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Eire

<b>Eire</b>Posted by IronManThe Great Circle © IronMan
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News

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From ringfort to ring road: The destruction of Ireland’s fairy forts


Some of these ancient mounds date back to 3000 BC, but many are buried under motorways

Manchán Magan

As our faith in fairies has receded in recent years, the fate of Ireland’s 32,000 remaining fairy forts has become increasingly perilous... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
14th March 2021ce

Why have thousands of archaeological sites ‘disappeared’?


While the archaeologists have been busy finding new monuments of interest, the State has been busy facilitating their systematic removal

Mon, Dec 9, 2019, 05:00

Mark Clinton

According to the legal definition, there are five alternative criteria under which a monument qualifies as a national monument... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
11th December 2019ce

Sixty Bronze Age bodies found on land owned by former Taoiseach


https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/sixty-bodies-from-bronze-age-found-on-taoiseach-liam-cosgraves-former-land-37770727... continues...
tjj Posted by tjj
31st January 2019ce

History of Ireland in 100 0bjects on postage stamps


http://100objects.ie/stamps/

An Post’s Ninth Definitive Stamp Series, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects, a selection, began life as an original series by Fintan O’Toole of The Irish Times... continues...
tjj Posted by tjj
28th May 2018ce
Edited 28th May 2018ce

Bear bone discovery pushes back date of human existence in Ireland by 2,500 years


Scientists were astounded when tests showed the fragment, from a butchered brown bear, confirmed that humans were active in Ireland 2,500 years earlier than previously suspected... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
22nd March 2016ce

Ancient remains found in Midlands bog


An ancient bog body has been discovered at a midland bog where a similar find was made two years ago.
The remains were found by a Bord na Móna worker at Rossan Bog on the Meath/Westmeath border on Saturday morning... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
16th September 2014ce

Review of Rewriting the (Pre) history of Ulster - Dr Rowan McLaughlin


This is a write-up of a talk given by Dr Rowan McLaughlin regarding how the 4000+ developer produced RC dates since 2001 in Ireland basically rewrite whole swathes of how we perceive the prehistory of Ireland.

http://rmchapple.blogspot.co... continues...
juamei Posted by juamei
29th June 2014ce

World's oldest bog body hints at violent past


Cashel Man has had the weight of the world on his shoulders, quite literally, for 4,000 years.

Compressed by the peat that has preserved his remains, he looks like a squashed, dark leather holdall... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
25th September 2013ce
Edited 29th September 2013ce

Co Laois bog body is world's oldest


New tests on the remains of a preserved body found in a Co Laois bog have revealed that it is the oldest bog body ever discovered in the world.

The body was found by a Bord na Móna worker milling peat in 2011.

It was initially believed that the remains were those of a young female which were around 2,500 years old... continues...
ryaner Posted by ryaner
3rd August 2013ce

Archaeologists warn against delisting of post-1700 historical structures


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0916/1224304193570... continues...
bogman Posted by bogman
16th September 2011ce
Edited 16th September 2011ce

Stone Circles

This quarter's 'Archaeology Ireland' has a three page feature on Stone Circles, by Muiris O'Sullivan and Liam Downey.

"The architecture and orientation of stone circles were inherently symbolic, reflecting in a fundamental way a sense of spirituality and belief in the otherworld..."

So there you are.
gjrk Posted by gjrk
15th March 2011ce

Newbuildings time team to excavate ancient Rath


Londonderry Sentinel
By Olga Bradshaw - 21st January 2009


MEMBERS of Newbuildings and District Archaeological and Historical Society are eagerly awaiting the results of a new survey scheduled to take place this week, to discover what lies beneath a rath which has been discovered in the village... continues...
moss Posted by moss
22nd January 2009ce

Grassy mounds our earliest breweries, claim archaeologists


by Sarah Stack (Irish Examiner 11 August 2007)

'Bronze age Irish men were as fond of their beer as their 21st century counterparts, it was claimed yesterday.

Two Galway archaeologists have put forward a theory that one of the most common ancient monuments around Ireland may have been used for brewing ale... continues...
gjrk Posted by gjrk
13th August 2007ce
Edited 30th September 2008ce

Ireland not ruled out as Atlantis by museum

Contrary to press reports in August, the National Museum of Ireland did not rule out that Ireland could have been Atlantis (Full text). The previous reports were apparently the result of quoting out of context.

There is a new website for the theory now, AtlantisInIreland.com, which includes a blog and an invitation to a real time debate.
Posted by odysseus
11th December 2004ce
Edited 13th December 2004ce

Irish Times: Historic sites Bill likely to face legal challenge


Daniel McConnell

The Irish Times
17 June 2004

Opponents of newly-published legislation, which will give the Government power to proceed with road projects which interfere with national monuments after archaeological works are carried out, have threatened to challenge the legislation in the courts... continues...
Posted by otuathail3
19th June 2004ce
Edited 22nd June 2004ce

Irish Independent: 'Ill-conceived' bill threatens heritage sites


Irish Independent
17.06.04

Save Tara!

IMPORTANT archaeological sites, including Ireland's oldest Viking settlement, will be threatened if the Government's proposed amendment to the National Monuments Bill is passed, heritage activists said yesterday... continues...
Posted by otuathail3
19th June 2004ce
Edited 12th April 2006ce

Irish Examiner: Cullen 'failing to protect heritage sites'


Irish Examiner
17/06/04


By Jim Morahan

HERITAGE groups yesterday accused Environment Minister Martin Cullen of
failing to protect national monuments... continues...
Posted by otuathail3
19th June 2004ce
Edited 22nd June 2004ce

Labour describes Monuments Bill as 'official vandalism'


TaraWatch

Irish Times
Marie O'Halloran
18.06.04

A Bill to allow for the completion of the M50 motorway at Carrickmines will legalise "official vandalism" of national monuments, the Labour Party's environment spokesman has claimed... continues...
Posted by otuathail3
19th June 2004ce
Edited 12th April 2006ce

Monuments Bill 'legal vandalism' claims Labour


Monuments Bill 'legal vandalism' claims Labour

Irish Independent
18.06.04

continues...
Posted by otuathail3
19th June 2004ce
Edited 12th April 2006ce

Folklore

Add folklore Add folklore
With the steamy hot weather over with for the time being and the rainy season upon us once more, I found myself indoors, taking strange turns on YouTube and I finally arrived here.

https://youtu.be/FIrYD7djFH8

Passage graves were "aerial bombardment shelters for the Telepaths", while souterrains were blast shelters for the lower orders. All the other members of Ben McBrady's secret ancient order of Ancient Druids are dead, so only Ben McBrady can pass on the real history of Ireland.

Apologies if this has been posted before... but I had never seen this treasure before. 50 minutes of your time... Unmissable!
Howburn Digger Posted by Howburn Digger
8th August 2019ce

Old traditions, crumbling with time..

I suspect that this news comes in defence of folklore which in turn preserves the archaeological monuments by superstition or 'piseogs' to use the rather lovely Irish word.........



Superstitions may seem strange and baseless, but somehow they have clung on for thousands of years. Are they a sign of respect for the past and if so just how much longer might they last?

WHEN I WAS growing up, there was a ring fort at the end of our road. We were warned not to play there. It was accepted that fairy forts contained some mystique or potential for harm. Our parents were probably told the same by their parents, and so on through the generations. But has belief in science and technology replaced faith in superstitions?

Perhaps not. Dara Molloy, a former Roman Catholic priest based on Inis Mór, is in demand to perform Celtic rituals and blessings. When we spoke last week, he was at a wedding ceremony in which he used blessings dating from what he terms "Celtic Christianity". It involves the tying of knots and sprinkling of water from a nearby well. These practices predate the Roman Catholic Church, he says, and are more in keeping with old Irish customs and beliefs. "We held on to a lot of traditions but they were pushed to the margins of the church," he says. "People still visit holy wells, climb Croagh Patrick or go to Lough Derg, but many other Irish customs and traditions didn't carry on and some local priests were instrumental in encouraging them to be abandoned."

Molloy says when he first moved to the Aran Islands 25 years ago, he was struck by the reverence the locals had for ancient sites and monuments. "Neighbours of mine on Inis Mór who were born and raised on the island had never been up to the hill fort of Dún Aengus," he says. "One of the reasons given was that their parents wouldn't let them. They said the place was lived in by the sióga or other world folk. Nowadays some young locals want to have their weddings up there because they believe the energy of the sióga is there. The belief hasn't been lost. It is just used differently. I have witnessed young adults who want to go to Dún Aengus and sleep there overnight to get the feeling that is up there."

That feeling may relate to the fact the site has been used by locals for centuries as a place of gathering or safety.

Piseogs [superstitions] are still heeded on the islands too, says Molloy. That is why a red-haired woman who turns up at a door on New Year's Eve is unlikely to be shown indoors. "It would be a bad omen for the coming years," he says.

Colm Moloney, managing director of Headland Archaeology, says much has been lost in recent years in relation to Irish folklore. "My own childhood revolved around my dad, who spent a lot of his time walking his greyhounds (and his children) around the landscape of east Cork. Every hill, river, nook and cranny had a story attached to it and he told them so well it was captivating," he says. "Modern Ireland does not readily facilitate this kind of activity. Landowners have a problem with people wandering across their land and kids have so much to distract them, it is near impossible to get them outside."

Moloney says much of our folklore is in danger in the hands of the current generation. "The Irish psyche has changed. The respect that was there for the past is losing ground. Our knowledge and links to the past through oral traditions were what made us unique."

There have been reports recently that a farmer destroyed a ring fort in Co Cork. This would not have occurred a decade ago, he says. Folklore often existed to protect the built heritage and vice versa.

"Every country boy knew the traditions associated with ring forts," he says. "If you touched the fairy forts something very bad would happen to you. This tradition and similar kinds of piseog resulted in the preservation of archaeological monuments across the country, probably for thousands of years.

"This is a frightening development, where 30 sq m of farmland is of greater value than a monument that may have stood on that spot for 1,200 years."


EMILY ROSS


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0104/1224286698278.html
moss Posted by moss
4th January 2011ce
Edited 4th January 2011ce

The Fairy Music

THE evil influence of the fairy glance does not kill, but it throws the object into a death-like trance, in which the real body is carried off to some fairy mansion, while a log of wood, or some ugly, deformed creature is left in its place, clothed with the shadow of the stolen form.
Young women, remarkable for beauty, young men, and handsome children, are the chief victims of the fairy stroke. The girls are wedded to fairy chiefs, and the young men to fairy queens; and if the mortal children do not turn out well, they are sent back, and others carried off in their place.
It is sometimes possible, by the spells of a powerful fairy-man, to bring back a living being from Fairy-land. But they are never quite the same after. They have always a spirit-look, especially if they have listened to the fairy music. For the fairy music is soft and low and plaintive, with a fatal charm for mortal ears.


Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland By Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde

A huge collection of folklore and folk-magic from Oscar Wildes' mother.

View online at Google Books, Sacred-texts Com, or download this collection for your iPhone or iPod.
Chance Posted by Chance
19th July 2010ce

Links

Add a link Add a link

Ogham Stones


New Publication:
Before people in Ireland started writing in manuscripts made of vellum they wrote on other materials, primarily stone, in a writing system called ogham. Our earliest ogham inscriptions on stone are dated on linguistic grounds to between the 4th and the 7th century AD. Over 400 known examples of ogham stones and fragments of various shapes and sizes have survived, each with their own unique biography or story. The publication explores the writing form; where it can be found; and how we can #PassItOn to future generations.
ryaner Posted by ryaner
30th November 2021ce

The Heritage Council - Prehistoric Rock Art in Ireland


Irish rock art is the subject of a new, richly illustrated booklet published by the Heritage Council. Written by archaeologist, Clare Busher O’Sullivan, ‘Rock Art’ explores the art form; where it can be found; what it means; and how it can be protected.
ryaner Posted by ryaner
22nd November 2020ce
Edited 22nd November 2020ce

Irish National Folklore Collection


[T]he National Folklore Collection UCD, [is] an institute recognised as one of Europe’s largest archives of oral tradition and cultural history. Visitors to the Collection are invited to explore a large selection of books, manuscripts, audio recordings, videos and photographs, drawings and paintings dealing with Irish life, folk history and culture.
ryaner Posted by ryaner
6th December 2017ce

Voices from the Dawn


The folklore of Ireland's ancient monuments
ryaner Posted by ryaner
13th August 2012ce

Megalithic Monuments of Ireland.com


site index
wideford Posted by wideford
25th June 2011ce

Megalithomania


"Megalithomania is the story of one man's journey across 10 years (and counting) around the stones of Ireland. Tom Fourwinds' site is a catalogue of over 2200 sites, containing more than 10,000 photographs of Irish sites, and is a testament to his stamina and zeal."

Alan S.

http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/web-focus-on-megalithomania/
Littlestone Posted by Littlestone
28th March 2011ce
Edited 9th June 2011ce

Ordnance Survey Ireland


Map viewer for Ireland - there are historical maps too.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
15th September 2010ce
Edited 15th September 2010ce

Newgrange, Boyne Valley, Ireland


Newgrange with Knowth and Dowth are the major sites of the Boyne Valley World Heritage Site. Images and information on Newgrange itself with visitor and tour information.
knowth Posted by knowth
16th June 2010ce

A Road on the Long Ridge


A Road on the Long Ridge - In search of an Ancient Highway on the Eiscar Riada by Hermann Geissel.
This is a free pdf book based on the TG4 program about a journey on the Eiscar Riada or Sli Mor from Dublin to Galway.
It is a great read and he also proposes that Early Christain sites were constructed beside the road for access etc.
It could also be argued that perhaps some of these were based on early prehistoric sites and therefore sites were located near the road.
It also has a section on Croghan Hill and it mentions the alignment of the Hill of Uisneach - Croghan Hill on Winter Solstice Sunrise.
bawn79 Posted by bawn79
19th June 2007ce
Edited 19th June 2007ce

British Archaeology


Article from November/December 2005:

"Ireland's road network is experiencing an astonishing development, with sometimes controversial implications for the country's rich and largely unexplored rural heritage. Dàire O'Rourke, senior archaeologist at the National Roads Authority, says a new code means everyone will benefit."
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
3rd February 2006ce
Edited 3rd February 2006ce

Megalithic Ireland as the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis


News and discussion about the book Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land, by Ulf Erlingsson. A short video presents some of the intriguing details from the book.

The author considers that Plato's Atlantis was a utopia, but shows that with a probability of over 99.98%, Plato based the description of Atlantis' geography on Ireland.
Posted by odysseus
18th February 2005ce
Edited 19th February 2005ce

Mythical Ireland - new light on the ancient past


An exploration of Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth, Tara, Loughcrew and other ancient sites of Ireland in the context of art, astronomy, mythology and archaeology.
Posted by mythicalireland
19th March 2004ce
Edited 29th September 2004ce

Mythical Ireland


Spirals, lozenges and concentric circles in one of the world's hubs of megalithic art. Knowth, Dowth, Newgrange and Fourknocks sun-lit in their full glory!
Posted by Annexus Quam
10th March 2001ce
Edited 20th May 2005ce

Latest posts for Eire

Showing 1-10 of 13,966 posts. Most recent first | Next 10

The Great Circle (Stone Circle) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>The Great Circle</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
23rd February 2024ce

Newgrange (Passage Grave) — Images

<b>Newgrange</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
23rd February 2024ce

County Kerry — News

Remains of ‘lost’ bronze age tomb discovered in County Kerry in Ireland


Altóir na Gréine stood for approximately 4,000 years on Dingle peninsula before vanishing in 19th century.

More info : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/bronze-age-tomb-discovered-county-kerry-ireland
drewbhoy Posted by drewbhoy
19th January 2024ce

The Mound of Hostages (Passage Grave) — Images

<b>The Mound of Hostages</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
29th December 2023ce

Carrowkeel-Keshcorran Complex — News

Heartbreaking' damage done to Neolithic passage tomb


Damage done to an ancient Neolithic passage tomb in Co Sligo has been strongly condemned.

Photographer Ken Williams visited the site over the weekend and took photographs of words and shapes scratched into stones at the tomb which is over 5,000 years old.

More: https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2023/1016/1411157-carrowkeel-graffiti/
ryaner Posted by ryaner
16th October 2023ce

Drumnigh (Artificial Mound) — Images

<b>Drumnigh</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Drumnigh</b>Posted by ryaner<b>Drumnigh</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
30th September 2023ce

Ballybrack (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) — Images

<b>Ballybrack</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
18th September 2023ce

Ballyedmonduff (Wedge Tomb) — Images

<b>Ballyedmonduff</b>Posted by ryaner ryaner Posted by ryaner
9th September 2023ce
Showing 1-10 of 13,966 posts. Most recent first | Next 10