Posts Tagged ‘Shiels’
Celtic Druids and Irish Surnames – Do You See Your Family Name Here?
Explore the Druidic families of Ireland and their professions in this week’s letter. Some Irish surnames are associated with professions, such as “Hickey” for “Healer” and “Ward” for “son of the Bard”. Who knows, your family might have inherited a trait from these ancient times!
Read MoreIrish Surname Evolution.
We had a very interesting reaction to last week’s letter where I went through just some of the old Gaelic family names and their links to certain professions such as Medic, Judge, Poet and so on. I asked you to let me know if you had any of these names in your family – and…
Read MoreThe Stone Circles and Druids of Ireland
Have you heard of the Druids of Ireland? Long before Christianity reached Ireland’s shores, there was a complex culture of beliefs involving the practices of law, medicine, and the oral tradition. In this letter we discuss the Druids, the ancient intellectual class of ancient Ireland.
Read MoreSaints, Scholars and Irish Family Surnames
A few weeks back, I mentioned Thomas Cahill’s book “How the Irish Saved Civilisation” – and I know a lot of our readers have already come across it. It tells the story of how Irish monks set about preserving Greek, Roman and early Christian knowledge through their manuscripts and teaching. It’s a wonderful little book…
Read MoreLike to run an Irish Castle for a Day?
Would you like to run an Irish Castle for a day? Sound exciting? But we’re not talking about just a castle – also the large family estate of lands that surround it. A few weeks back, Carina and myself went to County Galway and visited Aughnanure castle in Oughterard. Ever been there? Aughnanure was the…
Read More