The Summer Solstice Was Not A Celtic Irish Festival
Last Saturday evening witnessed the apogee of the summer solstice in Ireland, leading to this description of its cultural significanceContinue Reading
Category: Irish Mythology – Seanchas
John T Koch: Thinking About Indo-European And Celtic Myths
The video below is from a lecture by the American historian John T Koch, summarising the evidence for linking Europe’sContinue Reading
Celtic Chess? Ficheall and Gwyddbwyll In Medieval Ireland And Wales
The modern Irish word for the game of chess is ficheall. However this term, literally “wood wisdom” or “wood sense”,Continue Reading
The Summer Harvest Hides County Meath’s Newest Neolithic Discovery Once Again
The YouTube channel Mythical Ireland has published a new video of the wheat field near Brú na Bóinne or Newgrange*Continue Reading
Drones, A Dry Summer And A Wealth Of Archaeological Discoveries In Ireland
One unexpected result of the exceptionally dry summer in Ireland has been a plethora of archaeological discoveries around the country.Continue Reading
President Michael D Higgins Did Not Say That Compulsory Irish Is A Mistake
Yet again, don’t believe everything that you read in the press. Or at least, what you might read in Ireland’sContinue Reading
Women Warriors In Celtic And Medieval Ireland
With the controversy over the supposed identification of the grave of a “female Viking warrior”, known to archaeologists as BjContinue Reading
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser, And The Tuatha Dé Danann
Despite their elevated status among devotees of fantasy literature I have yet to read any of the short stories andContinue Reading
Was Leather Armour A Real Thing? Not For The Celts, Romans And Vikings
I’m currently watching the Norsemen on Netflix, a pitch-black historical comedy set in a Scandinavian coastal village during the late 8thContinue Reading
Three Lectures On The Scandinavian Worldview In The Viking Age
Following on from a recent post on the supposed existence of warrior women among the Vikings, here are three lecturesContinue Reading
Did Celtic And Viking Female Warriors Exist?
The modern belief that professional female warriors were a common sight in the ancient world is a myth which owesContinue Reading
Archaeology Current Affairs History Irish Mythology - Seanchas Politics The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge
When It Comes To The Irish Otherworld, I’m With Danny Healy-Rae
When you find yourself in agreement with Danny Healy-Rae, the maverick independent TD from Kerry, you know that your dayContinue Reading
The Caterthuns, Two Iron Age Hillforts In Scotland
Some of you may have already seen this wonderful drone footage by Kieran Baxter featuring the Caterthuns, a pair ofContinue Reading
Sí Gaoithe, An Otherworldly Whirlwind Caught On Camera
When I was growing up my mother regaled me with many stories of her own childhood in West Cork, andContinue Reading
Holy Wells And A Proposed Hill Of Tara National Monument And Park
The monumental landscape around Teamhair na Rí or the Hill of Tara in County Meath features several springs closely associatedContinue Reading
Destroyer Of Cities, Homer, JRR Tolkien And George RR Martin
When I was fifteen or sixteen I read a relatively well-known book called In Search of the Trojan War by the British historianContinue Reading
3D Modelling The Archaeology Of Ireland
The Discovery Programme, a national archaeological research body supported by the Heritage Council, has been publishing some fantastic 3D models forContinue Reading
Crannóg, The Island Lake Dwelling Of Celtic And Medieval Ireland
In simple terms, a crannóg is an artificial island of variable size and height, roughly circular or oval in shape,Continue Reading
The Winter Solstice At Brú na Bóinne Or Newgrange
Today’s winter solstice in the northern hemisphere has been marked by the now traditional sunrise ceremony at the 5000 year old burialContinue Reading
Historical Revisionism In Early Irish And Celtic Studies
Following on from my post highlighting the formerly fractious debates in the cloistered world of prehistoric and Medieval Irish and Celtic studies,Continue Reading
Current Affairs Education Fantasy History Irish Mythology - Seanchas Religion The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge
The Nativist And Revisionist Approaches To Celtic Mythology Find A Hybrid Balance
I regularly scan the internet for new books or articles examining Medieval Irish literature, particularly those discussing the possible religious beliefs of the pre-ChristianContinue Reading
Books Culture Fantasy History Horror Irish Mythology - Seanchas Teicóg (Geek Culture) The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, In Irish But Not Of The Irish
Mary Robinson of the Special Collections and Archives department at Maynooth University Library has published an interesting post in the lead up toContinue Reading
AN SIONNACH FIONN 