A Lovely Great Hunk of Very Early History Related to Ireland

What is this figure from Irish Mythology doing in the Greek sources?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The figure written of  is Fenius and/or Phineus, a person active in our world shortly after The Flood. I had come to believe that who may have rightly called Greek had come to Ireland at least twice in very early times. One of these early Greek comers I felt fairly comfortable with, the others I had read only rumors of. They were the Milesians who were the most recent of the comers just before more firmly historic times. The Milesians were Greek. They had developed a well developed trading empire on island just of  what seems to have been the Anatolian coast. During some uncomfortable times on Milesian the made a couple of visits in fairly quick successions to Ireland of which they had some knowledge. On their second coming many  of them came to stay. To the people who were already there, their language was Greek. So Greeks knew Ireland as late as early historic times. So Greeks knew Ireland and Irish knew Greek from not so very long after The Flood, until very close to modern times. 

It may have been these Greeks who stirred the Irish to a desire for a written language. They may have heard of the Phoenicians from them. Well this video my stir you to learn more of the earliest history of our world and Ireland prove a somewhat surprising place to make an excellent starting point. It could you to Iberia, Thrace, Scythia, Anatolia, Greece, Phoenicia, and on to deeper understandings.

                                                                                                            Richard S.

 

 Ancient Munster: Where Cork City and County are now.

            Cork was once part of the Kingdom of Deas Mumhan, which has been called South Munster, and has been called Desmond by the English. It has been ruled by the MacCarthy Mor dynasty. Who can tell us about the Mum people.

            It seems fair to call the coming of the Normans an invasion. They certainly caused changes in Munster which were not pleasant to everyone. The MacCarthy clan and much culture were pushed westward into what is West Cork and County Kerry. The clan became centered on Dunloug Castle near Mizen Head. Some have said that their castle there dates to 1207 AD. There is more to be said about tht site and the O'Mahony. We may get to them later. For us right now the coming of the Normans is a fairly recent happening.

            But we can move on to even more recent times for another paragraph. The Hiberno-Norman family became the earls of Desmond, which sounds very English. Cork, city was given an English Royal charter in 1318 and became an outpost of England. But even a diminished Irish culture is still catchy and resistant. By about 1583 the city and the county was a mess. We might say destroyed and devastated Some said that they had been resettled by some of the worst England had to offer. But even many of their offspring became a useful part of a new Ireland.

            Ireland has suffered plenty of troubles. The troubles of Normans and English entering the land I think began in about 900 AD when defending against the  viking raids from the north so weakened the land that Norman and English saw it as a tasty morsel to be taken. The viking norsemen had taken most of the gold and the more transportable, but what Norman and English saw was the rich green land itself.

            I was wanting to get into truly ancient times, but getting through the early troubles is proving difficult. Desmond was Deas Mumhan, but we now continue to speak of English influence. So, a historic kingdom in south western Ireland has been called Desmond. It was founded in 1188 by Tadhg MacCarthaigh. He became king of Munster. That Desmond included all of what is now County Cork and most of Kerry. The division of Kerry from Cork took place with the Treaty of Glanmire when the land was divided between Desmond and Thomond. The sullivan and Donovan were important there, but that is another story,`

            I have been trying to get too much early Irish history into to few paragraphs and now I am moving into some prehistory of the island.

            Earlier there were the Earinn who held al of Munster, the better half of all of Eri. I am thinking that the Iverni of that fertile land were Earinn. Many of Munster once thought of themselves as people of the deer. who drank deer milk before the coming of cows. They were probably a people called Earinn or Eirenn or the like.

            I think the MacCarthy called themselves people of the deer, but the MacCarthy may have come with the cows.

            Well, there seems to be much more Irish prehistory than I can handle in one essay. For now I'll just leave you with some bits and piece of that history and hope it gives you a taste for more. More than one sort of Greek knew Mizen Head and so did a Phoenician or two. The Fomorians knew it and probably Balor and Lugh did too.

        There were deer in the south of Ireland over 30,000 years ago. There was plenty of time for people to learn to eat them with time left over to learn to milk them.

            Early Irish were also boatmen who navigated the sea. The were probably fishers of the sea, but I have seen no evidence of that.

            Munster had an increasing population by 8,000 BC. By 5,000 BC Aegean cow milk was probably replacing deer milk. Anyway some kind of cow milk was available on the island by then.

            The copper of Old Munster was supporting the making of bronze by 2,000 BC.

            Correct my errors and help with this work. I have heard that there are those who believe that I know so much about this far south of Ireland that I must have lived there from before 20,000 years ago to about 4,000 BC. Its not true and I could really use your help to find out more about Irish prehistory.

            Thank you for reading.

                                                                                            R. C. Sheehan

Co. Kerry: First Words About What Became County Kerry

The focus here is mostly on the Dingle Peninsula of Kerry 

            Focus may be too strong a word, but I will stick with it. Not so very long ago I walked down that peninsula on a warmish winter day and back up the peninsula in the same day, so it was pretty long ago. It rained a bit, on and of, but I dried as I walked. The sun kept coming out and tried to stay for a while the air was clear and bright and often and had a lovely feel to it. I walked along the main road but there was little traffic. The idea here is that I have experienced the land a bit. So I got rained on some walking the length of the peninsula and was dry again before I got to the tip. I believe that it was an early December, it was a fine day often with a great sort of light, rare and lovely.

            The Peninsula rightly has some famous history and as I learned later rightly has some fame for its rainfall. For me it ought to be famous for the light of its air.

            By the look of things, people of Kerry liked to participate in the happenings of Ireland. By the 1920s Kerry men were being shot by Black and Tans. A crying shame. But then again they got in some proud licks. I recent centuries the Irish have been know to have been troubled more than than average. But then again they seem to have been troubled less than average for most of the time from the Mesolithic to through the Bronze Age. Things were a bit iffy during the Iron Age, but by the end of that age they were more Irish than ever. And now it is said, with some breath holding, they are doing pretty good, some would say darn good.

              About the time I walked the Peninsula people in the south were doing well, but there was still a pretty brisk business in short lengths of metal pipe. When would that have been?               

             Kerry, somehow managed to a part in much Irish rebellion. Ross Castle, near, Killarney, held long. I don't remember the story. When would that have been? I have a lot to learn and these days I seem to be forgetting more than I am learning.

              Kerry got hit hard by the Irish Famine  of 1845 to 49. Irish like many great people, got everywhere. Seems like I have heard someone say "From Killarney to Kansas." The Irish part of my family was already settled in American heartland by this time, but not in Kansas. There was another nasty famine in Ireland not very long before this one, but not so well remembered. What famine is well. All English are not always sweethearts.

                By say about 1610, most of Kerry nobility had lost their land to the English. By 1776 a great percent of the nobility had left the Island, I believe.

They were bettering the race in other lands. Good for the Irish. And no matter, they plenty of the good and better blood in the Island still alive. 

                By 1588 ships of the Spanish Armada were wrecked on islands near the tip of the Dingle Peninsula. I have heard it said that the Black Irish came to Ireland that way. I say that they may have arrived closer to 1588 BC than to 1588 

AD. Still I admit that I tend to exaggerate at times to help another to get the point. I even say that they from father off than Spain.

                I had meant to say earlier that the Hiberno-Norman Kerry Fitzgerald dynasty were called Geraldines. I meant to tell mi sister, Geraldine, that, but lost my chance.

            Stone oratories in in the county seem to date back to 500 AD. I guess that by then Ireland was Christian enough to send missionaries to England, France, and Rome by then. I saw the oritorise in photos in a book rather than on my walk. I remember that I wondered about the quality of their acoustics.

                I am not sure why, but I would like to learn more of a people called Ciar. They lived on the Peninsula and elsewhere in Kerry. I suspect that they were there when Bronze was popular. I do not remember where I got the information, but it seemed certain that they were a pre-Celtic people. They were "Black Irish." They were around long enough to have had two Irish apostoles among them. I had the fantasy that they had been around long enough to know Sheehan when we had another name or names.

            I also read somewhere that a son of Fergus mac Roich was a Ciar. I would like to find out if Fergus himself was a Ciar. Maybe tomorrow I'll check to see could have anything about that.

                Well, Ireland, Kerry, Munster and all are doing pretty well this days and these days it is not easy for everyone to do well.

                I am pleased to have anyone correct my errors, pass on more info, ask a question, or anything that won't hurt my feelings much. 

                Thank you for reading.

                                                                        Richard Carroll Sheehan

                                                                        One would never know that I am Polish, German, Prussian, Norwegian, and who knows what.

            This was to have been a draft, but I better start posting while I am able.

       

M. William Was Validated as Mago

M. William Sheehan

            My genealogically learned sister is my source of facts. That is she told me the facts. Or, I may have taken them from her genealogically precise blog of our family history. So, this information from my sister, Gerry Hook and is interpreted by me.

               M. William Sheehan, the man I have called Mago Bill was born in Ireland in 1839, precisely 100 years before my sister was born in Wayne County, Michigan. He died in the U.S. in 1912. He married Mary J. Carroll in 1860 in Des Moines county, Iowa. Mary was a well loved and respected woman, mother, and wife. She was born in Ireland in 1841. and died in Iowa in 1902. She was the daughter of Martin Carroll and his wife Margaret. Mary Carroll had two sisters in the US. One wa s Bridget born in 1843 and died tn 1910. She married Daniel Madden. The other was Julia Carroll born in 1848 (California gold) and die in 1932. She married Edward Kackin. Madden and Mackin were interested in politics and the union movement, but all we need to remember is that M. William Sheehan became Mago Bill because he was born Mago.  

 

Shee Han

 Ages in Ireland:

                    In Ireland, as in much of our word, an Iron Age culture overwhelmed a Bronze Age culture. Good iron may cut the best bronze and the many with good weapons overwhel the few. However, with some investigation, we find that in many ways Bronze cultures were superior to Iron age cultures. 

                    I suggest to you that the people of the Bronze Age culture in Ireland had knowledge so advanced in some ways that it seemed to newcomers nearly magical. Although the Iron Age people as they continued to come to the Emerald Isle, drove many of the Bronze Age from their lands. Were able to keep much land that held historic or spiritual for them. Also they were long able to keep their dealings with the people iron honorable and respectful. The people of iron began to refer to some of those of bronze as, shee. " Shee" meant something like magically powerful. Many of the Bronze Age culture were seen as spiritually potent and in many was unusually skillful and wise and being so were "shee." They also,an ancient sense, seemed fay and faerie-like so, they began to be called Shee. "Shee" began to be the Iron Age name for some of those Bronze Age people. That is the way I lost one name and gained another.

Shee Then and Now:

                    My family name is Sheehan. "Han'' forms a sort of plural. It has meant family and people. So we, the overwhelmed, became the shee people. 

                    There are many words in old Irish and quite a few in modern Irish containing she. You may have heard the word "banshee" used in English. "Ban'

in Irish meant woman or female. So, a banshee is a shee woman. That's not the whole shebang, but it seems enough for now.I am far from having a Bronze Age, Iron Age, or Irish culture. My father, who was half Irish, told me that his father told him to remember that all Irishmen are wits. Where does that leave me? Still, I do hold the name.

                    I have written elsewhere of a considerable number of Irish words containing  shee so I will repeat them here. But I am reminded now of other uses of shee in Irish.

More shee:

                    There are other interesting happenings, doings, and beings associated with "shee." The Dan or Danann, the pre Milesian people of Ireland have been called shee. Of  the prehistoric people of Ireland the Danann seem most well known and may have been a Bronze Age culture. A usage related to shee which I have forgotten is written something like this, "Tir na nOg." That is my attempt at Old Irish and I have no idea of how it translates. If you have knowledge of it, tell us what you can or will in the ''comments'' app below. I thought I was reminded of more. Perhaps I wrong or perhaps they just slipped my mind.

                    It does come to me that there are now more Sheehan in Ireland and the U. S. than I can remember there being. We may have been overwhelmed more than once, but we are still here.

                        There also remain certain stone carvings, sometimes call idols. They have been found in Western Europe, England, and Ireland. The show a female figure displaying an exaggerated vulva. These images seem neither young nor beautiful and are often without breasts. some date to about 9,000 BC, so they certainly are not young by current measurements. They would be over 11,000 years old. Perhaps old enough to have been flood survivors. Being so, their makers would have been interested in maintaining the then present population and, perhaps in increasing it.Those idols have been called ''Sheela na gig."  An exact translation has not been agreed on. I think that "Sacred spirit of the vulva" may do. Have I said that shee has been used to indicate sacred and holy?   

                    In Wikipedia it says that one of the best examples of these "sheela" was found in the round tower of Rotton in county Kerry, Ireland. 

                    I remember passing through England some years ago a hearing some young men in the street referring to their girlfriend as their sheela. At times, the figures in these sculpted idls have been called witches and hags and less complimentary terms. I also remember that in the distant past a hag was a wise and respected older woman. 

                     Many of these same carvings have been removed from their original sites and some of them then incorporated into the building of early churches, Shee has gotten around.

                    There is an old Irish dance called the "sheela na gig."  According to good old Wikipedia, the oldest record of that name of the dance goes back only to about 1650. What do you think of that?

                     there is an old story in Ireland and beyond of a goddess who grants kingship. She might appear as a lustful hag and most men would avoid her and reject her advances. Theonenman who did bed with her, found her transformed into a beautiful maiden who conferred royalty upon him and blessed his reign. She has been called shee.

                    I've been told that many an Irish lad is taken by a good tale and also that there are some tricky old ladies on the island.

                    I have found that "shee""  can be found in much of the older Irish language and in significant number in more modern Irish. Tell us what you know of "shee" via our "comments" app. Us this app as you will to comment on our content to improve it.

                    Much of the shee and she of Sheehan I find in the Bronze Age Irish of Ireland.

            At a time in Ireland, as in much of our world, an Iron Age culture overwhelmed a Bronze Age culture. Iron cuts bronze. Many overwhelm the few. However, with some investigation we find that in many ways Bronze cultures often seem superior to Iron Age cultures in a variety of ways. That superiority has been acknowledged by Iron Age people. You may notice that I am not putting much of what I note of what I believe to be historic Irish happenings in History my blog, but rather put it hear with my Mago Bill writings. I do not do so because my belief is weak, but rather because my ability to produce convincing evidence that historians would accept is weak.

            I suspect, and suggest to you, that Iron Age people who came to Ireland found the Bronze Age culture wondrous, a bit fearsome, and worthy of respect. Some of the Bronze Age people seemed magical and so, shee. Some of the Bronze Age people were seen as spiritually potent, as unusually skillful, and wise and so, shee. They seemed fay and faerie like; so they began to be called, shee. Shee began to be an Iron Age name for some of those Bronze Age people. And, just like that, our name was changed. 

            I am interested in this because my family name is Sheehan. The final syllable of Sheehan is -han and once meant "people" or "family" and formed the plural. So, we became the shee people, those who were overwhelmed by iron and greater numbers. It comes to me that there are more Sheehan than ever in Ireland, the US, and elsewhere. We may have been overwhelmed, but we are still here.

            One of us was a "shee" and a number of us were "han." She was the name of a people and han was the plural. There are many words in Irish containing "shee." You may have heard the word "banshee" used in English. "Ban" in Old Irish meant female or woman. So, a banshee is a shee woman. I will add more examples of  shee and sometimes she usage in Old Irish.

            My father's father told him to remember that all Irishmen are wits and you are half Irish. My father's mother was Norwegen. My mother was not Irish. That seems to leave me a quarter-wit. I am far from having an Iron Age or Bronze Age culture and am American. Even so, I do have the name and so do have some personal  connection with this essay.

            I have written elsewhere, some on this very blog, about Irish, English, and Old Irish words containing the syllable, shee, and so won't repeat them here. However, I have recently been reminded of some other uses of shee; so, I will share some here.

            Among other interesting happenings, doings, and beings is that the Dananns were likely to have been called "shee" by the Milesians. The Dananns represented the ending of the Bronze Age culture and the Milesians represented a strong Iron Age culture. 

            A usages of  of Old Irish relating to the term shee which I have forgotten may be written much like this "Tir na nOg" to denote the Old Irish. If you have any knowledge of  the phrase tell us about it in "comments" below.

            Their remain certain stone carvings, sometimes called idols that have been found in Western Europe, England, and Ireland. They show a female figure displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are not beautiful and are often without breasts. Some date to about 9,000 BC, so they certainly are not young. They would be be about 11,000 years old. They have been called shee. They may be old enough to have been Flood survivors. Those idols have long been call "Sheela na gig." An exact translation seems not to be agreed on. I think that "Sacred spirit of the vulva" may do. I believe that I have said elsewhere that "shee" has been used to indicate sacred or holy.

            In Wikipedia it says that one of the best examples of these ''sheela'' was found in the round tower of Rotton in county Kerry, Ireland. 

             At times the figures in these sculpted stone idols have been called witches hags and less complimentary terms. I remember passing through England years ago and hearing and hearing some young men in the streets referring to their girl friend as their sheela. I also remember that in the distant past a hag was a wise and respected older woman.

            Some of these same old stone sculptings have been removed from their original sites to then incorporated into older church buildings. Shee has gotten around.

            There is an old Irish dance called the "Sheela na gig." According to good old Wikipedia, the oldest written record of that dance goes back to only about 1650. 

            There is a ''myth," in Ireland and beyond, of a goddess who grants kingship. She might appear as a lustful old hag and most men would avoid her and reject her advances. The one man would sleep with her, found her transformed into a beautiful maiden who conferred royalty upon him and blessed his reign. She has been said to be shee.

            I've been told that many an Irish lad has been taken by a good tail and also that there are some tricky old ladies on the island.

            ''Shee" is found in much of the older Irish language a significantly in more modern Irish. I have written of examples elsewhere and, if you so wish, will write more of such examples in a future post.When you have anything to add to the content of this post (or any post of  mine) or corrections to make or comment to offer, use the comment app below.

            Shenandoah

            Sailors knew words and music to a song called Shenandoah very early and carried it far and wide.. The music was older than the lyrics. The words varied, but often had an ongoing similarity. We learned of that song from the English who mostly learned of it  from French voyageurs on rivers which became part of the land Americans call America. Those French voyageurs sang that song with their Indian friends and families. Those Voyageurs sang their versions of that song before the English had colonies in the land. Knowing this I believe the song is Irish. I believe that the title is Irish, in the Old Irish language.

            I believe that I am not the only one to believe the song has Irish roots. I suspect that the title meant something very like "wise people of long ago" or perhaps "wisdom of old."

And who would question this old man's beliefs. Anyway, a song which still has some popularity today was sung long before there was a U.S.

            Thank you for the visit and for reading.

                                                                                                      rcs

"

                    Thank you for the visit and for reading!

                                                                               Richard Carroll Sheehan

   

Mago Bill One

 Mago Bill is a nickname I have given my paternal great grandfather

                

                

                I have used the name Mago Bill in recent blogs because I believe that it inspires me to give you some unusual and interesting backstories and histories in a variety of posts.

                My sister, the genealogist of our family, introduced me to existence of documentation of the life pf M. William Sheehan. His existence had not been known to us. We had not known his name nor that he had been our paternal great grandfather. As I remember, my sister showed me that he had probably been born in the far south of Ireland and that his parents had brought to the United States when he was very young. We soon discovered that the M in his name probably stood for Mago. to me he promptly became Mago Bill, my inspiration.

                Spanish speaking friend tell me that "mago" means magician. Some of the same friends tell me that the three kings or three wise men of Christmas who brought gifts to the infant Christ were call "magos." I have found that  Mago was an important name among the Carthaginian Phoenicians before Rome came of age. Some of that name knew Hannibal well.

                Carthaginian traders and traders and navigators came to Ireland to trade for tin an other commodities. They brought so much knowledge of the name Mago with them that it impressed some of the people there. So much that they used it. For hundreds of years the name Mago has experienced some on an off popularity in Ireland.

                You may have read before that my paternal great grandfather was named and called Mago William Sheehan and that I have called him Mago Bill. You have even read that he, as many and Irish lad from time to time, was named after a famous Carthaginian. However, have you remembered me writing of Mago Barca?

    

                Barca could have been that famous Carthaginian Phoenician of the late third century BC, or not. Mago Barca was Hannibal's (yes, that Hannibal) brother. He may well have been a navigator and also have fought Roman legions in Iberia accompanied by Irish and Dan. He was the youngest son of Hamilcar of the Barcids.

                The above has prompted my to think of the Balearic Islands and food. The   Balearics seem to have an Irish connection of a sort. On Menorca, Mago Barca lent his name to the port city there which is still called Port Mahon. Mago and Mahon much alike to us today, but the history of language is one of change.

                Does not Mahon seem to have a bit of an Irish ring. I remember seeing  photos of Balearic ladies long ago. They looked very much like my aunt Eleanor and sister Geraldine. My sister would probably agree that she was and is better looking than was my aunt. The Balearic ladies of the photos were all attractive and I was struck by their similarity to Eleanor and Gerry.

                Ah, yes, food! Mahon, the typical Mahon egg sauce of the island, that has conquered the world, is Mayonnaise! On a visit to Ireland, I found mayonnaise still moderately appreciated. Still isn't there another mayo something or other on the old sod. Do not think me capable of a nasty thought. You may have heard of Mayo County, Ireland.

                I seem to be on a bit of a roll. I thought of another couple of miscellaneous bits to add here. Gilli, gilly, ghilli, and ghilly is only one of them. I've searched for each online with no luck. I had a friend who's Irish mother spoke of having a gilli in the family. This was many years ago and I had heard of ghilly long before that. A ghilly is an Irishman, across centuries he has been one of particular talents. He can be one especially familiar with the Irish countryside. He might act as a guide. He might help one to catch a trout or salmon by hand. In amore distant time he may have been the right hand man of noble warrior. He might have been a sort of Irish Ninja and expert in the use of camouflage. He might have been expert in a martial art. He would have the skills and talents of a huntsman. If  you have heard more of ghilly tell us a bit. This is supposed to be an interactive site.

                There are still those in Ireland who know the term and there were those who used it hundreds of years ago. The gilli I speak of is unlikely t have been a Norwegian dancer. I have heard that there may have been a similar word with a similar pronunciation and, perhaps, meaning.

                I may have heard more than I know.

                The Irish whistle comes to mind and reminds me that  there is also an Irish bagpipe. Could the bagpipe have also been a Fir Bolg instrument? I have been told that when it comes to men before a battle, that an Irish whistle can get them on their feet as little else can.. But to keep them moving forward to battle, victory, death, or hell, it takes a good pipe and a good piper, even if it be a Scot.

                

                Thanks for reading.

                

                                                                                RCS  

Recent Economic History of Irelandf(After loss of food, land, religion, language, and half of the Irish)

                The Irish seem a persistent lot with good memories who after more than 1,000 years of some of the worst domination from the early colonial times to nearly the end of the last century. 

                    It has made  wrong for an Irishman in Ireland to have his land, religion, or language. After they built fine churches beautified with their gold, supported a fine education for their youth, lived well with healthy lives for many years and for many years living in Christian peace, the Vikings heard of their gold and rich green land and came and came and took and killed. Later they came and traded and and stay, treaties were made and some peace came. However, the culture was weaken and diluted. Fewer and fewer Norsemen came. In the meantime the English culture had grown they came and saw the pleasant green land. More came. More came with armies. They conquered and controlled. This control lasted for about 1000 years.     

                    Then step by step the land was enclosed and not permitted to the Irish, Irish language could not be taught nor could Irish history. Irish Christianity was outlawed. Finally with no land there was no food. There was hunger and death, nobility fled the country, some well educated wealthy fled, then many found a way to flee. Peat grew over bones also Irish blood and genes continued to move over the land.

                    Then step by step there were more hedge schools where religion was taught and more, helping the Irish to remember. The Irish abroad remembered too. Step by step the Irish resisted. The English began to loosen their grip and step back a tiny bit. Between the US Civil War and WWI enough Irish came to feel that Ireland ought to be and an Irish Nation be, be not just a dream, but BE. Step by step they learned to free themselves and step by step are learning to be a modern, democratic leaning nation; learning to be free citizens, learning to govern themselves.

                    Governance is not easy to learn. Modern economic systems are not easy to deal with. The Irish are still stepping and many are remembering even more. They are quickly learning to be excellent navigators of the economic seas of today. Very turbulent seas indeed. 

                    Enjoy the Video. Help me to better understanding.

                    Thank you for reading.

                                                                                                        R Sheehan

The Dagda - (Celtic Mythology Introduced)

                            The Dagda has been called shee. He is a personage seen as a protector, guide, force, and often from Iron Age times and known well during the comings of the Vikings. Has been associated with Lug. You could renew your exploration of ancient Ireland with the Dagda.

                                                                                                                                RCS

Reminders of Shee From Early Ireland

Much of the shee and she of Sheehan I find in the Bronze Age Irish of Ireland.

            At a time in Ireland, as in much of our world, an Iron Age culture overwhelmed a Bronze Age culture. Iron cuts bronze. Many overwhelm the few. However, with some investigation we find that in many ways Bronze cultures often seem superior to Iron Age cultures in a variety of ways. That superiority has been acknowledged by Iron Age people. You may notice that I am not putting much of what I note of what I believe to be historic Irish happenings in History my blog, but rather put it hear with my Mago Bill writings. I do not do so because my belief is weak, but rather because my ability to produce convincing evidence that historians would accept is weak.

            I suspect, and suggest to you, that Iron Age people who came to Ireland found the Bronze Age culture wondrous, a bit fearsome, and worthy of respect. Some of the Bronze Age people seemed magical and so, shee. Some of the Bronze Age people were seen as spiritually potent, as unusually skillful, and wise and so, shee. They seemed fay and faerie like; so they began to be called, shee. Shee began to be an Iron Age name for some of those Bronze Age people. And, just like that, our name was changed. 

            I am interested in this because my family name is Sheehan. The final syllable of Sheehan is -han and once meant "people" or "family" and formed the plural. So, we became the shee people, those who were overwhelmed by iron and greater numbers. It comes to me that there are more Sheehan than ever in Ireland, the US, and elsewhere. We may have been overwhelmed, but we are still here.

            One of us was a "shee" and a number of us were "han." She was the name of a people and han was the plural. There are many words in Irish containing "shee." You may have heard the word "banshee" used in English. "Ban" in Old Irish meant female or woman. So, a banshee is a shee woman. I will add more examples of  shee and sometimes she usage in Old Irish.

            My father's father told him to remember that all Irishmen are wits and you are half Irish. My father's mother was Norwegen. My mother was not Irish. That seems to leave me a quarter-wit. I am far from having an Iron Age or Bronze Age culture and am American. Even so, I do have the name and so do have some personal  connection with this essay.

            I have written elsewhere, some on this very blog, about Irish, English, and Old Irish words containing the syllable, shee, and so won't repeat them here. However, I have recently been reminded of some other uses of shee; so, I will share some here.

            Among other interesting happenings, doings, and beings is that the Dananns were likely to have been called "shee" by the Milesians. The Dananns represented the ending of the Bronze Age culture and the Milesians represented a strong Iron Age culture. 

            A usages of  of Old Irish relating to the term shee which I have forgotten may be written much like this "Tir na nOg" to denote the Old Irish. If you have any knowledge of  the phrase tell us about it in "comments" below.

            Their remain certain stone carvings, sometimes called idols that have been found in Western Europe, England, and Ireland. They show a female figure displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are not beautiful and are often without breasts. Some date to about 9,000 BC, so they certainly are not young. They would be be about 11,000 years old. They have been called shee. They may be old enough to have been Flood survivors. Those idols have long been call "Sheela na gig." An exact translation seems not to be agreed on. I think that "Sacred spirit of the vulva" may do. I believe that I have said elsewhere that "shee" has been used to indicate sacred or holy.

            In Wikipedia it says that one of the best examples of these ''sheela'' was found in the round tower of Rotton in county Kerry, Ireland. 

             At times the figures in these sculpted stone idols have been called witches hags and less complimentary terms. I remember passing through England years ago and hearing and hearing some young men in the streets referring to their girl friend as their sheela. I also remember that in the distant past a hag was a wise and respected older woman.

            Some of these same old stone sculptings have been removed from their original sites to then incorporated into older church buildings. Shee has gotten around.

            There is an old Irish dance called the "Sheela na gig." According to good old Wikipedia, the oldest written record of that dance goes back to only about 1650. 

            There is a ''myth," in Ireland and beyond, of a goddess who grants kingship. She might appear as a lustful old hag and most men would avoid her and reject her advances. The one man would sleep with her, found her transformed into a beautiful maiden who conferred royalty upon him and blessed his reign. She has been said to be shee.

            I've been told that many an Irish lad has been taken by a good tail and also that there are some tricky old ladies on the island.

            ''Shee" is found in much of the older Irish language a significantly in more modern Irish. I have written of examples elsewhere and, if you so wish, will write more of such examples in a future post.When you have anything to add to the content of this post (or any post of  mine) or corrections to make or comment to offer, use the comment app below.

            Shenandoah

            Sailors knew words and music to a song called Shenandoah very early and carried it far and wide.. The music was older than the lyrics. The words varied, but often had an ongoing similarity. We learned of that song from the English who mostly learned of it  from French voyageurs on rivers which became part of the land Americans call America. Those French voyageurs sang that song with their Indian friends and families. Those Voyageurs sang their versions of that song before the English had colonies in the land. Knowing this I believe the song is Irish. I believe that the title is Irish, in the Old Irish language.

            I believe that I am not the only one to believe the song has Irish roots. I suspect that the title meant something very like "wise people of long ago" or perhaps "wisdom of old." And who would question this old man's beliefs. Anyway, a song which still has some popularity today was sung long before there was a U.S.

           

 Thank you for the visit and for reading.

                                                                                                      rcs