Good video. I would suggest that 'driving the snakes from Ireland' was a late invention by hagiographers - Patrick's writings make no mention of such. Burials suggest a slow transition with the last Pagan graves around 800 CE - which would suggest a mostly non-violent and gradual decline. I imagine the popular view that St. Patrick converted Ireland overnight ties in with the snakes - the lie that Ireland peacefully and quickly abandoned its old beliefs thanks to Patrick.
Yes, I agree with you. The first mention of snakes and St Patrick seems to be Giraldus Cambrensius, the Norman propagandist. He may have heard the tale or invented it... but it was certainly something that originated much much later than Patrick himself...
What a terrific video, with great footage, and I loved the point you made (which few do) that a lot of Irish mythology was written down by the Anglo-Irish, during the Gaelic Revival, so of course they put their own slant on things, just as the 11th Century monks did when recording Irish history/mythology. I think that anyone that isn't Irish mightn't get how relevant that is, and how there are layers of interpretations in what written records we have that can obscure the facts a good bit, as well as elicudating a bit, too.
Thanks a lot for the lovely comment. You are the only one to pick up on this! Yes, we have layers upon layers of interpretations, which makes getting to the original difficult. Moreover, some interpretations are so enrooted now, people get annoyed if you try to correct the picture. But it is worth trying
What do you mean by us real Irish people? Relatives of mine were out in 1916, I am related by marriage to those who were executed, both my grandfathers, a great aunt, and a great uncle were all involved in the War of Independence. I knew my great aunt very well and she told me loads of stories of those days. (She was in Cumman na Mna and fought in Dublin in the Civil War). Yet she would disagree with you. Talk of traitors gets us nowhere. It just leads to extremism and chaos such as under Trump, Bolsonaro, and Brexit in the UK. We live in a democracy, one that has made great strides in reducing inequality, which has built a strong welfare state and many other achievements. Things are not perfect, but they are way better than in 1921, 1916, or 1913, when Ireland was dirt poor. Even the Irish language seems to be spreading again, albeit in different ways
Yes it was. This is why I think there was no organised 'pagan' or pre-Christian 'church'. Mind you there is some archaeological evidence of the existence or survival of previous religions quite a bit later
@@steadyeddie639 There is no archaeological evidence for it not to be. Nor textual for that matter. All references to St patrick attacking druids are centuries later. Everything points to a peaceful transition - though it probably took MUCH longer than is believed. It was not something that only took a few years.
I think the local population had little choice other than to convert, as their chiefs kings were very authoritarian,the ordinary people would have had no choice but to be ordered to convert,on pain of death.. !😮
I don't think the ordinary people had any choice but to convert to christianity ,if they were ordered to do so by their kings and chiefs ,the alternative would have been punishment 😮😅
Is there a study in Comparative Paganism ? Only joking and thank you In videoing the landscape , would it be possible to indicate north , South , East or West . A little arrow , maybe . Just to get a feel for human activity in the landscape , although one can read the Sun , up to a point .Wouldn't ask anyone else .
There are probably several studies in comparative paganism, both modern and ancient. Ronald Hutton has a series on online lectures which are kind of comparative paganism in Britain and Ireland, from pre Roman to modern times. They are put on TH-cam by Gresham College. I recommend these. In relation to the directions. I live in Valentia at the very bottom of Iveragh in Kerry. My farming neighbours all seem to know the directions. Unfortunately, I seem to be terrible with them. In this video, when you see the sea on the Valentia bits, you are facing north. Eightercua is aligned ENE-WSW (I checked!), the sea is roughly to the east and Lough Currane to the West. The Ballybrack megalithic structure is mostly filmed facing north. Cill Rialaigh stone row is also ENE-WSW and mostly filmed looking north. I recommend here the Historic Environment Viewer. It is an official site. I couldn't make my films without it. Google it and it will bring you there.
Thanks a lot. I love being commented on my accent (I spent 25 years outside Ireland teaching English to foreigners, so my accent changed and when I returned 6 years ago, maybe people thought I was a foreigner! Fortunately, it is returning to normal now!
Looking at Ireland on Google Maps I always think of Cork and Kerry, with their finger like peninsulas, as a left hand grasping the sea. I just looked up Valentia, what are the origins of that name?
@@cara66666666 In Irish Valentia is Oilean Dairbhre, which means Island of Oaks. However, the name Valentia comes from Beal Inse, (the mouth of the island) the channel between Valentia and Portmagee. Valentia is like Dublin with two names :-)
Fabulous work, well done Was aware of the snakes /pagan expulsion and I think it can possibly be related to a French sect association. The meridians , or meridians. Their seal of power was always the serpent.. I may be way off Loved your openness
Thanks for your nice comment. I think it is the Merovingians (not easy to spell). The Rest is History podcast is in the middle of a series about these and the other Franks at the moment. I am not so sure about this. If the legend appeared earlier possibly, but it appeared in Geraldus Cambrensius (another hard spelling), who was a Norman propagandist. He may have heard the story, may it up, or exaggerated it. It could also just have been meant to be a miracle, based on the bible! You really have to dig down into these things to understand where they came from
The Druids never wrote down their practices and passed down their practices by word of mouth. Sadly this creates a situation where foreigners write the history for you. The Romans wrote a lot of propaganda on British and French (Gsul) druids.
Yes, the Gaelic druids never wrote anything down. However, as you say, the Romans wrote quite a bit about Gaulish and British druids. Much of this was propaganda. How much can be believed? Unfortunately, much of what we know about druids is filtered through the Roman viewpoint (and then again through the Romantic/Victorian viewpoint). This makes it very difficult to know anything for certain about Irish druids, even if they existed!
I would say different from the bible. Some of the history in the bible happened. It was also produced at a time with few written sources and few people who could read. These days it is easy to research something, so there is no excuse for many of the bad texts that exist
This title beyond druids. What was pagan Ireland other than druids. There seems to be a huge push to make the history of Ireland and the rest of Europe anti Celtic, and for him to say that samhain was a Victorian invention is horseshit. Just another self hating irishman
Pagan Ireland was a lot more than druids, there were soldiers, lords, kings, queens, scribe, bards, poets, musicians, farmers, blacksmiths and many other things. Undoubtedly there were priests. These could have been druids, but we do not know. Perhaps the title was too subtle, it aims to get people to think about the many different forms of religious practices. Pagan Ireland also includes the Bronze Age and the Neolithic peoples, who were pre-Celtic and would have had their own forms of belief. It was a complex place with a fascinating culture, one that I wish we knew more about. You need to watch the video again. I do not say that samhain was a Victorian invention. It is not. I say that the idea of the thinning of the veil was! Completely different. This idea has nothing to do with Gaelic or Celtic beliefs of samhain. The word Celtic has only really been applied to the Ireland from the 18th century onwards. The people of Iron age or medieval Ireland saw themselves as Gaelic. This is something that has to be respected. Yes, the Gaelic language is a Celtic language, but the people thought of themselves as Gaelic. This is not being anti-Celtic, it is being pro Gaelic. And do not be so quick to throw insults around. It belittles you. Have a look at my all my videos, perhaps especially ones about relatively unknown places such as Cill Rialig, about the inauguration of MacCarthy Mor, about the battle of Callan, about Cath Fionn Trá and try to call me a self-hating Irishman.... Mar a deir siad aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile.
When I think about the ice age, I envision Ireland nearly covered with ice and snow. In such a place, humans would have a hard time creating a solid place to come back to, since the ice moves and the snow obscures everything. If one were to slide a rock on top the ice, and strategically poke it into the ice by making a hole for it to fall into, it might stand upright for a very long time, held up by the ice with only the top poking out, and once it dug itself into the ground underneath by gravity over time become truly stable even when the ice melted. Then there would be a solid place to work from, that wouldn't move. Anything could be attached to it. A whole village might be attached to a circle of vertical rocks, but we wouldn't know anything about it, because it was on top of the long gone ice and snow.
Ireland in the ice ages would have been a difficult place to live. Indeed, there is no real traces of human life from then. Humans only settled Ireland after the ice retreated, as did a lot of animals, but not snakes!
I enjoyed your video very much and subscribed to the channel. I too have read and heard many lectures by Ronald Hutton. Many stories of the Irish myths came from the Bible and from Arabic traders who carried their myths to the UK and Ireland. In regard to the bog bodies. I had heard some archeologists and historians speak about how Old Croghan Man. His nipples were slashed with mistletoe inserted. The archeologist was an old Irish man. I forgot his name. He pointed out the mistletoe and several things about the remains which pointed to what we know about the Druids and human sacrifice. Also, in regard to Lindow man. I forget the name of the historian again but they had said that his body was found in a bog on the way to where the last stand of the Druids against the Romans on the Isle of Anglesey. hey noted that possibly the sacrifice was made to ensure victory? The bogs represent the way to the underworld or, of this world and the next i.e. for the same reason swords and offerings were disposed into lakes and rivers. Anyway, thank you again for your interesting video and am looking forward to the next.
Thanks for the lovely comment. The bog bodies are interesting. There is a fascinating exhibition on them in the National Museum in Dublin. I always found the arguments presented there as interesting. But a few months ago I read Hutton's Pagan Britain and then a few weeks ago listened to videos of his as research for this video. He presents a compelling counter argument. I think he is right in regard to Lindow Man and would love to someone to re-examine the Irish bog bodies. I think that this would have to be on a case by case basis, as it is very possible that some were sacrificed and others not. Generally, I like discussions like this as they advance what we know, even if it involves some controversy. Yes, so many offerings were left in rivers, lakes, and bogs - fortunately for us since so many things have been found in them. My house is surrounded by boggy fields, I dream about finding something one day. A Bronze Age sword was found a few km away in the 19th century... maybe I will get lucky!!!!
Whatever about pagan beliefs, those old people of Ireland had a great eye for scenery and location, aligning their structures with stunning views of mountains, lakes, rivers and the sea. The location must have some significance, do you think?
They definitely had an eye for the scenery. So too did the early Christian monks. In the field next to me is a wedge tomb and an Early Christian settlement, both point to the Sceiligs (as well as the rest of the landscape). Location definitely had a significance. People are obssessed with the astronomical alignment of stone rows and circles, but they are often aligned with something in the landscape. We have to try and interpret what that is though...
Definitely, plus an cathair down below. I had hoped to get there this year, but an cathair is about 2.5 hours drive from my house and I have a daughter who is play football and soccer, so I have to drive here around a lot. But I will do it. I would actually love to do a series on sacred mountains (as these I feel are real remnants of pre-Christian beliefs), such as Cnoc na dTobar and the Paps in Kerry, various sites in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains, and even Croagh Patrick. One day I will.
@forasfeasa absolutely pre Christian, unfortunately i can't drive anymore but I 'dragged my daughter all over the country to the sacred sites& stones , Mountains are sacred since the dawn,the cork& kerry mountains are literally breathtaking.....as I was going over!
@@Tailtiu3 They inspire great songs too! I imagine in Donegal, Galway, and other parts of the country there are also other sacred mountains. It is something I need to read up on. (If you happen to know of any texts, I would love to hear them)
Thanks for the comment. I mention them briefly and intend to return to them in a future video. Actually when I started out the video, I intended to have one section on 'Celtic' beliefs, another on Bronze age/Bell Beaker and a third on the megalithic structures (and a brief mention of the hunter gathers, who were the originals). Then I realised that this is a series.... so stay tuned! I just have to get up to Newgrange, Dowth, Carrowmore, etc
The Early Medieval period did produce some very interesting people, such as Bridget and Columcille, amongst many. Since I live in Valentia, I also have to say St. Dar Earca, the patron saint of the island and reputed sister of St Patrick.
I would say a lot of bad things came out of christianity in ireland ,child molesting by priests,enforcement of social inequality and poverty financial ,exploitation of poor people by the corrupt Catholic church etc..😮😅
What makes you think that? It probably was started in babylon, the rest in various parts of the middle east. All much before there was any writing in Ireland
How do you know this? One of the main points of the video is that it important to acknowledge what we do not know. We have very little evidence about how Ireland became Christian. We also have almost nothing about the religious organisation before Christianity. Were there druids similar to Gaul? We do not know. I think there were people who filled a similar function. However, they most likely were not centralised. Power in Gaelic ireland was fragmented, religious power before Christianity (and after) was also fragmented. Probably there were schools (as there were for law, poetry, and medicine), but this were all organised locally. However, there is some evidence for pagan beliefs to have lasted longer than is traditionally believed. Probably something similar happened with the last 'druids.' They were not killed, rather they got old and died - and there may well have been priests who were also considered to have been druids (whatever they were)
@@forasfeasalook into Solomons 2 sons . One over northern kingdom and other over southern in the bible..they were scattered by God for mixing his laws with false ones and they continued this everywhere they went... including Ireland..bible is where u will find truth ❤
This potato goddess flowery i suppose🤭 just like the invention, love your channel , An Morrigan has also been hijacked apparently she's from Asia minor then accepted into the greek pantheon as Hecate....not An Morrigan
The potato goddess was probably better than the Dublin Bus announcement in Irish used as a spell in Buffy the Vampire Slayer! (I love Buffy, so I just laugh at that). Thanks for the info about the Morrigan. I actually didn't know that. The problem I find making these videos is that there are loads of subjects I find interesting, just need the time to study them. And the real world keeps interrupting :-)
Thanks for the video. I will try to watch it in the next couple of days - Making videos is time consuming, generally in the following days I am up to my eyes with work and boring real world stuff, it is hard to find time to do anything. But I've opened the video on my computer and will have a look very soon. It looks interesting. Thanks a lot!
The potato goddess appeared in a book by Edain McCoy. MOre details here bandraiodoir.tumblr.com/post/142929326750/the-irish-potato-goddess-or-why-paganism-annoys I don't mind neopagans, it is when they insist on bad history (like the so called massacre of pagans by St Patrick), that I get annoyed!
Great video. Just cant wait for the next one!
Thanks. hopefully the next one will be out on Sunday week. Christmas has slowed things down!!!
Good video. I would suggest that 'driving the snakes from Ireland' was a late invention by hagiographers - Patrick's writings make no mention of such. Burials suggest a slow transition with the last Pagan graves around 800 CE - which would suggest a mostly non-violent and gradual decline. I imagine the popular view that St. Patrick converted Ireland overnight ties in with the snakes - the lie that Ireland peacefully and quickly abandoned its old beliefs thanks to Patrick.
Yes, I agree with you. The first mention of snakes and St Patrick seems to be Giraldus Cambrensius, the Norman propagandist. He may have heard the tale or invented it... but it was certainly something that originated much much later than Patrick himself...
What a terrific video, with great footage, and I loved the point you made (which few do) that a lot of Irish mythology was written down by the Anglo-Irish, during the Gaelic Revival, so of course they put their own slant on things, just as the 11th Century monks did when recording Irish history/mythology. I think that anyone that isn't Irish mightn't get how relevant that is, and how there are layers of interpretations in what written records we have that can obscure the facts a good bit, as well as elicudating a bit, too.
Thanks a lot for the lovely comment. You are the only one to pick up on this! Yes, we have layers upon layers of interpretations, which makes getting to the original difficult. Moreover, some interpretations are so enrooted now, people get annoyed if you try to correct the picture. But it is worth trying
@@forasfeasa yes we need men like the men of 1916 to claim our country back not like the fools in the daily who are traitors to us real Irish people
What do you mean by us real Irish people? Relatives of mine were out in 1916, I am related by marriage to those who were executed, both my grandfathers, a great aunt, and a great uncle were all involved in the War of Independence. I knew my great aunt very well and she told me loads of stories of those days. (She was in Cumman na Mna and fought in Dublin in the Civil War). Yet she would disagree with you. Talk of traitors gets us nowhere. It just leads to extremism and chaos such as under Trump, Bolsonaro, and Brexit in the UK. We live in a democracy, one that has made great strides in reducing inequality, which has built a strong welfare state and many other achievements. Things are not perfect, but they are way better than in 1921, 1916, or 1913, when Ireland was dirt poor. Even the Irish language seems to be spreading again, albeit in different ways
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks and Merry Christmas. 😎
Thanks for the lovely comment Lynn. Happy Christmas to you too (or in Irish Nollaig shona duit)!
Fabulous photography and fascinating content. Thank you for this video.
You are very welcome! I am fortunate where I live. When it is not raining, the scenery is amazing. Unfortately, today it is rather dull and gray!
Sehr spannendes Video, hat mir sehr gefallen!
Viele Grüße Nicole :)
Thanks a lot, go raibh maith agat! I'm glad you liked it
Moving from pagan to Christian Ireland was a very smooth passage. Druid to monk/nun menir to cross.
Yes it was. This is why I think there was no organised 'pagan' or pre-Christian 'church'. Mind you there is some archaeological evidence of the existence or survival of previous religions quite a bit later
Don't think for one minute that Christianity was spread peacefully..
@@steadyeddie639 There is no archaeological evidence for it not to be. Nor textual for that matter. All references to St patrick attacking druids are centuries later. Everything points to a peaceful transition - though it probably took MUCH longer than is believed. It was not something that only took a few years.
I think the local population had little choice other than to convert, as their chiefs kings were very authoritarian,the ordinary people would have had no choice but to be ordered to convert,on pain of death.. !😮
I don't think the ordinary people had any choice but to convert to christianity ,if they were ordered to do so by their kings and chiefs ,the alternative would have been punishment 😮😅
One on the bog bodies would be great mate
I have thought about it. The problem is the area in the museum is really badly lit. I will have a look next week when I am there. Let's see...
@@forasfeasa Crom is the god of the Cimmerians in Robert E Howards Conan stories. I think he got him from your Crom Cruach
He probably did. I know he got some stuff. (Haven't read much of his stuff though to my shame)
@@forasfeasa Great writer of fantasy action
What is a good book of his to start with?
Is there a study in Comparative Paganism ? Only joking and thank you In videoing the landscape , would it be possible to indicate north , South , East or West . A little arrow , maybe . Just to get a feel for human activity in the landscape , although one can read the Sun , up to a point .Wouldn't ask anyone else .
There are probably several studies in comparative paganism, both modern and ancient. Ronald Hutton has a series on online lectures which are kind of comparative paganism in Britain and Ireland, from pre Roman to modern times. They are put on TH-cam by Gresham College. I recommend these. In relation to the directions. I live in Valentia at the very bottom of Iveragh in Kerry. My farming neighbours all seem to know the directions. Unfortunately, I seem to be terrible with them. In this video, when you see the sea on the Valentia bits, you are facing north. Eightercua is aligned ENE-WSW (I checked!), the sea is roughly to the east and Lough Currane to the West. The Ballybrack megalithic structure is mostly filmed facing north. Cill Rialaigh stone row is also ENE-WSW and mostly filmed looking north. I recommend here the Historic Environment Viewer. It is an official site. I couldn't make my films without it. Google it and it will bring you there.
Lovely footage and nice accent.
Thanks a lot. I love being commented on my accent (I spent 25 years outside Ireland teaching English to foreigners, so my accent changed and when I returned 6 years ago, maybe people thought I was a foreigner! Fortunately, it is returning to normal now!
Looking at Ireland on Google Maps I always think of Cork and Kerry, with their finger like peninsulas, as a left hand grasping the sea. I just looked up Valentia, what are the origins of that name?
@@cara66666666 In Irish Valentia is Oilean Dairbhre, which means Island of Oaks. However, the name Valentia comes from Beal Inse, (the mouth of the island) the channel between Valentia and Portmagee. Valentia is like Dublin with two names :-)
Iontach, iontach, iontach!!!
Go raibh maith agat!!!!! :-)
Tá fáilte romhat! 👍 @@forasfeasa
Fabulous work, well done
Was aware of the snakes /pagan expulsion and I think it can possibly be related to a French sect association. The meridians , or meridians.
Their seal of power was always the serpent..
I may be way off
Loved your openness
Thanks for your nice comment. I think it is the Merovingians (not easy to spell). The Rest is History podcast is in the middle of a series about these and the other Franks at the moment. I am not so sure about this. If the legend appeared earlier possibly, but it appeared in Geraldus Cambrensius (another hard spelling), who was a Norman propagandist. He may have heard the story, may it up, or exaggerated it. It could also just have been meant to be a miracle, based on the bible! You really have to dig down into these things to understand where they came from
The Druids never wrote down their practices and passed down their practices by word of mouth. Sadly this creates a situation where foreigners write the history for you. The Romans wrote a lot of propaganda on British and French (Gsul) druids.
Yes, the Gaelic druids never wrote anything down. However, as you say, the Romans wrote quite a bit about Gaulish and British druids. Much of this was propaganda. How much can be believed? Unfortunately, much of what we know about druids is filtered through the Roman viewpoint (and then again through the Romantic/Victorian viewpoint). This makes it very difficult to know anything for certain about Irish druids, even if they existed!
1:20 "others are, unfortunately, verry weak because they are 3rd or 4th hand stories.... or just made up..." much like the bible then.
I would say different from the bible. Some of the history in the bible happened. It was also produced at a time with few written sources and few people who could read. These days it is easy to research something, so there is no excuse for many of the bad texts that exist
Good video 👌
Thank you very much
This title beyond druids. What was pagan Ireland other than druids. There seems to be a huge push to make the history of Ireland and the rest of Europe anti Celtic, and for him to say that samhain was a Victorian invention is horseshit. Just another self hating irishman
Pagan Ireland was a lot more than druids, there were soldiers, lords, kings, queens, scribe, bards, poets, musicians, farmers, blacksmiths and many other things. Undoubtedly there were priests. These could have been druids, but we do not know. Perhaps the title was too subtle, it aims to get people to think about the many different forms of religious practices. Pagan Ireland also includes the Bronze Age and the Neolithic peoples, who were pre-Celtic and would have had their own forms of belief. It was a complex place with a fascinating culture, one that I wish we knew more about. You need to watch the video again. I do not say that samhain was a Victorian invention. It is not. I say that the idea of the thinning of the veil was! Completely different. This idea has nothing to do with Gaelic or Celtic beliefs of samhain. The word Celtic has only really been applied to the Ireland from the 18th century onwards. The people of Iron age or medieval Ireland saw themselves as Gaelic. This is something that has to be respected. Yes, the Gaelic language is a Celtic language, but the people thought of themselves as Gaelic. This is not being anti-Celtic, it is being pro Gaelic. And do not be so quick to throw insults around. It belittles you. Have a look at my all my videos, perhaps especially ones about relatively unknown places such as Cill Rialig, about the inauguration of MacCarthy Mor, about the battle of Callan, about Cath Fionn Trá and try to call me a self-hating Irishman.... Mar a deir siad aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile.
When I think about the ice age, I envision Ireland nearly covered with ice and snow. In such a place, humans would have a hard time creating a solid place to come back to, since the ice moves and the snow obscures everything. If one were to slide a rock on top the ice, and strategically poke it into the ice by making a hole for it to fall into, it might stand upright for a very long time, held up by the ice with only the top poking out, and once it dug itself into the ground underneath by gravity over time become truly stable even when the ice melted. Then there would be a solid place to work from, that wouldn't move. Anything could be attached to it. A whole village might be attached to a circle of vertical rocks, but we wouldn't know anything about it, because it was on top of the long gone ice and snow.
Ireland in the ice ages would have been a difficult place to live. Indeed, there is no real traces of human life from then. Humans only settled Ireland after the ice retreated, as did a lot of animals, but not snakes!
I enjoyed your video very much and subscribed to the channel. I too have read and heard many lectures by Ronald Hutton. Many stories of the Irish myths came from the Bible and from Arabic traders who carried their myths to the UK and Ireland. In regard to the bog bodies. I had heard some archeologists and historians speak about how Old Croghan Man. His nipples were slashed with mistletoe inserted. The archeologist was an old Irish man. I forgot his name. He pointed out the mistletoe and several things about the remains which pointed to what we know about the Druids and human sacrifice. Also, in regard to Lindow man. I forget the name of the historian again but they had said that his body was found in a bog on the way to where the last stand of the Druids against the Romans on the Isle of Anglesey. hey noted that possibly the sacrifice was made to ensure victory? The bogs represent the way to the underworld or, of this world and the next i.e. for the same reason swords and offerings were disposed into lakes and rivers.
Anyway, thank you again for your interesting video and am looking forward to the next.
Thanks for the lovely comment. The bog bodies are interesting. There is a fascinating exhibition on them in the National Museum in Dublin. I always found the arguments presented there as interesting. But a few months ago I read Hutton's Pagan Britain and then a few weeks ago listened to videos of his as research for this video. He presents a compelling counter argument. I think he is right in regard to Lindow Man and would love to someone to re-examine the Irish bog bodies. I think that this would have to be on a case by case basis, as it is very possible that some were sacrificed and others not. Generally, I like discussions like this as they advance what we know, even if it involves some controversy. Yes, so many offerings were left in rivers, lakes, and bogs - fortunately for us since so many things have been found in them. My house is surrounded by boggy fields, I dream about finding something one day. A Bronze Age sword was found a few km away in the 19th century... maybe I will get lucky!!!!
Whatever about pagan beliefs, those old people of Ireland had a great eye for scenery and location, aligning their structures with stunning views of mountains, lakes, rivers and the sea. The location must have some significance, do you think?
They definitely had an eye for the scenery. So too did the early Christian monks. In the field next to me is a wedge tomb and an Early Christian settlement, both point to the Sceiligs (as well as the rest of the landscape). Location definitely had a significance. People are obssessed with the astronomical alignment of stone rows and circles, but they are often aligned with something in the landscape. We have to try and interpret what that is though...
The paps of Anú would be a good video
Definitely, plus an cathair down below. I had hoped to get there this year, but an cathair is about 2.5 hours drive from my house and I have a daughter who is play football and soccer, so I have to drive here around a lot. But I will do it. I would actually love to do a series on sacred mountains (as these I feel are real remnants of pre-Christian beliefs), such as Cnoc na dTobar and the Paps in Kerry, various sites in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains, and even Croagh Patrick. One day I will.
@forasfeasa absolutely pre Christian, unfortunately i can't drive anymore but I 'dragged my daughter all over the country to the sacred sites& stones , Mountains are sacred since the dawn,the cork& kerry mountains are literally breathtaking.....as I was going over!
@@Tailtiu3 They inspire great songs too! I imagine in Donegal, Galway, and other parts of the country there are also other sacred mountains. It is something I need to read up on. (If you happen to know of any texts, I would love to hear them)
@@forasfeasathe Glen's of Antrim& many a tune written about them are stunning
@@Tailtiu3 Good indication, I may have a chance to visit there next year. Fingers crossed
You'll need to take into account the pre celtic original inhabitants of Ireland that the Celts drove out.
Thanks for the comment. I mention them briefly and intend to return to them in a future video. Actually when I started out the video, I intended to have one section on 'Celtic' beliefs, another on Bronze age/Bell Beaker and a third on the megalithic structures (and a brief mention of the hunter gathers, who were the originals). Then I realised that this is a series.... so stay tuned! I just have to get up to Newgrange, Dowth, Carrowmore, etc
A great video, with beautiful photos. Somehow controversial, alright! Cannot wait for the next ones.
Thanks so much!
Loved the comment
Hopefully the next lord of the rings movie will be made in county Kerry 💪
That would be a very good idea . In between rain showers of course :-)
Thank you!!!
Thank God Ireland became Christian and produced the greatest saints and scholars.Yes the land of Saints and scholars once upon a time...
The Early Medieval period did produce some very interesting people, such as Bridget and Columcille, amongst many. Since I live in Valentia, I also have to say St. Dar Earca, the patron saint of the island and reputed sister of St Patrick.
I would say a lot of bad things came out of christianity in ireland ,child molesting by priests,enforcement of social inequality and poverty financial ,exploitation of poor people by the corrupt Catholic church etc..😮😅
Christianity is what destroyed what it was to be irish
It all started in Ireland, the Bible was was written in Ireland.
What makes you think that? It probably was started in babylon, the rest in various parts of the middle east. All much before there was any writing in Ireland
Miruvians
I don`t mind Hutton
Hutton's stuff is excellent. I used a lot of his work for this video
He killed the last druids not snake because they new the truth
How do you know this? One of the main points of the video is that it important to acknowledge what we do not know. We have very little evidence about how Ireland became Christian. We also have almost nothing about the religious organisation before Christianity. Were there druids similar to Gaul? We do not know. I think there were people who filled a similar function. However, they most likely were not centralised. Power in Gaelic ireland was fragmented, religious power before Christianity (and after) was also fragmented. Probably there were schools (as there were for law, poetry, and medicine), but this were all organised locally. However, there is some evidence for pagan beliefs to have lasted longer than is traditionally believed. Probably something similar happened with the last 'druids.' They were not killed, rather they got old and died - and there may well have been priests who were also considered to have been druids (whatever they were)
@@forasfeasalook into Solomons 2 sons . One over northern kingdom and other over southern in the bible..they were scattered by God for mixing his laws with false ones and they continued this everywhere they went... including Ireland..bible is where u will find truth ❤
This potato goddess flowery i suppose🤭 just like the invention, love your channel , An Morrigan has also been hijacked apparently she's from Asia minor then accepted into the greek pantheon as Hecate....not An Morrigan
The potato goddess was probably better than the Dublin Bus announcement in Irish used as a spell in Buffy the Vampire Slayer! (I love Buffy, so I just laugh at that). Thanks for the info about the Morrigan. I actually didn't know that. The problem I find making these videos is that there are loads of subjects I find interesting, just need the time to study them. And the real world keeps interrupting :-)
@@forasfeasa😄
A Dublin bus announcement! That's hilarious and a reminder not to imbue the past with too much mysticism.@@forasfeasa
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Thanks for the video. I will try to watch it in the next couple of days - Making videos is time consuming, generally in the following days I am up to my eyes with work and boring real world stuff, it is hard to find time to do anything. But I've opened the video on my computer and will have a look very soon. It looks interesting. Thanks a lot!
Never heard of the potato god mate-might of been a relie of Mr. Potato Head. Thanks for knocking the neo pagans on the head. They get a bit boring
The potato goddess appeared in a book by Edain McCoy. MOre details here bandraiodoir.tumblr.com/post/142929326750/the-irish-potato-goddess-or-why-paganism-annoys
I don't mind neopagans, it is when they insist on bad history (like the so called massacre of pagans by St Patrick), that I get annoyed!
@@forasfeasa Ta
The grey robes robbed us of every thing
Who are the grey robes? And what did they rob?