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

   

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

Ireland in Very Early Times

                     I have a feeling that I could be moving into a greater coherence of  my dealings with Irish prehistory.

                   I'm not Irish, but my name is. I am Richard Carroll Sheehan. "Carroll" and "Sheehan" are each an Irish surname. Some early Sheehan immigrants to the US had a certain respect for the Carrolls already in America. Sheehan's in Ireland had a certain respect their because of certain happings and doings in a distant prehistory. 

                  In preCeltic time Sheehan had different names. They were probably renamed with the coming of the Milestian. I have heard that -han meant something like people so we became the shee people. Some of the why of that probable fact is becoming clearer to more than just me. "Shee" is a later day interptation of  andearly celtic word.

                "Aos Si" or something similar is an early celtic name for a real people of Ireland. They also been called Aes sidhe and the like. They have been named things that meant "people of the mounds" and that seems more useful than other names they have been given. There are remenants of mounds in Ireland today. Those mounds have been called sidhe. They have also been called shee. Shee may have been and be used as an ajective. People of the mounds have been called daoine sidhe. It has also been said that the mounds are shee. So the mound people ancestors of the Shee people, Sheehan. 

                Some say the Si or Sidhe are the Danann and that may be so. I belive it more likely that the Danann were called si, sidhe, or shee. They were more truly called "people of the goddess Danu." The Danann may have reated inland as more and more Celts arrived. They were few in the face of many newcommers. Still they  remained protective of their physical and mental culture. They tried to protect their "mounds" from the newcombers and came to be thought of  by them as the "mound people." Those newcomers were probably mostly Iron Age celts. Those Celts came to be called Milesians after their homeland Miletus. In time, perhaps by their very numbers, the Milesians so dominated the earlier people that the caused the language and culture to virtually disappear. 

                The Aos Si remained respected ancesters for a long time after the extended arrival of Iron Age Mikesians. A faint remenent of that respect seems to remain to this day. Those "shee people" may have seemed a bit fearsome to a few, but they were called ''good neighbors,'' "Fair Folk," and "people of peace." Aos si," "aes sidhe," and "daoine sidhe" all seem to mean people of peace.

                These shee, si, and sidhe were also known as defenders of the old Bronze Age culture which it seems they felt was well worth the effort. The festivals known to this day seem to have been theirs. Those festivals are Samhain, Beltane, and Midsummer. You may now know that the mounds were also theirs.

                The Sheehan of today are a tiny remenent of a part of the culture of pre-Cetic occupants of Ireland. I myself might be 1/4 of one infantismal remenant of  a largely forgotten preCetic culture of Ireland. How very much of that once dominent Celtic culture survives. Among some Highland Scots and others with fewer ties to the Irish Island, there remains some tiny memory of what I have just written. 

                The Bronze Age people I have just written of may be the Danann. I suspect that some Danann and Skithian may have been arriving on the Island an nearly the same time. What have been Skithians were probably Scythians, Scythians may be what who we have called Persians. As we know Iranians were Persians. I hope to be alive enought to write of this later.

                However, the Anatolian island of Miletus is an early home of the Milesians of Ireland. Miletus island and city have been called a famous font of Hellenic philosophy. Miletus was occupied by settlers from Create around 1,600 BC. Creare was the seat of a high prehellenic civilization. By about 600 BC Miletus had become a maritime empire. 

                It is said that the first Milasians, to appear on the shores of  the  western isle beyond the pillars of Hercules, were defeated by the powerful Tuatha De Danann nobility. Names of the Milesian leaders were Mac Cuil, Mac Cecht, and Mac Grein. Not much later other Milesias came and staye.d

                Conflict between the Danann and the Milesians is probably a source of the name Ere for the land which came tombe known as Ireland, 

            There is some evidence that Ireland was  well occupied by 7,500 BC.

                Scythia orobably once included an area around the Caspian sea and may have included what is now Kazakstan, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Caspians of the area may be called Iranian, preIranians, or non-Indoeuropean people.

                Magos is said to have been a grandson of Noah and, perhaps, the father of Agnoman of Scythia.

                More probably there was Scythian/Irish contact during about 2350 BC  and 1730 BC.

                In Ireland an ancient king of Scythia known as Fenius Farsaidh, Fenius Farsa, and Farsi had something to dowith the intoduction of the Ogham alphabet to Ireland.

                It has been said that Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah, and an ancester of the peoples of the Agean Sea, Anatolia and more. A son of Japheth is Magog. Why would a christian have said such things?

                By about 1,300 BC  many were experiencing a Bronze Age. Ireland had been heard of around the Baltic Sea and the mediterranian and further abroad. At the same time Egypt had come under Egyptian control again. Also about this time the people of a small Greek island near the coast of present Turkey came to know of Ireland. That Island was Miletus know to peoples of the Mediterranian world and to quite a few in Ireland. 

                

  

It's About Ireland to Before it Was

             Tir na nOg has been called shee. Some have called it Land of youth. More have called it Land of Our Youth or Our earlier Land, or  the Land We Came From, or Our Home Land. I have called it the shee land across the sea.

             We can call the above, About Ireland. I hope to add more about Ireland just below.

           

             Can "sidhe" and ''shee" be synonymous or nearly so?

9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

            Here, I will begin to write about the people of Ireland.

            One of these people are the Fomorians. They are probably one of the very first people in and around Ireland as the ice melted. They were probably a pre flood people of advanced culture. They were seamen, navigators, and perhaps sea raiders. Some of them were among the very first immigrants to the Emerald Island. There is strong evidence of Fomorians before 600 BC. I believe that they were there very long before that time.

            They have been described as bad, dark, Danann, good, light. It is said that Partholon won a battle against them. It seem that they lost few battles.

            Lugh was half Fomorian. Balor was a leader of Fomorians and built a fort for Bres. Indech mac de was king of Fomorians at the time.

            There is more to say about these sea  going people and I will try to add more about them right here.

            Another early people of Ireland may be call Fir Bolg, Fir Blog may be translatable as bag men. The Fir Bolg may have known Greece. Nemid is said to have "fathered" them. 

            These Bolg divided the Island into provinces, like counties. We can begin to know the names of these people as we speak of these provinces. For example, Gan takes North Munster, Sengann takes south Munster, Genann takes what becomes Connacht, Rudraige takes what becomes Ulster, Slanga takes Leinster. The first High Kings of Ireland were the five takers of provinces.

            Some have said that their father was related to Nemid. Their father may have been called Della.

            Of  the brothers Slaine may have rued in Leinster 1748 BC to 1703 BC. Ganann, son of Dela, and his brother Genann are said to have landed  at Iber Dubglaaise and to have split Munster between them.

            Gann and Genann were followed by Sengann, who was followed by Fiacha Cennfinnan. Sengann ruled from between about 1927 BC and 1507 BC to between 1921 BC and 1502 BC.

            I intend to write more about Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Danann, Milesians, and perhaps others right here, updating these notes.

            Some miscellany that it may be worth remembering are that Bress was a Danann king with Fomorian relatives. Prince Elatha of the Fomorians was the father of Bress.

            Bress or Bres was High King of Ireland either from 1897 BC to 1890 BC or from 1477 Bc to 1470 BC. He was proceeded by Eochaid and succeeded Nuada.

 

            They were in Ireland just before a people called the Danann.

            The Fir Bolg left captivity in Greece and headed west via Iberia and continued to their ancient land of Ireland. 

              I know I am rambling about early Irish history and will probably continue to do so. I could ramble into some curious and interesting doings and happenings.

                This may be a good place to begin to write about the Dan people. I'll call them Danann for now while I do some speculation.

                I am beginning to believe that Irish and Dan fought on the side of the Phoenician against the advance of Roman legions. It seems impossible not to believe that the Danann were so real and alive that many Bronze Age Irish were related to them. I would like to know if there is anyway the Judaic tribe of Dan can be related to the Irish Danaan. And I am even suspecting connections between the Danes of Denmark and the great blue Danube. Help me out if you can and will.

                I could use some company in trying to understand some of these relationships. It seems certain that Phoenician and Irish early became well known to one another.

                There is a lot to learn we could go on to see if there is more evidence of the Scythian being known to Scot and Irish; Could Scott and Irish be pre-Celtic relatives who retained a conscious from before and through the Iron Age. There is a lot to learn and lots of dates to firm up.

                I have lots of related areas I would like to know more about. Like how did the Iberian Peninsula come to be called the Iberian Peninsula and what could that have to do with Irish and Hebrew? 

                It will be interesting to get more clarifying info about early connections between Ireland and and Eastern Med cultures and beyond.

                Here I may try t4o put together a few bits of information connected to that which the early Irish had to say about the early Irish.  The Fomorian might prove interesting.

Here is a first attempt to list the groups of people who came to the Island.

Greeks were among the early comers and the came long before the Phoenicians were comers, but I do not know where to put them in the following list. I am not proud of this list, but I offer it as my first try at useful names and realistic order:

Fomorian

Nenidian

Fir 

Dannan

Milesian

            That's it my first list. I do want  Milesian to stay as my most recent comer and the Tuatha De Dannan to come just before them. But what should I do with people of Cessair, people of Partholon, and people of Nemed?

            

                                                                                    rcs