Category Archives: Celtic Scholar’s Reviews and Opinions

Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1100: the Evidence from Archaeological Excavations

Authors: Aidan O’Sullivan, Finbar McCormick, Thomas Kerr, Lorcan Harney
Publisher: Royal Irish Academy
Published: 2014, originally 2013
ISBN: 9781904890607
Pages: 584 pages including Appendix tables, Bibliography, Index, plates and figures.

Synopsis:
How did people create and live in their own worlds in early medieval Ireland; what did they actually do; and to what end did they think they were doing it? This book investigates and reconstructs from archaeological evidence how early medieval Irish people lived together as social groups, worked the land as farmers, worshipped God, made and used objects and buried their dead around them. It focuses on the evidence from excavations conducted between 1930 and 2012 and uses that evidence to explore how people used their landscapes, dwellings and material culture to effect and negotiate social, ideological and economic continuities and changes during the period AD 400–1100.

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Manx Calendar Customs

Author: C. I. Paton
Publisher: The University Press, Glasgow
Published: 1939
Series: Folk-Lore Society London Monographs (Volume 110)
Pages:147 including Addenda and index, with pictures.

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The Story of the Isle of Man

Author: Arthur William Moore
Publisher: General Books LLC (Scanned)
Published: 2012, originally 1902
ISBN: 9781154154152937
Pages: 31

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The Celts: The Construction of a Myth

Author: Malcolm Chapman
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Published: 1992
ISBN: 0-333-52088-2
Pages: 342, including 2 Appendices, Notes, Bibliography and an Index.

Synopsis: The Celts are commonly considered to be one of the great peoples of Europe, with continuous racial, cultural and linguistic genealogy from the Iron Age to the modern-day “Celtic fringe”. This book shows, in contrast, that the Celts, as they have been known and understood over two thousand years, are simply the “other” of the dominant cultural and political traditions of Europe. It is this continuous “otherness” which lends them apparent continuity and substance. Modern social anthropology, Celtic studies, literary and historical evidence, and the author’s own fieldwork in Brittany and Scotland, are brought together in demonstration of this.

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A God Who Makes Fire – The Bardic Mysticism of Amergin

**This review was first published in Volume II Issue I of Air n-Aithesc

Full Title: A God Who Makes Fire: The Bardic Mysticism of Amergin Author: Christopher Scott Thompson
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-304-45726-4
Pages: 202

Synopsis:

An in-depth examination of the famous “Cauldron of Poesy” text describing the mystical practices of the poet-seers of medieval Ireland and the legendary bard Amergin. Includes a new translation of the text, a line-by-line analysis of the original Old Irish, a new interpretation of the Cauldron system unlike any in current use and exercises for practicing the Cauldron system as a method of spiritual cultivation.

Review:

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A Guide to Irish Mythology

Author: Daragh Smyth
Publisher: Irish Academic Press
Published: First published in 1988, this edition 1996
ISBN: 9780716526124
Pages: 200 including source material list and index
Synopsis: This guide, structured alphabetically with a helpful cross-reference system, allows the reader to delve into the ornate world of Irish mythology and its four cycles of tales: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian or Ossianic Cycle, and the Historical Cycle or Cycle of Kings. The characters associated with each of these cycles are vividly brought to life — heroes such as Cuchulainn, Oisin, Cormac Mac Airt, Conchobar Mac Nessa, Finn and the Fianna.

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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: …

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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).

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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.

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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:

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