The Turoe Stone

The Turoe Stone sculpture is a masterpiece of Irish Iron Age art and normally stands in the village of Bullaun near Loughrea, Co Galway. It had been moved in the 1850s from its original location near the Rath of Feerwore, an Iron Age ring-fort structure, at nearby Kiltullagh. The stone is currently off site and […]

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Winter Solstice

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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How the Irish Influenced Christmas Traditions

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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Triskelion or Triskele

The triskelion or ‘triskele’ is also known as the tri-spiral or ‘Spiral of Life’. The three spirals in the triskelion are interconnected with no open ends thus creating one continuous line. Each spiral turns in the same direction. The three spirals represent balance, harmony and continual motion indicative of the flow of life and of […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 21 October:

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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The Turoe Stone

The Turoe Stone sculpture is a masterpiece of Irish Iron Age art and normally stands in the village of Bullaun near Loughrea, Co Galway. It had been moved in the 1850s from its original location near the Rath of Feerwore, an Iron Age ring-fort structure, at nearby Kiltullagh. The stone is currently off site and […]

Read More

Winter Solstice

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 – […]

Read More

How the Irish Influenced Christmas Traditions

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 […]

Read More

Triskelion or Triskele

The triskelion or ‘triskele’ is also known as the tri-spiral or ‘Spiral of Life’. The three spirals in the triskelion are interconnected with no open ends thus creating one continuous line. Each spiral turns in the same direction. The three spirals represent balance, harmony and continual motion indicative of the flow of life and of […]

Read More

#OTD in Irish History | 21 October:

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 […]

Read More