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.

       

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