'The Last Chapter' - James Doyle Penrose. Born in Wicklow. Venerable Bede translating the Gospel of John on his deathbed. #Wicklow

Idunn and The Apples - Illustration by James Doyle Penrose

James Doyle Penrose (1862-1932) - Innocent Beauty

Hibernia is the Roman name for Ireland, meaning 'the land of winter'. They saw it as an inhospitable land at the edge of the known world.

Red hair is an adaptation for absorbing vitamin D in the overcast climates of NW Europe. 40% of Europeans carry the gene. The percentage higher in places like Scotland and Ireland. http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/irish-people-have…

Redheads can make vitamin D in their bodies in even the lowest light conditions. Useful for those long, dark northern winters.

In Irish history red hair represented a kind of dignity & nearness to a superior power due its association with ancient royalty & old Irish gods.

The Irish god the Dagda was called 'The Red Man of All Knowledge', having red hair & eyes, features signifying otherworldly power & favour.

Ireland - Land of the Green... or, em, red?!

Originally the Banshee was not a death-heralding old crone, but a queen or lady of the Sidhe, an angelic being with long flowing red hair.

The Banshee is depicted in folklore as being red-haired, which is a symbol of the fairy-kind #folklore

Redheads from history: Alexander the Great, Boudicca, Richard the Lionheart, Florence Nightingale.

Mary Magdalene had red hair & wears her traditional red mantle in icons: Red is the colour of true faith & the Blood of the Lamb (Heb 11:28)

An cailín agus an bó rua. #Eire #Ireland

The Udmurt people of the Volga region in #Russia are 'the most redheaded people in the world' outside of Ireland and Scotland.

According to some scholars, #Russia means 'land of the red', referring to red hair; named after the red-haired viking Rurik, founder of Rus'.

Russian redheads from the city of Perm, a red hair hotspot near the Ural Mountains. Sits on the same line of latitude as Ireland/Scotland. #Redheads