted 2008-05-20 09:00:31. 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 »

Pic: gary

Episode 14, The Children of Lir, is now available and on the feed for download. The Children of Danu choose Bodb Dearg as a new High King for themselves much to King Lir’s displeasure. To bring the clans together, Bodb’s foster-daughter marries Lir and bears four beautiful children to him. Sadly she dies and Lir marries her sister, who in jealousy curses the Children and turns them all into swans.. This is the second and final part of two episodes telling the story of the Children of Lir which has to be one of the most famous of all Celtic tales. We discover the tragic end of the beautiful children.

We join the story as the Children of Lir are forced to flee their homeland and venture onto rough and icy seas.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.

Pic: kathryn_rotondo

You, our dear listeners, know how important Tara (Teamhair in the tales) is within the ancient myths of the Celts and now the full story has been revealed in an article published by the Epoch Times. They report that at the archaeological heart of Ireland, one of the most horrific acts of cultural desecration has been taking place for the last two years. Over 46 heritage sites and national monuments have already been destroyed,and the majority of us are oblivious, unaware that anything is happening.

The new M3 motorway is under construction in the Tara Skryne valley, Ireland. SIAC and Ferrovial road companies, with the support of the Irish government are building a motorway through valley. It has already cost more than 950 million euros (at the last count in March 2008), yet is only going to cut current journey time by a matter of minutes. The Navan Dublin rail link that has lain dormant for many years could have been re-opened for a fraction of the price or the existing N3 could have been expanded. This is an unnecessary and inexcusable desecration of heritage and waste of money.

The Irish government has gone against EU directives in building this road, destroying a site of world importance before it was properly researched or received the appropriate attention. The road builders are also contravening the human rights of the Irish people; the right to the protection of their archaeological and historical sites, religious and cultural sites.

Pic: indymedia

The Tara Skryne Valley is home to over 60 such sites, the oldest being more than 6,000 years old. The richness of the archaeology and history is practically unrivalled in Ireland. It is the land of Irish folklore, home of the Irish Kings, of the legendary Cu Chullain and Finn of the Fianna. The Hill of Tara holds the legendary Stone of Destiny. The dead from the Battle of Tara in the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion lay in the valley; their bodies recently dug up and ploughed through in

one of the most disturbing acts of desecration in the road building to date. Daniel O’Connell held his monster meeting, the biggest ever gathering in Ireland, at Tara in 1843.

There were nine possible routes for the M3. The chosen route is the most archaeologically damaging. When looked at from a bird’s eye view it is a dot-to-dot of heritage sites, cutting through the highest concentrate of known archaeology in the valley. There has so far been no explanation for this choice of route, it being neither the cheapest nor the quickest. The current route is twenty minutes slower than the next slowest choice; a total of four believed to be quicker. For an expected saving of 100 million euros the route could have by-passed the valley completely.

Included in the sites already destroyed has been: a 6,000 year old grave yard; a 2,000 year old wood-henge housing a megalithic pattern-engraved stone; an ancient feasting ground of heroes and nobility; the first Christian settlement in Ireland and a set of twelve round-house style sou-terrains, largely intact and interconnected by a network of tunnels, representing the largest known complex of its kind in Ireland.

Pic: indymedia

The National Roads Authority has been lying continually in their official findings and covering up the discovery of important archaeological sites. The sou-terrain complex at Roes town was originally described by the NRA as a set of three and set of four roundhouses, of little archaeological value. Two days before evidence showing an intact group of twelve was published, their story changed, more closely representing true findings.

An archaeologist working on the Lismullen site was told for his first three weeks of work that there was no need for him to carry out any excavation but if questioned to say work was being done but nothing had been found. The archaeologist in question later joined the protest camp and has been involved in writing many of the archaeological reports published by the “Save Tara” campaign.

In July 2007, a royal feasting ground at Baronstown, was destroyed by diggers at 4am in the morning.

At Collierstown graves more than 6,000 year old, were left uncovered for months, open to the elements, with their bones eventually being plastered on the road and picked up by local school children.

Tara has lain for thousands of years as a sacred, spiritual place, it is sad this should be happening now, when we are finally beginning to realise the fragility of our land and importance of our past. When will we learn that there are things much more valuable than money? When it is too late?

The full text of various statements and petitions and more information can be viewed at www.archaeological.org and the “Save Tara” campaign’s website www.savetara.com .

Source

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 »

The distilled spirit Whiskey has been associated with Scotland and Ireland for Hundreds of years. Whiskey is brewed in both countries and regularly drunk in homes and Pubs. In Ireland Whiskey is often drunk as a “chaser” to Irish Stout, and an Irish Coffee made with Irish Whiskey and fresh cream is a drink not to be missed. The earliest record of distilling Whiskey in Scotland appeared in the Exchequer Rolls as long ago as 1494. “Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make “aqua vitae”-water of Life (Latin)

This was sufficient to produce almost 1500 bottles. By this time distilling was almost certainly an established practise among the Scottish peoples.

According to Legend St Patrick introduced distilling to Ireland in the fifth century AD. It is believed that the secrets of the distilling process were introduced to Scotland some 1500 years ago when settlers from Ireland began to populate the west coast of Scotland which they named Dalriada – which is now Argyll.

Known as “Usque Baugh” in Scotland and “Uisce Beatha” in Ireland, in both languages the names translate as “Water of Life”. Whiskey was commonly made in monasteries, and chiefly used for medicinal purposes, being prescribed for the preservation of health, and a general cure-all. There were monastic distilleries in Ireland in the late-12th century.

The spirit’s perceived medicinal benefits were formally endorsed when, in Edinburgh in 1505, the Guild of Surgeon Barbers was granted a monopoly over the manufacture of “aqua vitae” – reflecting the practice of barbers undertaking minor medical procedures.

In 1661 all private distillation not specificlly licenced by state was outlawed. This law included Scottish and Irish moonshine. To evade the authorities many stills were set up in ancient cairns; burial chambers known as Faerie hills. Others took their equipment to islands in the middle of lakes, the better to see the authories coming.

Meanwhile the brewing of beer was becoming a major buisness. The English then introduced a penal law at the begining of the 18th century, that stopped breweries importing hops from anywhere but England, which mean’t that suppiers could charge whatever they liked. Higher taxes were levied on Irish beer exported to England, while English beer sold to Ireland got a reduced rate.

In response to these new laws the Irish, paricularly the poor began to distill more their own Moonshine (Poteen). It provided income for the distiller and solace for the community. In the face of their misfortunes the Irish poor had a continued appetite for music and dancing, their exuberance fueled by the sudden availabilty of Poteen.

In 1770, the Crown tried once more to clamp down on this spirited trade. By kingly writ of George III, the making of Poitin became illegal. With the flourish of a pen, most of the inhabitants of Eire became instant criminals.

Scotch whisky distilleries could become officially licensed in 1822 (re: licensed by the British government under the Illicit Disillation (Scotland) Act), many refused to do so simply because they felt they were being taxed against their will. The highlanders at this point were mostly gaelic speakers who kept out of the way of government agents and revenue collectors. As distillation was outlawed by the English government, “sheep dip” became slang for Scottish moonshine.

Folklore and Faeries

Leprechaun are frequently to be found in an intoxicated state, caused by home-brew Poteen. However they never become so drunk that the hand which holds the hammer becomes unsteady and their shoemaker’s work affected. Occasionally, especially after a wee bit too much Poteen, he will offer a human not only a drink but some of his treasure.

Poteen made in faerie hills was seen as magical. It was used as a cure for painfull rheumatic joints, one half cup given to the ill person morning and night was said to cure all ailments.

Poteen was said to especailly potent if a housewife left fresh cream and bread by the fairy mound at night and petitioned the faeries for a cure for illness, More often than not a cup of Poteen would be found outside the door,left by the faeries to heal the sick. Whiskey or Poteen made from water from faerie springs or wells also gave the spirit healing properties and was widely used by wise women in medicinal cures.

Be cautious about leaving Faeries your own whisky or Poteen…Traditionally faeries love alcohol, but can become rowdy and dangerous when drinking.

Drinking Whiskey on a Faerie Knoe in Scotland is said to call the faeries to you, and they’ll give you a wish in return for a sip of your whisky, Allow them too much and you’ll end up a permanent guest in Faerieland.

If you would like to know more about Whiskey, join our friends Jeff, Chip, & Michael at The Scotchcast as they discuss and taste “The Water of Life”

Source