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

Red hair was admired in ancient Europe - It was associated with courage & honour; a mark of divinity, beauty, vitality, & fierceness of war.

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.

Hibernia - Lily Williams (1874-1940) The beautiful figure, seated & alert, personifies the national awakening of the #Gaelic spirit.

You'll notice as temperatures drop with approaching winter, the Red Fox (Irish: Sionnach) arrives out of woods, edging closer to human dwellings.

The stoat (Irish: Easóg) is found all over Ireland and mainly eats rabbits. #Irish #wildlife

Rock of Cashel, Tipperary. Site of the conversion of the king of Munster. Formed when St Patrick banished Satan from nearby mountain Devil's Bit. #Tipperary

This poem was originally written in Irish in the margins of the St Gall Gospel (8th C.) - probably by a bored but very inspired scribe.

Pangur Bán, perhaps the most famous poem from Early Ireland: written by a monk about his cat named Pangur. https://irisharchaeology.ie/2013/10/pangur-ban/

A poem by Sedulius Scottus ('the Irish') written in Liège, 9th c. His special patrons included Emperor Lothar & Empress Ermingard.

The historical propensity of the Irish toward 'active monasticism' was extensive. The illuminated books, hermitages, voyages to America..

Hiberno-Latin was a form of Latin originating in 5th C. Ireland. It gained great influence across Europe for its artistic & literary merits.

Irish scholars of the 8th & 9th centuries were the superiors of their European contemporaries when it came to Greek & Latin learning:

Spaces between words & use of punctuation started with 7th c. Irish scribes. Previously, Latin was written only in continuous sentences.

The reason for the existence of the Irish Scriptoria was to help the Irish monks read & learn #Latin: