I’ve decided to brush up on my Old Irish…or rather study it all over again since I’m not just rusty, I’m totally a blank slate. Since I’m going on that adventure I thought I would share with you all the resources I am going to use to study. Maybe you’ll join me!
Author Archives: Maya
Irish Trees – Myths, Legends and Folklore
Author: Niall Mac Coitir
Watercolours: Grania Langrishe
Publisher: The Collins Press
Copyright: 2003, Reprinted 2006, 2008, 2012
ISBN: 9781903464335
Pages: 231 including watercolours, references, and bibliography.
Synopsis: In ancient Ireland, mythology and folklore were part of the general knowledge about each tree. This book gathers the myths, legends and folklore associated with the native trees.
Review: …
Air n-Aithesc Imbolc/Bealtaine 2015
The Imbolc/Bealtaine 2015 issue of Air n-Aithesc is here!
In this issue there are two articles from Morgan Daimler, the first is about Bealtaine celebration in a family setting and the second is about the fairy folk. We have some awesome poetry by PSVL and an excellent article about Manannán by Finnchuill. Saigh Kym Lambert has an article in this issue on “Fénnidecht Rites of Passage“. I have two book reviews in this issue as well as my regular column “The Study” which deals with the 101 questions of the CR methodology and hopefully will later move on to more complex issues than that. Check out the Table of Contents below.
Air nAithesc Imbolc/Bealtaine 2015
In a previous post I shared with you the cover for the latest issue of Air n-Aithesc, well it is out now and here is the Table of Contents for this issue as well as the cover previously shared (in case you missed it).
What I’ve been working on: Air n-Aithesc Volume II Issue I
I thought you guys would like to see what I’ve been working on the past month. This is the cover of the latest issue of Air n-Aithesc which should be out in a few days.
The Morrigan – Meeting the Great Queens
Author: Morgan Daimler
Series: Pagan Portals
Publisher: Moon Books
Published: 2014
ISBN: 978-1782798330
Pages: 79 including a bibliography and endnotes.
Synopsis:
On shadowed wings and in raven’s call, meet the ancient Irish goddess of war, battle, prophecy, death, sovereignty, and magic. This book is an introduction to the Morrigan and several related goddesses who share the title, including Badb and Macha. It combines solid academic information with personal experience in a way that is intended to dispel the confusion that often surrounds who this goddess was and is. The Morrigan is as active in the world today as she ever was in the past but answering her call means answering the challenge of finding her history and myth in a sea of misinformation, supposition, and hard-to-find ancient texts. Here in one place, all of her basic information has been collected along with personal experiences and advice from a long-time priestess dedicated to a goddess who bears the title Morrigan.
Review:
Archaeology and Celtic Myth: An Exploration
Author: John Waddell
Publisher: Four Courts Press
Published: 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84682-494-4
Pages: 203 including index and bibliography.
Synopsis: In this book, author John Waddell contends that elements of pre-Christian Celtic myth preserved in medieval Irish literature shed light on older traditions and beliefs not just in Ireland but elsewhere in Europe as well. Waddell mainly focuses on aspects of the mythology associated with four well-known Irish archaeological landscapes: Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, the royal sites of Rathcroghan in County Roscommon, Navan in County Armagh, and Tara in County Meath. Their mythological associations permit the pursuit of the archaeological implications of several mythic themes, namely sacral kingship, a sovereignty goddess, solar cosmology, and the perception of an Otherworld.
Review:
The Gaelic Finn Tradition
**This review was first published in the peer-reviewed Celtic Reconstructionist magazine Air n-Aithesc, for more of the same and some awesome articles too please check out the Air n-Aithesc Website
Editors: Sharon J. Arbuthnot and Geraldine Parsons
Publisher: Four Courts Press
Published: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84682-277-3
Pages: 238 including index
Synopsis: Stories of Finn mac Cumaill and his fían (warband) constitute the most enduring popular branch of Gaelic literature. These thirteen essays, the first English-language collection on the subject to be published in over twenty years, offer new insights into diverse aspects of the tradition. (Taken from the back of the book)
Review:
Early Christian Ireland
Author: T.M. Charles-Edwards
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2000, 2004, digitally 2007
ISBN: 9780521037167
Pages: 707 including Appendix, Glossary, Bibliography and Index
Synopsis:
This is the first fully-documented history of Ireland and the Irish from Saint Patrick to the Vikings. Other books cover either a longer period (up to the Anglo-Norman conquests) or do not indicate in detail the evidence on which they are based. The book opens with the Irish raids and settlements in Britain, and the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, and ends as Viking attacks on Ireland accelerated in the second quarter of the ninth century.
Review:
Book Review: Poetry and Prophecy
Author: N.K. Chadwick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: First Published 1942, reprinted 1952, paperback copy 2011
ISBN: 978-1-107-68951-0
Pages: 110 with index
Synopsis: