Irish History #24

10. The Banshee

The Banshee was a woman who carried with her an omen of death. Sometimes you saw the Banshee as an old woman dressed in rags, sometimes you saw her as a young and beautiful girl and sometimes you saw her as a wash woman, ringing out bloody clothing. Whenever she was seen, she let out a horrible cry and legend has it this cry brought death to any family that heard it. King James I of Scotland thought he was approached by a Banshee. Shortly after, he died at the Earl of Atholl.

9. Pookas

The Pookas are a certain type of fairy- one bent on creating havoc in the mortal world. The Pooka appeared at night across rural Ireland and the seaboard. On a good day, the Pooka would cause destruction on a farm- tearing down fences and disrupting the animals. On a bad day, the Pooka would stand outside the farmhouse and call the people outside by name. If anyone came out, the Pooka would carry them away. The Pookas also loved to mess with the ships pulling away from Ireland, and were blamed for many shipwrecks along the rocky coast.

8. Changelings

As legend has it, female fairies often give birth to deformed children. Since the fairies prefer visually pleasing babies, they would go into the mortal world and swap with a healthy human baby, leaving behind a changeling. While the changeling looked like a human baby, it carried none of the same emotional characteristics. The changeling was only happy when misfortune or grief happened in the house. The changeling legend has lasted for centuries. William Shakespeare talks of a changeling in his play, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Three hundred years later, Scarlett O’Hara believed Rhett Butler’s illegitimate child was a changeling in “Gone with the Wind.”

7. Dagda’s Harp

In Irish mythology, the Dagda was a high priest who had a large and beautiful harp. During a war, a rival tribe stole Dagda’s harp and took it to an abandoned castle. Dagda followed the tribe and called to the harp. The harp came to Dagda and he struck the chords. The harp let out the Music of Tears and everyone in the castle began to cry. Dagda struck the chords again and the harp played the Music of Mirth and all the warriors began to laugh. Then, Dagda struck the chords a final time and the harp let out the Music of Sleep. Everyone but Dagda fell into a deep sleep, allowing him to escape with his magical harp unharmed.

6. The Children of Lir

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The story of the Children of Lir comes from the Irish Mythological Cycle. Lir was the lord of the sea. He had a wife and four children. When Lir’s wife died, he married his wife’s sister, Aoife. Aoife was jealous of Lir’s children and wanted to be rid of them. One day Aoife took the children to a lake. While they were swimming she performed a spell on them and turned them into swans. Under the spell the children were to remain swans until they heard the sound of a Christian bell. The swans swam from lake, to river to stream for years waiting for the sound of that bell, but it wasn’t until St. Patrick came to Ireland that the children could be free of the curse- 900 years later.

5. St. Patrick

To most people, St. Patrick is the man who brought a day of good times and green beer to pubs across the world. In reality, St. Patrick wasn’t made a saint until centuries after his death and he wasn’t even Irish. St. Patrick was born in Britain to a wealthy family. During his childhood, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. During his years in slavery he converted to Christianity and once freed he did spend the rest of his life teaching the Irish about the Christian religion, but he was soon forgotten after his death. It wasn’t until many years later that monks began telling the tale of St. Patrick forcing all the snakes out of Ireland. Something he never could have done as there never were any snakes in Ireland.

4. The Shamrock

The three green leaves of the Shamrock is more than the unofficial symbol of Ireland and one of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. The Shamrock has held meaning to most of Ireland’s historic cultures. The Druids believed the Shamrock was a sacred plant that could ward off evil. The Celtics believed the Shamrock had mystical properties due to the plant’s three heart-shaped leaves. The Celtics believed three was a sacred number. Some Christians also believed the Shamrock had special meaning- the three leaves representing the Holy Trinity.

3. Finn MacCool

Finn MacCool is a mythological warrior that appears in several Irish legends. One popular story tells of a salmon that knew all of the world’s knowledge. Finn decided to eat the Salmon to gain the knowledge. As he was cooking the fish, juice squirted out and burned Finn’s thumb. Finn stuck his thumb in his mouth to stop the pain and instantly learned the knowledge the salmon carried. From then on, anytime Finn sucked his thumb he gained whatever knowledge he was seeking.

2. Faeries

Faeries exist in some form in mythology all over the world but hold a special importance to the Irish. The fairy society in Ireland is thought to be very much alive, and far from Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell. An Irish fairy can take any form she wishes, but will usually choose a human form. They are said to be beautiful, powerful and hard to resist, which is unfortunate because most fairies in Ireland love to bring misfortune and bad luck to the mortals who come near them.

1. Leprechauns

The leprechaun is likely the most widely known type of fairy living in Ireland. Leprechauns have been in existence in Irish legend since the medieval times. Traditionally, leprechauns are tall fairies and often appear to humans as an old man – much different from the modern view of a small, childlike fairy in a green suit. As legend holds, Leprechauns love to collect gold, which they store in a pot and hide at the end of a rainbow. If a human catches a leprechaun, the fairy must grant the human three-wishes before he can be released.

Read more: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-irish-myths-and-legends.php#ixzz2ObTui2km

Irish History #7

Irish History #6

Full story

The famous and important Irish historical figure Wolfe Tone was born Theobald
Wolfe Tone on 20th June 1763. His place in Irish history can scarcely be
overstated as he is regarded as the father of modern Irish republicanism.

He was born in Dublin to a Protestant family and attended Trinity
College, qualifying as a barrister at the age of 26, practicing in London. He
soon turned his attention to Irish politics and wrote an essay attacking the
ruling administration which became popular among the liberal ‘Whigs’ of the
time. At the time the French Revolution had had a profound effect on not just
French but on world politics. Ireland was no exception with the ideals of that
revolution fuelling a desire for separation from English rule.

Whig
stalwarts such as Henry Grattan however, wanted Catholic emancipation without
breaking the tie to England. Tone was adamant that the Irish people should be
governed by an Irish parliament and, although he was an Anglican he proposed
co-operation among the various religions as a means to make progress on the
issue of separation from England. In 1791 Wolfe Tone founded the Society of the
United Irishmen, together with Napper Tandy and Thomas Russell. The moderate
aims of this society (parliamentary reform) soon became overtaken with the
desire for full independence from England and especially once Tones view of the
necessity for armed insurrection took prominence. It was at this point that the
difference between Henry Grattan and his pursuit of parliamentary reform without
democratic consequence and Wolfe Tone’s view of revolutionary democracy came
into stark relief.

The English authorities were quick to realise the
threat and sought to promote religious intolerance and sectarianism, thus
dividing the Catholics and Presbyterians who otherwise were of the same Irish
stock. The newly formed Orange Order was also a useful tool used by the English
in stoking religious discord. By 1794 and after much political manoeuvring it
became clear to Wolfe Tone that no political party would fully get behind their
movement and they began to lobby for French military support in the form of an
invasion.

Communications between the United Irishmen and the French were
betrayed when the go-between, an English clergyman named William Jackson, was
arrested and charged with treason. Given that England and France had been a war
since 1793 any collaboration between the United Irishmen and the French would
certainly have greatly alarmed the parliament in London. The organisation was
effectively broken up by the English with several of the leaders fleeing the
country. Wolfe Tone was able to use his connections to negotiate passage from
the country and he duly emigrated to America, arriving in May, 1795. He had
first stopped in Belfast however, and made what became known as the ‘Cavehill
compact’ with Russell and McCracken, swearing:

‘Never to desist in our
efforts until we subvert the authority of England over our country and asserted
our independence’.

He lived in Pennsylvania until 1796 but disliked the
new American revolution, declaring that the birth class system of England had
been replaced by one decided by wealth in the US. He travelled to Paris with
Tandy to try to persuade the French to invade Ireland. He provided the necessary
intelligence to the French who were impressed with his proposal. The result was
an armada led by Louis Lazare Hoche consisting of 43 vessels under sail and
14,000 men. Much to Tone’s disgust the French could not land off Bantry Bay due
to severe weather and eventually returned to France. A further attempt at
invasion by a Dutch expedition in 1797 also fell foul of the weather with Tone
returning to Paris only to find that his greatest French ally, Hoche, had died
of consumption.

Records of the time showed that membership of the United
Irishmen numbered 280,000 volunteers, or about 5% of the entire population. Had
the French force under Hoche been able to land at Bantry, and been joined by a
popular native uprising, then the country would surely have been liberated from
English rule.

By the winter of 1797/98, with hopes of a renewed French
attempt fading, the United Irishmen were forced to adopt a go-it-alone military
strategy focused on Dublin. Their organisation was strengthened in and around
the capital and it also expanded in south Leinster. The planned insurrection was
to have been a three-phased affair: the seizure of strategic positions within
Dublin city co-ordinated with the establishment of a crescent of positions
outside in north County Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. The engagement of
government forces in the counties beyond was designed to prevent reinforcement.

Disaster struck on 12th March 1798 with the arrest of most of the
Leinster leadership. Further arrests on the very eve of the rising in May
effectively decapitated the movement. The seizure of Dublin from within was
aborted as the rebels waited for orders that never came.

United Irishmen
positions outside the city succumbed one by one with only Wexford showing any
success. A fortnight later (7-9 June), despite the mauling at the hands of
Lake’s forces the year before, the United Irishmen of Antrim and Down managed to
rise up but they too were quickly defeated.

The Wexford insurgents met
with a string of early successes but were ultimately prevented from spreading
the insurrection beyond their own county by defeats at New Ross (5 June) and
Arklow (9 June). Massive government forces began to move in for the decisive
military showdown at Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy (21 June). Although the
insurgents suffered defeat, the bulk of their forces escaped encirclement and
carried on the struggle for another month, one group in the Wicklow mountains
and the other in a ‘long march’ into the midlands before being worn down and
forced to surrender.

A month later (22 August) over a thousand French
troops under General Humbert landed at Killala, County Mayo, but it was too
little too late. Despite some initial successes, including a spectacular victory
at Castlebar, Humbert and the United Irishmen who flocked to his standard were
defeated at Ballinamuck, County Longford on 8th October.

The 1798
Uprising was a military catastrophe. The French and Irish forces were severely
out-gunned in the field and in one battle 2,000 revolutionaries faced 30,000
English regulars. The captured French were shipped home, but the Irish were all
executed after their surrender. It is estimated that 30,000 Irishmen were killed
in fighting that terrible summer, many of the victims were peasants who faced
cannon with pitchforks, and a great number of these were women.

Tone
himself had sailed in a French raid at Donegal in October 1798 but here too his
hopes were dashed. He was captured and taken to Dublin and court-marshalled. He
requested that he be afforded the death of a soldier, to be shot, rather than
hanged. His request denied he died in Provost’s Prison in Dublin of a neck wound
in November 1798 at the age of 35 years. History records his death as being a
suicide but there remains some doubt.

The defeat of the United Irishmen
signalled the end of Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland as the Act of Union of
1800 abolished the powerless parliament in College Green and moved all authority
back to the parliament in London.

Some United Irishmen welcomed this
development as the first step on the road to parliamentary reform as did many of
the Catholic peasantry who envisaged their election in the English parliament.
Daniel O’Connell secured Catholic Emancipation in 1829 by which time the context
of separation from England had changed from being a wholly national issue to
being a Catholic issue. The great famine of 1845 to 1849 destroyed the
countryside and for those who survived and did not emigrate left a lasting
legacy of hatred of English rule.

Wolfe Tone is remembered by republican
groups as the father of their cause. When examining the timeline to Irish
freedom it is certainly easy to view him as the political ancestor of O’Connell,
the Young Irelanders, Parnell and Davitt, Pearse and Connolly, Collins and
DeValera, on the ultimate path to independence.

Nice blog #28 – donate

Have extra cash? Donate.

Have extra food? Donate.

Have extra food? Donate.

Have extra toys? Donate.

Have extra blood? Donate.

Have extra time on your hands? Donate it for a helping cause.

Nice blog #24 – Jewish People

Without Jews, billions of us would not know Jesus. Jews wrote the entire Bible (besides the Gospel of Luke/Acts; both written by Luke, a gentile). Thousands of Jews were killed in the name of God. These Jews sacrificed their lives so all of mankind could know God. Jesus Himself was Jewish. He is what all Christians, Catholics and Messianic people like myself follow. My diet is based on Jewish Law (The Torah). I am thankful for the Jewish people and all they have given mankind. I wish more people understood the importance of the Jewish people. If they did, maybe the world would be a better place.

Nice blog #11 – forgiving

Me – I’ve been forgiven. I walked on people during my life. I did people wrong. You be shocked at how many friends I’ve made by simply saying “sorry”. Making friends is not even the point. Asking people to forgive you is the point.

Others – You have to let go and forget at times. For instance, if my ex Liz needed me right now, I would be there for her, even though she would back stab or lie to me the very next moment. It’s not about what you get out of it. It’s about doing the right thing.

Rewards – To be honest, none what so ever. You are doing the right thing by forgiving. Why care what you get out of it?

The effects on others – Depends on the person. You forgiving someone may change their life for the better. You may become someone’s new friend in the process.

Why – We could debate the whole “Jesus thing”. Why not? Why be selfish and not forgive? Being kind never hurts, now does it?

December – a time to post nice things

We all know that Christmas is in December. I personally do not celebrate Christmas. For those that don’t know, I do not worship any Pagan Holidays. I do respect the spirit of Christmas. People give to those in need, people seem to be nicer and many people make peace with those they dislike. It’s sad the rest of the year most people do the exact opposite.

My goal is to write a new blog daily saying something nice about others or admitting a past mistake. Blogs such as “Ugly girl of the Week”, “Reviews” and others will also be written. I may miss a few days there and there. I’ve been working 54 hours and more a week lately and I’ve little time to do anything other than work, the gym and rest.

Readers out there should do the same. Write an old buddy. Give to the poor. Tell an enemy you’re sorry. Hug a parent one extra time. Do something unselfish for a change. Let’s all be a little less selfish these next few weeks. A little good can go a long way.

When religion is good…. When religion is bad

Good Christian

Bad Christian

Good Muslim

Bad Muslim

Good Mormon

Bad Mormon

The IRA – The Real “Saints” of Ireland

Info taken from here

Northern Ireland came into existence with the British Government of Ireland Act (1920) which divided Ireland into two areas: the Irish Free State, made up of the 26 southern counties, and Northern Ireland – comprising of the counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh. Roman Catholics, who made up around one-third of the population of Northern Ireland, were largely opposed to the partition.

On 19 July 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire, effective July 20. At the end of August, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced her finding that the cease-fire was being observed, allowing Sinn Fein, the political party closely identified with the IRA, entry into negotiations on Northern Ireland’s political future. The July 20 cease-fire ended a 17-month terrorism campaign and led to the opening of inclusive political talks in September. Following the cease-fire there was a marked decrease–although not a total cessation–of sectarian violence. Police believe that paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland were responsible for 22 deaths, 251 shootings, and 78 bombings during 1997. Both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups continued to engage in vigilante “punishment” attacks, although there was a decrease in the number of such incidents even before the July cease-fire. Despite the lowering of the overall unemployment rate in Northern Ireland in December 1997 to 7.8 per cent, the unemployment rate for Catholic men in Northern Ireland remained twice that for Protestant men. Sinn F�in is the oldest political party in Ireland, named from the Irish Gaelic expression for “We Ourselves”. Since being founded in 1905 it has worked for the right of Irish people as a whole to attain national self-determination, and has elected representatives in every major Irish town and city.

Description

Formed in 1969 as the clandestine armed wing of the political movement Sinn Fein, the IRA is devoted both to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and to unifying Ireland. The IRA conducted attacks until its cease-fire in 1997 and agreed to disarm as a part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which established the basis for peace in Northern Ireland. Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA (CIRA), and the Real IRA (RIRA) in mid to late 1990s. The IRA, sometimes referred to as the PIRA to distinguish it from RIRA and CIRA, is organized into small, tightly-knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.

Activities

Traditional IRA activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the cease-fire in 1997, the group had conducted bombing campaigns on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, including senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. The group�s refusal in late 2004 to allow photographic documentation of its decommissioning process was an obstacle to progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement and stalled talks. The group previously had disposed of light, medium, and heavy weapons, ammunition, and explosives in three rounds of decommissioning. However, the IRA is believed to retain the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The group�s extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the IRA and the political party Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year; the IRA was implicated in two significant robberies in 2004, one involving almost $50 million.

Strength

Several hundred members, plus several thousand sympathizers�despite the defection of some members to RIRA and CIRA.

Local/Area of Operation

Northern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, Europe.

External Aid

In the past, has received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and the PLO. Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA and the FARC. In August 2002, three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of assisting the FARC to improve its explosives capabilities.

Song lyrics to Go On Home British Soldiers –

Go on home British Soldiers Go on home
Have you got no fucking homes of your own
For 800 years we’ve fought you without fear
And we will fight you for 800 more

If you stay British Soldiers If you stay
You’ll never ever beat the IRA
For the 14 men in Derry
Are the last that you will bury
So take a tip And leave us bloody be

So Go on home British Soldiers Go on home
Have you got no fucking homes of your own
For 800 years we’ve fought you without fear
And we will fight you for 800 more

We’re not British, we’re not Saxon we’re not English
We’re Irish and proud we are to be
So fuck your Union Jack We want our country back
We want to see old Ireland free once more

So Go on home British Soldiers Go on home
Have you got no fucking homes of your own
For 800 years we’ve fought you without fear
And we will fight you for 800 more

We’ll fight them British Soldiers for the cause
We’ll never bow to Soldiers because
Throughout our history We were born to be free
So get out British bastards leave us be

So Go on home British Soldiers Go on home
Have you got no fucking homes of your own
For 800 years we’ve fought you without fear
And we will fight you for 800 more

Go on home British Soldiers Go on home
Have you got no fucking homes of your own
For 800 years we’ve fought you without fear
And we will fight you for 800 more

Candidates for the Anti-Christ

10. Glenn Beck

Millions love this asshole? Why? Maybe it’s his mind control.

9. Richard Simmons

This loser is still relevant in mainstream TV. I even went as him for Halloween. That’s the power this freak has on Western Culture.

8. Snooki

This untalented nasty midget slut is loved by millions. Enough said.

7. Dr. Phil

Bad haircut, bad mustache. Yet millions seek his “expert” advice.

6. Charlie Sheen

He does everything bad and evil and yet, is loved by millions.

5. Vince

Seriously, why is he even on TV?

4 – Bob Barker

Can this man actually die?

3. Lady Gaga

The most unoriginal act in the history of music. Worshipped around the globe, however.

2. Coach K

Being such an ass with a bad haircut proves he is clearly a pawn of Satan.

1. John Martin

Most don’t know John Martin yet. When John walks in a bar, everyone knows his name. People buy him drinks. Women come to talk with him. Clubs allow him free access. Everyone likes John. In the near future, millions will worship the ground he walks on as he slowly destroys all of mankind.