Originally published April 2013 We have a guest writer this month. A friend, Joseph D. Smith shared with me an article along he wrote some time ago along with a couple illustrations. His knowledge on the topic comes from not just book research, but also from some personal experience hand-forging dirks and other knives. Origin, […]
Author: Groomporter
Blogger for The Celtic Croft and owner of MacGregor Historic Games http://historicgames.com
Celtic History Newsletter “Gobban the Builder”
Gobán Saor or Gobban the Builder, is a legendary figure in Irish folklore who is believed to be based on an actual historical person. The traditions vary as to the time when he lived, ranging from sometime before Christ to the seventh century. But the Catholic Encyclopedia sites him as being born about 560 at […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Lindisfarne Gospel
Originally published May 2013 Although not as famous as the Book of Kells, The Lindisfarne Gospel is one of the great treasures of the British Library. It is believed to have been made on the “The Holy Isle of Lindisfarne” about 700 AD. Unlike the Book of Kells which had as many as eight people work […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Early Irish Copper Mining
Originally published January 2012 The large number of copper and bronze artifacts found in the Cork-Kerry area reflects copper’s importance in Bronze Age Ireland. The metal “industry” taking advantage of readily exploited copper ore deposits is credited for an increased in settlements in this region between 2500 and 500 BC. Exposed copper outcrops appear in […]
Celtic History Newsletter: Freemasons in Irish Folklore
Last Month in my article about the massive storm that hit Ireland in 1839 I mentioned a tidbit that superstitious people seemed to blame the storm on Freemasons who supposedly had raised the devil from and failed to contain him. Alternately it was claimed that the Freemasons actually called on the devil to raise the […]
Blast from the Past: The Legion Irlandaise
First, an update to the December Celtic History Newsletter topic on the “Night of the Big Wind.” I ran across another reference (quoted below) that had a little more detail specifically blaming Freemasons for the storm. More to come on the the subject of Irish superstitions regarding Freemasonry in the January newsletter. I heard the […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Bagpipe Satire in History
Merry Christmas from The Celtic Croft & MacGregor Historic Games! Originally Published December 2011 Bagpipes in humor is nothing new, so just for fun I thought I would take a quick look at satirical representations of bagpipes through the centuries. The devil using Martin Luther’s head as a bagpipe from the 16th century. A fool […]
Happy Solstice
Jethro Tull’s “Solstice Bells”
Newsletter Blast from the Past: St. Brendan
Originally Published October 2011 St. Brendan of Ardfert and Clonfert, known also as Brendan the Voyager, was said to have been born near the present city of Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, in 484. He belongs to that period in the history of Ireland when Erin was in the “afterglow” of its conversion to Christianity and […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: The Spanish Connection?
Originally published July 2011 (This book is 12 years old now, so it would be interesting to see if the claims have held up as the science had advanced.) Back in 2006 Oxford University announced the results of a DNA study which challenged the general belief that the early British Celts came across the channel […]