Irish History - Blog Posts
Bro wtf I’ve forgot what a British accent sounds like wtf
Worse part about it is I’m Irish and live in Ireland
An English Boy thinking of the Nation from which he got his Name
A poem I wrote recently after starting to study Irish history:
I sit in class,
And learn of a past
That in many ways once was mine.
Though generations divorced, is it not natural to pine?
For a heritage too vast to grasp.
At home are pictures of a land unfamiliar:
Of faces, green spaces and castles.
And though their meaning escapes me,
And the memories long left me,
I know they mean much more.
In my mind's ear I hear fiddles,
But all I comprehend are riddles.
To follow is a rite of passage
From which I could only scavenge:
A path left but unearnt.
The waves of the coast call to me,
They beckon me back to the quay.
Again I hesitate to follow,
My connection only being hollow,
But now I have a chance to see.
To see revolutions rise and quickly fall,
The mistreatment and the brawls,
And the poets dreaming of a free home.
They tell stories of white horses- across the fields they roam;
A return to a culture stolen.
To discover the rural lands once more,
To grasp the many wars,
To comprehend the intricacies and allegiances.
The negotiations that devolved into grievances,
And the retaliations spun into tales of yore.
One image stands out in the mist:
A memorial of cold stone.
This one belongs to my grandfather, but I know of many more:
O'Connell; Parnell; Struck down by hearts broken, by causes lost.
The Banshees’ howls echoing around them.
I may not grasp the history, the language or the myths.
My blood may not be Irish like those before me,
But I have the chance to learn, to reconnect.
I know what I am:
An English boy thinking of the nation from which he got his name.
Celebrating for my 1st time
Samhain (Oct 31 - Nov 1)
Also known as witches new year, marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, the nights are long and it is getting colder. The harvest is celebrated and we express our gratitude. Samhain is also a celebration to honor ancestors and contact the deceased, as the veil is thin and makes communication easier.
Correspondences for Samhain: Symbols of Samhain | pumpkins, bats, spiders, cobwebs, witches, broomsticks, skeletons. Colors | Black, orange, white, silver, purple. Spells | Gratitude, releasing, honoring, abundance, communication, protection. Crystals | Amethyst, onyx, obsidian, smokey quartz. Herbs and flowers | Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Rosemary, Sandalwood. Food | Apple pie, pears, pumpkins, nuts, grains, bread, vegetables, soups, stews, candy, ciders. Activities | Honoring ancestors, letting go, celebrating, baking, visiting cemetery, trick or treating, watching horror movies, dumb supper, séances.
Home with Alice by S Fallon
Home with Alice by S Fallon
I came across this title when I was shelving books at work – as I was walking by the travel books and having a quick squiz for something to read. This book is more of a memoir than it is a travel book and that made it interesting for me. Full disclosure – I’ve been a little bit obsessed with Ireland since my first trip there in 2017, around the time of my last book “review”. A lot of what I’ve…
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Tonaroasty (Tóin an Róistigh, something along the lines of 'The bottom end of de Roche lands') is a medieval ghost village in Co. Galway I accidentally came across when out to shoot a stone circle on a barrow (I did take photos of it too). Judging from the onomastics (and from the satellite photos clearly showing rectangular foundations and what seems to be a cross-shaped church) it was an Anglo-Norman settlement, so built no later than 12th c. This also gives us a clue about how and why it ended. When the Black Death reached Ireland, the Gaels were in a more advantageous position than the Normans as they lived in less crowded conditions and did not have any religious prejudice about cats (hence, less rats and less fleas carrying plague). The Norman settlers were traditionally living in a more compact way, were in frequent contact with people from crowded castles, and the relationship between cats and folk Christianity soon turned to be rocky at best (to put it very mildly). Therefore, the plague was feasting on them at will, and it was one of the factors that contributed to the subsequent Gaelicisation of the surviving Anglo-Norman nobility. The plague hypothesis also explains quite neatly why the site has not been used for settlement again ever since.
I made a comic full of very important knowledge!
Killora graveyard & church, Co. Galway, Ireland
Ladies, gentlemen and glorious non-binary people, I give you Áed Dub mac Suibhni and St. Findchán! It's a series of illustrations I made for my husband's conference presentation on how love wins in Early Ireland. Shared with his permission of course.
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
#OTD in 1861 – The 10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment enters Confederate service in the American Civil War.
Company D was known as the ‘Rebel Sons of Erin’ because so many of them were Irish. Indeed, the roster of Company D reads like any small town in a 19th century Irish village (every surname was Irish). While the Fighting 69th on the Union side is the most famous “Irish Brigade,” it is estimated that at least 30,000 Irish fought on the Confederate side. Much of the enlistment was due to the…
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GREAT BALLAD: KELLYS IRISH BRIGADE
#OTD in 1861 – The 10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment enters Confederate service in the American Civil War.
Company D was known as the ‘Rebel Sons of Erin’ because so many of them were Irish. Indeed, the roster of Company D reads like any small town in a 19th century Irish village (every surname was Irish). While the Fighting 69th on the Union side is the most famous “Irish Brigade,” it is estimated that at least 30,000 Irish fought on the Confederate side. Much of the enlistment was due to the…
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