A flock of sheep making their way through heavy snow, Northern #Ireland

#Glendalough, Co Wicklow, early 1900's.

St Kevin's Kitchen in the low sun, Glendalough, Ireland.

Winter's evening sky over Glendalough, Co Wicklow, Ireland.

#Medieval #Monastery

"Irish will scarcely be our language in this generation, not even perhaps in the next. But until we have it again on our tongues and in our minds we are not free"
~
Path to Freedom (Chapter 7: Distinctive Culture) - Michael Collins, August 1922

"Welcome" to the channel!
Scots Gaelic: Fàilte!
Irish: Fáilte!
Manx: Failt ort!
Welsh: Croeso!
Cornish: Dynnargh!
Breton: Degemer mat!

Celtic related channel(not mine)

An extract from 'The Necessity for De-Anglicising Ireland' by Douglas Hyde, 1892.

Lieutenant Michael Malone who during the Easter Rising commanded 16 men against two British battalions (1750 soldiers) during the Battle of Mount Street inflicting 240 casualties on the British.

Classiebawn Castle at the foot of a cloudy Ben Bulben, Co Sligo, Ireland.

A picturesque winter's evening at Castleconnor, Co Sligo.

Christmas cards from the Cuala Press, which was founded by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats in 1908 in Dublin and ran until 1946, producing iconic Irish imagery.

Late Christmas posts backed up but never posted

Nollaig/Mí na Nollag, is the Irish month of December.

The term 'Nollaig'(Irish word for Christmas) derives from the Latin 'natalicius', meaning 'birth' or 'birthday', & refers to the Birth of Christ.

The greeting for 'Happy Christmas' in Irish is Nollaig Shona Duit or Nollaig Shona Daoibh (plural), word for word, it means “Christmas, happy, to you”.

Grafton Street, Dublin.

In Celtic nations winter is traditionally a time of honouring the dead. Masses are offered for the deceased & wreaths of evergreen lain on graves. The Scottish Gaelic word for this part of the year is 'an Dùbhlachd' - the great dark.

Irish postal stamps celebrating Nollaig from 1970-80's.

They did a fine job of honouring our Christian heritage with native images.

Bringing evergreens into the home at Christmas is a custom of great antiquity. Holly, ivy and mistletoe were seen as life symbols and hugely symbolic for the well-being of the home for the coming year

Mistletoe's one of the most magical & sacred plants of European folklore - The druids viewed it as a symbol of virility/healing & associated the tall oaks on which it grew with the thunder-god Taranis

Mistletoe used to be hung up in Irish homes & stables at Christmas to protect from the mischief of fairies and evil. Later on it became associated with the love, friendship, & goodwill we know today.