Before beginning each lesson, I recommend reading the entire web page, including the list of readings and assignments before you begin your studying. It will help you focus your attention and aid you in determining how best to spend your time.
The ancient stories and Celtic embellishments in the style found at Newgrange are still very popular today. Irish kids grow up knowing the stories of the Children of Lir, the Tuatha de Danann, Cuchullain and the Ulster Cycle, Finn mac Chumhall and the Red Branch Knights.
Take a look at these two rings, purchased in Ireland in September 2003. The
ring on the right is designed to look like some of the rock art found at Newgrange,
County Meath. The one on the left, if you look closely and use your imagination,
bears a resemblance to a swan, a central motif in the story of the Children
of Lir. Both were marketed exactly as portraying those images, and were bought
in a department store (as opposed to a tourist shop.)
You'll notice an apparent great discrepancy between how Irish words look and how they're pronounced. You'll also notice that some words or names appear to be said and spelled a number of ways. There are a couple of reasons for this:
For instance, you'll see names written in a variety of way: Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair is Rory O’Connor; Ó Murchú is Murphy; Laoghaire is Leary; Aodhaghán Ó Rathaille is Egan O’Rahilly; Ui Flaithbheartaigh's is O'Flaherty's. The pronunciation is not always identical.
The letter "h" which is inserted at times when gender, number, or case requires, is sometimes missing in older Irish, or represented by a small dot above the letter the "h" should follow. For instance, you may see "romhat" written simply as "romat" or as "romat" with a dot over the "m."
The
Gaeltacht is the name given to those areas of Ireland where Irish is still considered
to be the first language. The Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366 and the Penal Laws
in the late 17th century both outlawed the speaking of Irish, and led to a shrinking
of the Gaeltacht areas. The greatest impact to native Irish speakers occurred
in the middle of the 19th century with the Great Famine (known in Ireland as
the Great Hunger). Starvation, disease and emigration decimated the population,
and the brunt was borne by the native Irish.
Click on a county on the map below and listen to how the county and its principal city is properly pronounced.
Click here to hear about the four provinces.
Some of the evidence we have of prehistoric Ireland is left in stone. Dolmens, cairns, and passage tombs mark the graves of the ancients, and stone circles, stone alignments, and standing stones are markers as well. Information on the "Stone Pages" link as well as the Newgrange link will give you more information.
A dolmen marks a grave, and is generally a huge rock or slab erected onto several standing stones. A cairn is generally a mound of stones piled over a grave; there may or may not be a chamber inside a cairn. Sometimes a dolmen is erected over a cairn; sometimes not. A dolmen or cairn may mark a single grave or a family grave.
Above is the Poulnabrone Dolmen in County Clare. Below is a cairn high on a hill on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, known as Puicin an Chairn. There is a chamber inside that is still water tight after several thousand years.
The most famous of the passage graves are found at Newgrange. There are also notable examples at Knowth, Dowth, and Tara.
Stone circles may have been used for rituals and for marking the summer or winter solstice. The circle at Lough Gur in County Limerick celebrated the summer solstice: The summer sun rose between the two portal stones and stuck the axial stone at the other side of the circle. The stone circle at Drumbeg in County Cork celebrates the winter solstice: The winter sun sets over the axial stone and shines through the two portal stones. Drumbeg surrounds a grave; Lough Gur seems to be strictly ceremonial.
Standing stones are generally markers or memorials. At Newgrange, for instance, there are four standing stones that surround the site. Solitary standing stones generally commemorate something: someone's grave, an important event, an unusual occurrence. A stone alignment is three or more stones in a row, aligned with something: the summer solstice, the winter solstice, the way to an important place, or something unknown. Eightercua Stone Alignment (below) marks the winter solstice.
