Updates, Quotes, and Exploring Ireland

Fast Updates:

Wishing you all a safe and happy April!

We met some amazing creative folks and had a blast at the event we participated in during the month of March! We are really looking forward to our upcoming events.

Also:

readersfavorite.com will have three of my available books listed as prizes in the monthly book giveaway. If you are interested in winning some amazing books by great authors you can check out the monthly giveaway here:  book giveaway /Rise or here for The Warning Signs: giveaway/the-warning-signs and here: book-giveaway/combo.

Upcoming Event Reminders:

2024

Concealed Realms is scheduled to return to Saluki Con! This Eclipse Con will be held on April 6th and 7th.

Concealed Realms is scheduled to be at the Oz-Stravaganza! This event takes place May 31st – June 2nd in Chittenango, NY.

Concealed Realms plans to participate in the Kokomo Quad Con taking place July 20st and 21st. This event will take place at the Markland Mall, Kokomo IN. (Unconfirmed)

We are scheduled to participate at the DarkHistory & Horror Convention. The con this year will be August 31^st -September 1^st, at the Orpheum theater in Champaign, IL.

Concealed Realms plans to participate at the inaugural horror fiesta in Peoria IL on September 14th. This event is set to take place at the exposition gardens opera house

.We are scheduled to participate in the Lafayette Comic Con, Mighty Con on October 26th. This event takes place at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, located in Lafayette, IN

Quotes Connected to Ireland:

“And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild.”

– Seamus Heaney

“For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.”

– James Joyce

“Lovely Laois, I hear you calling
In my dreams, I hear you say
Come back home to dear old Ireland
Lovely Laois, I’ll come back to you some day.”

– Joseph Kavanagh, ‘Lovely Laois’

“Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.”

-Oscar Wilde

“May the road rise to meet you”

-Irish Proverb

“You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

-John O’Donohue

“A clover that sprouts four leaves, rather than three, is a mutation and is considered ‘lucky’ according to Irish mythology. Why? According to Celtic lore, each leaf of clover represents something special. One leaf represents faith, one hope, one love and, and , if a fourth leaf is present, that’s luck.”

– Leslie Le Mon

“In the Celtic mind, humanity and the animal kingdom were intimately connected. This interconnection with nature was reflected in their gods, who took the forms of the animals they revered, blurring the distinction between the animal and human realms.”

-Stephanie Woodfield

“Trees are silent guards, they are the listeners and they hold knowledge mankind has long forgotten.”

– Cornelia Amiri, The Wolf and the Druidess

“Ireland was a place for the renewal of hope and I still see it like that.”

– Daniel Day-Lewis

Definition of : Exploration

Dictionary.com

Noun

A. “an act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination.”

B. “the investigation of unknown regions.” – www.dictionary.com

Merriam Webster.com

Noun

” the act or an instance of exploring.” – merriamwebster.com

Exploring Ireland

Early on in 2019, we whisked our family away on a trip split between Ireland and Scotland. Due to the fact that both of our children were set to graduate from high school within the next two years, we planned for the journey to be our last big family adventure for a while, as we anticipated varying schedules and helping with college expenses when we were able.

Since we had a very limited time in each place, we originally planned to stick with major family friendly tourist spots such as Bunratty and Blarney Castle, The Cliffs of moher, and Loch Ness. However soon after reaching our first destination (Ireland), we found it hard to maintain our itinerary. The sights from our rental car were so enchanting to us, that we began stopping every few miles to photograph ruins of bygone eras and the wondrous scenery that surrounded them. Those spontaneous stops soon became the highlights of our trip and by the time we made our way to Scotland, our plans had become more like a list of suggestions than a set itinerary.

After we returned home to the states, we decided that four days in Ireland and four days in Scotland was not nearly enough to even scratch the surface of the rich history of either place. Luckily, this year I was able to return to Ireland for an extended adventure on the island.

As such I thought it would be fun to write a brief article focusing on some interesting facts about Ireland, show a few of the images I captured from select sites we visited, and share a few short legends that I learned along the way.

The Island

There is so much to see and learn about the geology, history, and mythology of Ireland, that I couldn’t possibly encompass all of it in a timely manner, so I will include suggested links along the way, which you can use to uncover further info if you find yourself drawn to a specific topic.

In brief, Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean that is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel. According to wikipedia.org, “Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), an independent state covering five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland.”

Renowned for its mild climate, the Island is covered in vibrant and lush vegetation. It’s main geographical features include relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain. With much of this landscape left seemingly untouched, it only takes a glimpse of the patchwork mosaic of greenery, created by the rolling hills shrouded in Virid moss covered rocks and grassy meadows that stretch as far as the eye can see, to imagine how it earned the title “The Emerald Isle.”

5 Interesting Facts – Regarding Ireland

1. “Ireland has two official languages: English and Irish.” – educations.com
2. According to scientist, there most likely were never any snakes in Ireland. –nationalgeographic.com
3. “There are more than 30,000 castles and ruins left in Ireland today.”- nordicvisitor.com
4. “In 2021, a reindeer bone fragment discovered in Castlepook Cave near Doneraile, Co. Cork in 1972, was dated to 33,000 years ago, establishing human activity in Ireland more than 20,000 years earlier than previously thought.” – wikipedia.org
5. You can see the Aurora Borealis in Ireland. – hogansirishcottages.com

The Journey

After landing in Dublin, Ireland we made our way to our first air b&b located in Broughshane, Northern Ireland. In total we stayed an average of three nights at each of our five accommodations as we made our way counterclockwise around the island, back toward Dublin, where we would end our journey. We explored many trails and visited castles, abby‘s, wells, caves, megalithic sites, and museums throughout our trip. Below you can view some select photos from a few of our favorite stops along the route.

Inspirational

Ireland has provided the locations for various films and t.v. shows and has been celebrated in the written word again and again, and it’s not hard to see why when you view the Island first hand. The appearance of the many ruins and historic sites that litter the island enhance the already dramatic scenery of the central plain as well as the coastal areas lined with  sandy beaches, rocky slopes, and craggy cliffs that offer waterfalls which plunge into the sea, or if the wind is especially strong, reverse upward, in a seemingly otherworldly way, leaving you breathless.

Geological Lore

As ethereal and uncanny as local lore may seem, the mythical tales of Ireland most often take place in real locations around the Island. One such tale many of you are probably familiar with involves the Irish giant, Finn McCool (Fionn MacCumhaill) who, amongst many other things is credited with creating the Giants Causeway. It is said that the feat was accomplished so he could cross the Sea to face his Scottish rival, Benandonner . After their meeting, the story goes that Benandonner ripped up the causeway as he fled back to Scotland, leaving the site of interlocking basalt columns as you would see it today.

You may find yourself less familiar with the awe inspiring, Slieve League Cliffs and the story of their creation. Locally known as the Sliabh Liag Cliffs, they are said to be named after a warrior of legend who in a fit of passion, threw a giant flagstone into the sea, creating this mesmerizing landscape. These cliffs offer a different experience than the more publicized (and crowded) Cliffs of Moher, as they overlook the wild Atlantic Ocean at three times the height.

General Mythology

The ancient secrets hidden within the depths of Ireland’s enchanted fields and misty glens are innumerable. Each rock and mound of earth beneath your feet seems to whisper about the story it holds within it. These Tales are not limited to Viking encounters, battles of kings, or the construction of castles, instead, they encompass a rich array, of both the mundane and the mythological. After all, in Ireland, myth and legend go hand in hand with history and tradition.

According to Wikipedia, “Irish mythology is the best-preserved branch of Celtic mythology. These myths that were indigenous to the island of Ireland, were passed down and preserved orally from the prehistoric era,” until some of them were eventually written down by scribes in the middle ages. One resource that offers a peek at the history, legacy, and evolution of Irish myth can be found here: thoughtco.com. But, if you prefer an array of information and story’s with a timeline, that can be found here: The Chronicles of Irish Legend. Likewise, if you are interested in Celtic diety’s, you may enjoy further reading here: celtictitles.com.

A Supernatural Tale

Most of us are familiar with Irish fairies and the Otherworld, a supernatural place, sometimes identified as the bountiful land of the dead, but more often as a parallel world alongside our own, which uninvited mortals entered at their peril. Much less familiar to me, were the legends of Irish Vampires that I learned of during my trip. The version of the tale told to me of The Dearg-Due (“Red Blood Sucker”) during a nighttime walking tour, began in a time when arranged marriages were common in Ireland and went like this:

A peasant whom worked on a farm, was smitten over a lovely woman that lived nearby. Soon after the pair began courting, they fell in love. Unfortunately, for the woman, her father decided that he should profit from her beauty. As such, he promised her hand to a wealthy chieftain, despite his reputation for being cruel. Unable to defy her fathers wishes, the daughter complied.

Soon after the wedding, the chieftain began to lock away his new bride for days at a time, as if she were a trophy to be exhibited at his whim. As the woman lost hope, her appetite dwindled and before long, she stopped accepting food or drink altogether, causing her death.

According to the storyteller, despite her husband’s riches, she was given a modest burial that was not well attended, although her grave was frequented by her first love. The peasant. had been dreaming of revenge since he had been denied the woman’s hand. This hunger intensified with the grief of her passing, and spread to the woman’s unsettled spirit causing it to become so enraged that it forced her out of the grave to seek vengeance, which the now undead being took out on her father, then on the wicked chieftain.

It is said that when the Dearg-Due tasted the blood of her freshly slain husband, she felt newly invigorated. This in-sighted a hunger that couldn’t be quenched and from then on, under the cover of night, she would use her beauty to lure unsuspecting men to dark places, where she could sink her teeth into their necks and drink greedily.

Final thoughts

Ireland may appear to be a small area, but every square inch is filled with myth, mystery, and history. When your there it can easily feel like your traveling through time. I would love to return again for more exploration! It’s natural beauty combined with its intriguing folklore and alluring legends, make it a wonderful place to explore, exercise your imagination, learn and relax.

I want to thank you for your continued support. I hope that you found this brief mythology post interesting! Lets look to the future with hope, and excitement about the endless possibilities to come. Stay safe and keep being awesome.

Want to find more History, facts, Lore or about additional Mythological creatures of Ireland?

Check out these other sites:

theirishroadtrip.com, irishcentral.com,museum.ie,vikingeskibsmuseet.dk, britannica.com, wildernessireland.com, gaelic.co

Check out these sites:

mightyconshows.com

QuadCon

Peoriacon

Reedpop.com

DArkNovels

iowa-icon.com

Oddmall

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