David Prashker's Book Of Days: The Éirish

Before you start reading this, go and look at Old King Coel on March 15, which will provide you with a full introduction to all the Celtic parts of Great Brython; and then to April 24, which provides a brief history of the subjugation of Éireland by the English. For the first settlers, the aboriginal tribes and the ancient religion, go to my Biblenet and look at two pieces, the tribal tale in "The Leprachauns of Palestine", the religious in "Celtic Mythology", which overlaps into the Scots and Cymry as well.

Given that the Tuatha Dé Danann were the principal group in both regards (most websites say they were the gods themselves but they weren't, they were the tribes who followed that pantheon, led by Danu, the same as the Greek Danaans and the Biblical tribe of Dan) you should also look at my BibleNet page on Na'amah (here), especially the paragraph:

"As so often, we find traces of Yisra-Eli lore in the lore of the Irish Celts, a consequence of the tribe of Dan being the Dana'ans who first settled Eireland as the Tuatha Dé Danann. Na'amah reappears in Irish mythology as Niamh, the daughter of Manannán mac Lir (the son, that is to say, of the original King Leir). She is one of the Queens of Tir na nÓg (no, that is not a spelling error), which is known both as "The Land of the Young" and as "The Promised Land". The name means "bright" or "radiant", both of which are undoubtedly synonyms for "pleasantness", "delight" and "loveliness, and it was originally pronounced Ni-em, reflecting the Yehudit pronunciation; with the development of Gaelic under English prohibitions and forced changes, it is today pronounced Neave."

Encyclopedia Mythica and Tuatha Dé Danann – AN SIONNACH FIONN will provide you with much more, and much verification of the above, but you should also look at my page on Anu (the paragraph "The earliest settlers of Eire..." in particular); Danae appears on the Eshet page in several forms, including Dinah and Diana, emphasising just how broad the Common Source spread in the ancient, Hittite world.

After which, what follows below is really just additional material, and an Index for where to find the who and what that is Éirish on the blog.

It is very difficult to provide a list of the historical rulers of the land, partly because many of the known names are regarded as legendary for lack of archaeological verifiability, but mostly because Éireland has mostly been divided into five principal regions, each with its own ruler, even when it was not under foreign rule (Roman, Norman, English). The principal regions were:

Ulster (Rí Ulad in Old Éirish, Rí Uladh in modern); kings until the Norman conquest, a dynasty of earls after that, named Mac Dúinnshléibe, Donleavy or Dunleavy in English.That fell apart in 1333 and was replaced by the Tuath of Clandeboye, under the northern Uí Néill (O’Neill in English but essentially the reason why Northern Ireland came into existence) until 1607

The Uí Néill were the descendants of Niall Noígíallach ("Niall of the Nine Hostages"), King of Tara around 400

Leinster (Rí Laighín in Old Éirish), the land of the Éirish Gaels

Connacht was the mediaeval name; previously Cóiced Ol nEchmacht ("the fifth of the Ol nEchmacht"; fifth because there were five principal regions).

Munster (Rí Mumhan in Old Éirish)

Mide, pronounced Meath in English, territory of the southern Uí Néill, though Mide means “middle”, so clearly they took the name with them when their original territory was conquered and themselves forced to move to where they are on the map above ( a rather better location actually, given the prominence now of Dublin).

The other regions on the map are

Ulaid (or Ulaidh) (click here)

The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a tribe of early Éireland. At the height of their power their terrritory stretched from the River Boyne in present day Meath west to County Leitrim, and included County Down and much of Antrim. Their capital was Emain Macha just west of Armagh City. The provence of Ulster derives its name from the Ulaid.

"The Annals of the Four Masters" records a battle in 331 "when the three Collas defeated their king Fergus Forga in the Battle of Achadh Leithdheirg in County Monaghan." After this battle the Ulaid terority was much reduced, it was probably after this battle Emain Macha was destroyed, Fergus Forga was the last Ulaid king to rule there. It was abandoned and the Ulaid were forced into eastern County Down where they became known as the Dál Fiatach and the Dál nAraidi.

Cú Chulainn (pronounced Koo Hullen) was a legendary hero of the Ulaid; “The Táin Bó Cuailnge”, “The Cattle Raid of Cooley”, in the Éirish Cycles tell of him singlehandedly defending Ulster against the invading armies of Maeve of Connacht (for whom click here).

Bréifne UaRaighaillaigh (click here); Breifne O’Reilly in English

Airghialla, Oriel in English (click here)

Osraige, “people of the deer”; Osraighe in Classical Éirish, Osraí in modern Éirish; anglicised as Ossory (click here)

The principal mentions of Éireland on this blog, in calendar order:

Jan 1 1801: Act of Union came into force

Jan 30 1972: "Bloody Sunday"

Feb 2 has the first of several references to James Joyce, and, given his focus on Dublin, the Éirish language and mythology, etc, in every one of his books, he needs to be included on this page and not just among the serious scribes

April 18: 1949: Éireland independent (well, most of it)

April 24: Easter Rebellion - “Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke, Sean MacDermott, and Joseph Plunkett formed the first formed the first provisional government (very provisional; most of them were dead within hours…)

June 13: W.B. Yeats born [more on him among The Poets]

June 25: 1891: Charles Stewart Parnell, Éirish patriot, married Katharine O'Shea (the love-story is told here)

Aug 22: 1922: Mícheál Ó Coileáin (Michael Collins) assassinated (see April 24 first)

Sept 1 1864: Roger Casement, with a link to “Nursery School” in "Welcome To My World" and a surprise to find Mario Varga Llosa on the page

Oct 14: 1882: Éamon de Valera born; well, sort of: George de Valero when he was born; Edward de Valera by 1901; he only became Éamon de Valera when Éireland achieved its liberation

Below are all the Éirish-connected names that appear on the Index (and therefore in green), and the list of Merely Mentioneds (and therefore in brown), including those already named above: pretty well all of it should also be on the Responses to Bullying and Coercion page, but I see no need to double it, and have simply left a note there directing the reader to this page.

Gerard (Gerry) Adams, terrorist, or Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh, freedom-fighter, depending on which side you take, on April 24 and Sept 29

Roger David Casement: (born Sept 1 1864; hanged August 3 1916): captured on April 24; his bio here and his memorial here

Thomas James (“Tom”) Clarke, or Tomás Séamus Ó Cléirigh in Éirish (born March 11 1858; died May 3 1916): Cabinet member in the first free Éirish “provisional” government, and one of the fourteen executed by the British for being so, on April 24; bio here

Michael Collins in English, Mícheál Ó Coileáin in Éirish (born October 16 1890; assassinated on Aug 22 1922): unnamed but among the Easter rebels on April 24; bio here

James Connolly, or Séamas Ó Conghaile in Éirish (born June 5 1868; died May 12 1916): formed the first free Éirish “provisional” government on April 24; his bio here; the Society that bears his name here; his Museum on the Falls Road here; the archive of his writings here

“The Táin Bó Cuailnge”, “The Cattle Raid of Cooley”, the story of Cú Chulainn (pronounced Koo Hullen), the Hound of Ulster, and of how he stood his ground, along with his charioteer Lao, against the great host of Ailill and Maeve, on June 24: full text here; much more on Cú Chulainn here, and at my Celtic Mythology page at TheBibleNet

Michael Davitt, in English; Mícheál Mac Dáibhéid in Éirish (born March 25 1846; died May 30 1906): established the “Éirish Land League” on April 24; his full biography here and here

Robert Emmet (born March 4 1778; executed by hanging September 20 1803): led the struggle for independence from Britain on April 24; bio here;

Josephine Bernadette Devlin (McAliskey): born April 23 1947; her story here

William Ewart Gladstone: the Irish Question on April 24

Arthur Joseph Griffith in Aenglish, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha in Éirish (born March 31 1871; died August 12 1922): Easter Uprising on Sept 1; founded Sinn Féin on April 24; his bio here

John Hume (born 18 January 1937; died 3 August 2020): playing Edmund Hillary to Mo Mowlam’s Sherpa ”Tenzing” on April 24; bio here; his Foundation here; his page at the Northern Ireland Assembly here; the view from the EU here

Seán MacDermott in English, Seán Mac Diarmada in Éirish: born January 27 1883; executed May 12 1916; one of the five who led the Easter Uprising on April 24 and formed the first provisional government; bio and more here

Eóin MacNeill (born May 15 1867; died October 15 1945): leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (Bráithreachas Phoblacht na hÉireann) on April 24; bio and scholarly works here; his memoir here

Thomas Francis Meagher - pronounced "Mahr" - (born August 3 1823; died July 1 1867): leading the “Young Irelanders” on April 24; his life and death here

Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam (born September 18 1949; died August 19 2005): still magnificent on April 24; bio here; the school that bears her name, here; the park in her honour in Belfast, here; the Library that bears her name in Coventry, here; the statue to her in Watford? Nowhere

Katharine (Kitty) O'Shea (born January 30 1846, in Braintree, which is in Essex; died February 5 1921, in Littlehampton, which is in Sussex): married Charles Stuart Parnell on June 25

Charles Stewart Parnell (born June 27 1846; died October 6 1891), Éirish patriot and founder of the Irish Parliamentary Party on April 24; married Katharine O'Shea on June 25; bio here (I always choose my links advisedly!);

Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais (Patrick Henry Pearse) (born November 10 1879; executed at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin on May 3 1916): lawyer and poet ; fighting to liberate his homeland on April 24; bio here; website here; poems here [and on the page of The Poets]

Joseph Mary Plunkett in English, Seosamh Máire Pluincéid in Éirish (born November 21 1887; executed May 4 1916): a poet and journalist, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising on April 24, he was one of the seven signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic (for whom and which click here); fuller bio here; he is also on the page of The Poets

John Edward Redmond (born September 1 1856; died March 6 1918): took over from Parnell on April 24, and then secured Home Rule; the view from Westminster here; the view from Dublin here

Francis Joseph Christopher Sheehy-Skeffington (born December 23 1878; among the “casualties” on April 24, which in his case meant murdered in military custody two days later, April 26 1916; bio here and here)

George de Valero when he was born on Oct 14 1882; Edward de Valera by 1901; only became Éamon de Valera when Eireland achieved its liberation: The Easter Rising on April 24; Roger Casement on Sept 1; (died August 29 1975); the Presidential website here