Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
Fáilas was one of the four cities of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with Gorias, Findias, and Murias, whence they came to Ireland. Morfessa was the instructor of learning there. In their departure the Tuatha Dé Danann took the magical stone of Fál with them. That stone would cry out to choose the rightful King […]
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The Telltown or Tailtiu Games were said to have been instituted by the Gaelic god Lú Lamhfada Samildanách – Lugh the Long-Armed Master of the Arts, and are considered to be the Irish Olympics Games. They predate the Greek Olympics by about 1200 years and it could be reasonably speculated that the Irish Telltown Games […]
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Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. While the Solstices were not as important to the ancient Irish as the major fire festivals, they were nonetheless celebrated. Of the Solstices and Equinoxes, the Winter Solstice was the most important, since it marked the rebirth of the sun after […]
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The earliest people on Earth knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments such as Newgrange in Ireland, Stonehenge in England – or, for example, at Machu Picchu in Peru – […]
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In much the same way that the modern interpretation of Halloween descended from the Celtic pagan celebration of Samhain, several important pre-Christian Irish traditions have been incorporated into the winter holiday season. Prior to the introduction of Christianity during the early 5th century, Ireland was home to the Celts, a pagan civilisation which worshipped many […]
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We have heard of the great names of the leaders and organisers of the 1798 rebellion, the men who tried to break the iron rules which oppressed the country and had the vast majority of the population treated little better than animals. Their names are remembered in song and story and enshrined in the history […]
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The Battle of Julianstown was fought during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, at Julianstown near Drogheda, Co Louth in November 1641. The prelude to the planned Siege of Drogheda 1641 by northern counties insurgents led by Sir Phelim O’Neil and supporters from Cavan and Monaghan to lay siege to the strategic garrison, grain store and […]
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1751 – Birth in Dublin of dramatist and orator, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 1816 – Sir Richard Quain, physician to Queen Victoria, is born in Mallow, Co Cork. 1846 – Cork Examiner reports death by starvation. 1865 – Birth of Rose Maud Young (Róis Ní Ógáin) at Galgorm House, Ballymena, Co Antrim. She was educated at […]
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1641– Sir Felim O’Neill of Kinard the leader of the Irish Rebellion issues his Proclamation of Dungannon justifying the uprising and declaring continued loyalty to Charles I. 1642 – Irish Confederate rebels establish government in Kilkenny. The Confederate’s constitution was written by Galway lawyer, Patrick D’Arcy. 1789 – Work begins on the construction of the […]
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1449 – Birth of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, in Dublin Castle at a time when his father, the Duke of York, had begun to challenge Henry VI for the crown. His godfather was James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond. He was the third of the four sons of Richard and Cecily who survived […]
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