The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by the farmers of the west to their counterparts in the east of Ireland. An Irish adage advises: Go East for a woman; go West for a horse. When I was a girl I had a … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Great October Fair
Mythology
News: An Overlooked Atlantis
According to Swedish scientist Ulf Erlingsson, the mythical sunken island of Atlantis was actually Ireland. He bases his assertion on the geographical details described by Plato in 360 B.C., linking it to the story of Dogger Bank, a shoal off the coast of England that was sunk by a tidal wave in 6,000 B.C. Erlingsson describes his theory in his upcoming book Atlantis from a … [Read more...] about News: An Overlooked Atlantis
Hibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove it. ℘℘℘ June, 2000. A bus packed with American tourists pulls out of Newry and takes the road to South Armagh. On one side it passes a British army observation post, currently being dismantled. On the other, a large poster advertises the first Tommy Makem International Festival of Song, which is … [Read more...] about Hibernia: South Armagh
A Little Irish Romance | Marriage in the Good Old Days
From The Uncounted Irish by Margaret E. Fitzgerald and Joseph A. King April 1991
A woman at marriage passed into her husband's fine and was accorded half his worth in honor-price, but she also had status in her own right. Some historians believe that the high status of women in ancient Ireland was part of the pre-Celtic culture that was absorbed by the invading Celts. One thesis is based on the fact that invaders of all countries were accustomed to taking … [Read more...] about A Little Irish Romance | Marriage in the Good Old Days