Women in full handmade Irish knitwear, Inis Meáin. The last of the Gaelic dress tradition.

#AranIslands

The traditional Aran woolen jumper worn on Ireland's west coast to protect fishermen from the wild Atlantic. Each clan had a unique stitch, so that if a man drowned, the stitch would identify him.

The Caubeen is a beret, previously worn by Irish peasants.

Dated from 17th Cent, & means 'old shaggy hat' (cáibín) in Irish. Today it's used as the headdress of Irish regiments in Commonwealth armies

Poulnabrone Dolmen in the Burren, Co #Clare.

Dated to the Neolithic period, 4200-2900 BC.

The Cliffs of #Moher on the rugged Atlantic coast of Ireland.

In Irish called 'An Mothar' - a placename meaning ‘the ruin’.

Sunset above the clouds at the Cliffs Of Moher, in Co. Clare, Ireland.

Farmers stack hay on their farm in County #Cork - 1927.

A family stands outside their cottage in county #Cork, Ireland, 1927.

Two fishermen take a break in Spidéal, #Galway, 1913.

The boy is dressed in a skirt; a common safeguard against the fairy-kind.

A young girl knits a colourful woolen garment in Ardara, Co #Donegal, 1927.

A pair of girls collect turf for the fire - June, 1963, #Ireland.

A way of life that existed for hundreds of years but has now vanished.

"Irish children with their pony 'Gypsy' in Clondalkin, #Dublin - a metropolis where cars still dodge horse-drawn carts hauling vegetables to market."

- National Geographic, 1994

In the Irish tradition, the 'long arm' signifies 'power at a distance': supernatural & regal ability. Sometimes depicted as a club, example: Ogma

Sucellus, the hammer-god of the #Celts. His name means 'the Good Striker', as he awoke the seasons & warded off evil with his mighty hammer.

"The hammer-god's emblem could symbolise the striking/awakening of life after the 'death' of winter, or the death of people."

Much like a Celtic Thor.
Very Indo-European.
#Celtic #Thor

The Dagda is the hammer-god of the Irish pantheon. Like Sucellus he carries the sacred tokens of magical wand (club)& regenerative cauldron.

Hammer-gods like the Dagda were the most widely venerated; they were the 'good gods', fatherly protectors laden with tools of work & trade.

"He was a peasant deity, but he could rise to sublime heights, rivaling Jupiter.."

The hammer-god's role as an agricultural/crafters deity:

Celtic coin art showing the 'Lámhfada' or long arm. Depictions range from simple elongated arms, tree or vine outgrowths, to wand/hammers.

The main triad of Irish gods, Dagda, Ogma & Lugh, all possess the Long Arm - authority over spiritual knowledge & rule of the mundane world.

The Long Arm archetype takes on apocalyptic overtones in the Spear of #Lugh, which is to be "set down in Ireland at the world's ending."