Dún Dúchathair ('Black Fort') - the most foreboding of Aran's Bronze Age stone forts, West coast of Ireland.

''The whole history of Ireland is a record of betrayals by politicians and statesmen.''

James Connolly

"And now this is ‘an inheritance’ –
Upright, rudimentary, unshiftably planked
In the long ago, yet willable forward
Again and again and again"

- Séamus Heaney

‘The history of a nation is not in parliaments and battlefields but in what the people say to each other on fair-days and high days, and in how they farm, and quarrel, and go on pilgrimage.’
- W.B. Yeats

#OnThisDay 1798 United Irishmen rebels ambush & kill 70-80 British militia at Three Rocks in Wexford taking 20 prisoner & 2 howitzers. They then take Wexford Town. The garrison in Wexford town withdraw to Duncannon, looting & pillaging on their way.
One instance of a series of rebellions nationwide in 1798.

To the ancient Irish there was a link between manual or verbal ability & supernatural power. The skill of the poet, smith & seer was considered to have magical potential. From the oldest text: 'the people of skill were gods [for them]' i.e. the Tuatha Dé, masters of all arts.

In medieval Ireland the category of people who exercised skill & knowledge were known as áes dána, or nemed ('sacral ones'). This included filid (poets) who were the equal of kings & clerics. The 'base nemed' were men of lesser skill: physicians, judges, smiths & harpists.

Éle - Old Irish for 'charm / incantation'. The word is thought to derive from Jesus' cry: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani". Like in Homer, the calling out to God places an onus to manifest his power. Thus éle were used for magical purposes by medieval Irish scholars.

Túath is a common Celtic word traceable to Indo-European (teutā). It means 'tribe', a term for the basic social unit of Celtic society, made up of 3,000 people, & ruled over by a king (Ir. rí, Gaulish rīx, Welsh rhí). The Túath system was most long-lasting in Ireland.

Teutates was a Celtic god who was worshiped in ancient Gaul and Britain. His name is related to the concept of the túath, & means "father of the tribe". The tribe was seen as having divine life-force to the ancient Celts.

The Equinox happens twice a year at the Loughcrew Cairns in Co. Meath. Throughout time people have gathered to honour and celebrate the sun at these ancient passage tombs, which are over 5,000 years old. Autumn's Equinox falls on September 22nd/23rd.

Birr Castle, County Offaly

Built in the 17th century by the Parson family on the site of a previous O'Carroll stronghold. The O'Carrolls, who were displaced, went on to become prominent Catholic landowners in Maryland & signatories to the American Declaration of Independence.

The Scripture Cross at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly.

Founded as a monastic settlement by St Ciarán mid-6th century, it's one of the oldest Christian sites in Ireland.

One day the monks of Clonmacnoise saw a ship sailing over them in church. An anchor dropped, and a man 'swam' down to free it. When the monks caught him, he cried, "Stop for you are drowning me!" They let him go and the flying ship sailed on.

Almost all rivers in Celtic Europe have female names, reflecting the maternal deity to whom the river belonged. In Ireland the Boyne was owned by Boann ('white cow of plenty'). Sequana presided over the Seine, while the Marne derives its name from Matrona ('divine goddess')

The very creative tribal names of the ancient Celts:

The Unbending Ones (Regini)
The Horse People (Eceni)
Army of Many Rivers (Corieltauvi)
The Water-Rat Kings (Durotriges)
She-Wolves Looking for a Home (Volcae Tectosages).