Ciarán was born in 352 on Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork. His mother was Liadhain who was of the Corcalee tribe of West Cork (the main sept being the O’Driscolls), while his father was Lughaidh of  Ossory (Co. Offaly) which was also part of the Corcalee […]

Cattle have been domesticated in Ireland since the fourth millennium B.C. They were of paramount importance in Irish society, which is reflected in medieval stories concerning cattle and cattle raiding.  The celebrated brown bull of Ulster lies at the heart of the tale of the ‘Táin Bó Cuailgne’, which led […]

One of the great blessings that enrich our lives is birds; their colour, their habits, their eggs, but above all their song. Among the things of which we may be most afraid is the silence of birds. Rachel Carson, in her seminal work on the effects of artificial pesticides on […]

Christmas as a time of celebrations and revelry goes back to the customs of  pre-Christian times. Mistletoe, yule logs, holly and evergreen trees are of pagan origin, sacred to the Romans and Celts. Of all the Christian festivals, Christmas was considered the most important in Ireland, and preparations began some […]

While today we are more inclined to see life as a linear progression from our physical birth through to our death, a beginning and an ending , Eugene Daly says the ancient Irish saw life as a recurring cyclical process of birth, life, death and regeneration. In the midst of […]

The ancient festival of ‘Samhain’ – the first day of Winter for the ancient Celts – was traditionally kept on November 1, now the Feast of All Saints, and the vigil of this day, ‘Oíche Shamhna’ (Hallowe’en), is still celebrated on the last night in October. Hallowe’en was originally a […]