Who Had Gone Before

Clonfert is now a Cathedral of the Church of Ireland in the County of Galway. Before 600 AD it had already become one of the greatest teaching monasteries of the land. I believe that Clonfert monastery was founded in 563 AD by St Brendan, St Brendan the Navigator.
Brendan was born in 484 not far Tralee in County Kerry. He died in 577 and is buried at the Cathedral.
You may find the details of why he is called the Navigator interesting. You can start finding them in Wikipedia. He sailed the seas all around Ireland and very far to the west. He was taught the way west by Irishman who had been there before him.
Please report your findings in "comments" here.

Milesians

Milesians were named for the land they once occupied, the Anatolian island of Miletus. Miletus is a famous font of philosophy. I've heard it called the birthplace of 'Western' science. Miletus was colonized by settlers from Crete around 1600 BC. Create was a seat of high culture from very early times. By about 600 BC Miletus had become a maritime empire.

When did Milesians arrive in Ireland? Was Ireland ever called the isle beyond the Pillars of Hercules? Were the Pillars of Hercules once part of the gate of Atlas?

It is said that the first Milesians to appear in Ireland were defeated in a conflict with the last of the powerful Tuatha De Danann nobility. However, the Milesians soon had a firm foothold on the island. I suspect that the very name, Ireland, arose from diplomacy between the people of God and the Milesians.

Shee

Shee is an anglicized version of a word once used in Ireland to name beings magical, spiritually potent, unusually skillful and wise.

Shee has also been used to mean fay or fairy-like

I am sure that I have posted these notions before. My surname is Sheehan and I have said that in Old Irish the suffix -han had been used to indicate a plural. So, it seems, that one of us had been called a fairy and that in the aggregate we came to be called fairies. I'm old and fairly mellow; however, there are relatives of mine who are certain to prefer to be called skillful, potent, and wise.

I prefer not to hear my mother or sister called a banshee. Still, there are shee happenings and shee beings that it were not bad to be associated with. The Tuatha De Danann and peoples before them have been called shee. Certain holy mounds in Ireland have been described as shee. I have head a place called Tir na nOg described as shee. One might get there in a skin boat were it shee.

I have been attracted to knives from early youth, but I know deep in my heart that neither cold steel nor iron were the best metals for me. Fairies are like that. I am allergic to bread of wheat and, so it is said, is a fairy. I am fond of small bells as are fairies.

I am willing to tell you that a 'shotgun house' is a protection from even a displeased fairy. A fairy will tend to support one who maintains a clean well-kept house.

King Author is said to  have had his kingship and reign blessed by fairies. Leprechauns and Lugh are surely shee.

My paternal line was not always called shee, but it was very long ago that others began to call us so. We have been known to be 'good folk.' peaceful people,' and more Irish than Pat's piggy.

Of course I'm not Irish; still, there does seem to be something in the blood.

Shee has named a people. Those people have been called 'guardian spirits' and 'law givers.' They have been considered to be a conquered people living in hiding. We weren't numerous even in the Age of Bronze, but we had some understanding of configurings.

We have been considered honest, but also able with words.

There is more to tell

Ireland

What's going on!
I the last 24 hours "What Then" has had more page vies from Ireland than from the U.S.
Last week we had more viewers from Ireland than from anywhere else.
The same goes for last month!
Why? 
I've as many relatives in Norway as I do in Ireland. 
Only Russia and the United States have more all time viewers of the blog than does Ireland.
Is it something in the blood?

Family Tree Notes: Margaret

An ancestor of mine by the name of Margaret was born in Ireland ca. 1831 and died in Jackson County Missouri in 1889. She immigrated to the United States in about 1850 and settled in Iowa.

I believe that Margaret married Martin Carroll in Ireland. I think that her family name was Hennessy.

My main source for the information in these notes are from research recorded by my sister Gerry Hook.

However, some of it may have been supplied by my cousin, Kevin O'Carroll.

It seems Martin and Margaret parented two daughters in Kerry, Ireland in the town of Doon in Valley Bunion Parrish of Valley Bunion. Their daughter Mary was born there ca 1841. Their daughter Bridget was born their in 1844. It seems that Honora Fenaghty was a godparent for Mary and that a Margaret was a godparent for Bridget. Was that Margaret Carroll, Martins sister?

Margaret's daughter Mary married my great-grandfather, Mago William Sheehan, in 1860 in Des Moines County, Iowa and bore nine children.

Does anyone know of a town of Doon or a Valley Bunion in Kerry. Doon is not Dun is it. There are plenty of duns in Ireland. There Are fewer bunions that there once were.

What Focus? What Concentration?

Where did westering begin? Was it east of Lake Van? The interesting variety of men who arrived at the isle beyond the western isle had that in common.

What's Going On

What Then has had more viewers from Russia and Ireland this week than viewers from the United States!

Popular Posts and their Viewers

In the last seven days we had more viewers from Ireland than from the US! We also had lots of views from Russia and Germany last week.

The most popular posts last week were Content Affirmations, Common Consciousness Dialogue, Having an Opponent May Not Be to Your Benefit, and Oisin.

In the last thirty days the top viewing countries were the US, Ireland, Russia, Germany, and Canada.

The four most popular post in the last thirty days were: Occupy LA Teach In, Notes on Education, Content Affirmations, and Dates and Notes Related to Early Spanish Contacts.

Thank you viewers! Now how about some comments! 

Before the Tuatha De Dannan ..... or Ladies First

The dates are my best guesses of the moment. The order entails the best guesses of a variety of experts:
8000 BC: Casire
7000 BC: Partholon
6000 BC: Nemed
5000 BC: Fomorian (Sea People)
4000 - 2000 BC: Fir Blog (Invernic)
3000 - 1900 BC Tuatha De Danan
2000 - 1700 BC: Milesians
And they are still stacking up today.


Here I'll say a few words about Casire. Later I hope to say a bit about Partholon. Cessair or Kessir, or Casire is the Lady with whom I will begin. In 10,000 years one may be referred to in more than one way. Kessir convinced her father that they didn't have to despair because they were denied a place on the Ark. And with that beginning she became the leader of the first "Invader" of Ireland before the Biblical flood. She was the daughter of Noah's son and Bith's wife, Birren. Cessair, along with three men: Bith, her father; Ladra, the navigator; and Fintan, the famous. These four along with fifty women sailed for more than seven years. They finally landed on Don na mBarc on Bantry Bay in County Cork. The arrived forty days before The Flood.


Cessair died of a broken heart at Cuil Cearach in Connacht. Who'll tells that story? She is said to be buried on the summit of Knockmaa in Galway. The rest of her companions died in the Flood, accept for Fintan mac Bochra .... but that starts another story. Could you believe that he became a salmon?


The long and curious story I have hinted at above was told and written as an attempt to Christianize legend that pre-dates 'conversion' and has been called a pseudo history by some. The of the story date it between about 2300 and 2200 BC. But, for now I am dating certain of the happenings much earlier. 


Look for Cessair and Fintan stories on-line and at your library. I invite you to tell us here  about the stories you find. Histories and herstories.

Tuatha De Danann in Time

My best guesses of the moment:
7500 BC: Island well populated
6000 BC: High Mesolithic culture in Ireland
4000 BC: Neolithic in Ireland
2500 BC: Bronze Age in Ireland
2000 BC: Fir Bolg
1900 BC: Tuatha De Danann
Order of reigns with guesses of approximate dates.
1. Nuada  1897 or 1477
2. Bres 1897 or 1470
3. Lugh 1870 or 1407
4. Eoch Ollathair 1830 or 1337
5. Delbaeth 1750 or 1327                         
6. Fiacha 1740 or 1317
7. Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, Mac Greine 1730 or 1287
1700 BC Milesians 
600  BC Celts in Ireland
100  BC Gauls in Ireland

Evidence of Man In Ireland

I have referred to what may be called Irish mythology or proto-history in several posts in three blogs. I now intend to post a bit about the archaeology of the Irish Isle. I'll begin with the rather rough outline below. Later, if my energy and the state of my mental faculties permit, I will make and attempt to associate the mythology with archaeology. Mythology is what honorable men have told us over the ages. Archaeology is made up of physical remains identified, ordered, and, perhaps, dated which honorable men can show me.

My best guess of the moment tells me that there is substantial archaeological evidence that Ireland has been occupied by men and women much like you and I continuously for about 10,000 years.

There is stronger evidence that there  has been well organized farming and cattle raising on the island for at least the last 5500 years. You might refer to the work that has been done at the Ceide Fields of County Mayo. The culture there seems to have been of a high Mesolithic type.

There is evidence of a neolithic culture being well established by 3500 BC. Evidence of that culture is found at the excavations at Lough Gur in Co. Limerick and at New Grange in Co. Meath and the other ancient tombs in the Boyne Valley. Bru na Boinne is a World Heritage site in County Meath. It is the largest and one of the most important megalithic sites in Europe. It dates from about 3500 BC and contains Knowth and Dowth, as well as New Grange.

Evidence of prospectors and metal workers in Ireland suggests an appearance date of about 2500 BC. Metallurgy appeared with the arrival of there of the Bell Beaker People, Bronze working was well developed by 2000 BC and was preceded by cooper work. Irish craftsmen of the Bronze age were famous beyond their island, especially for their beautifully made horn-shaped trumpets. A great deal of copper was mined in Kerry and Cork. Most of it was probably exported. Ireland had been know around the Mediterranean for native gold before 3000 BC, and with increased copper mining there was increased gold mining. Bronze, perhaps because of its high quality, remained important in Ireland to as late as 500 BC.

The Tuatha De Danann who were probably established in Ireland by 1890 BC would certainly, I believe, be called a Bronze Age people. The Fir Bolg their before them probably were too. The Milesians who were probably on the Island by 1700 BC probably were too. However, the Milesians may have brought knowledge of iron working.

Viewers

People from Russia, Malaysia, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, Canada, and the USofA have been viewing these posts.

Last month many persons from Mexico, Germany, Russia, Canada, Ireland, and the USofA viewed these posts.

Last week people from Ireland, Mexico, Canada, and the USofA viewed these posts.

Yesterday persons from Mexico, Canada, Russia, and the USofA viewe them.

Right now individuals from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USofA are viewing them.

I am grateful.

Mago Notes Two

In April of this year I published a post entitled "Mago Notes One."
It related loosely to my paternal great-grandfather Mago William Sheehan. I was motivated to do so by a comment from my cousin Kevin O'Carroll. The facts I have about Mago come from the learned and skilled genealogical work of my sister, Gerry Hook. Still I found that which to me seemed worth saying then, and have more to say now.


This post relates to "Mago Notes One" in that it relates almost entirely to the name, title, or word 'mago:' rather than directly to my paternal great grandfather. I find Mago particularly curiosity arousing as a title or as a given name. I have followed my curiosity in a manner that may seem a pathless wander, but that is my way. I have tended to discover data or implications of marvelous and wonderful happenings and then to forget them. Some I recall years later, others I do not.


Here I intend to record some such implications which I remember just now.


Mago Notes:

There was a book in Hibernia written by Menandro Mago. The book may have been of Gnostic tradition. It may date from the earliest Christian times


"Mahon" and "Magon" may be forms of Mago. There is, or was, a Mahon county in Cork.


""Mane" may be a diminutive of Mago: Mago, the father; Mane, the son.


In Spain you might hear that mago is the singular magi, or that it means wizard. Or that it refers to one of the three wise men bearing gifts to a certain baby.


Perhaps Spain is also the source of a name closely related to Mago, Magon. In my Spanish magon would mean big mago or great mago. Magon is also a Spanish surname. There is a Richard Flores Magon remembered in Mexico as James Connolly is remembered in Ireland.


I have imagined other Magos. For example, Magos who came up from the Persian Gulf into the Mediterranean to greatly disturb ancient Egyptians as the Sea People.


Those Magos certainly were sea people. They became guardians of the Gate of Atlas, what we now know as the Pillars of Hercules. I believe that among them Mago was a title. rather than a name, but among a very similar people it was also a name. It may have referred to a respected or learned man at one time, but among these sea people of the Mediterranean it came to mean judge, governor  commodore.


Elsewhere you may learn that it refers to a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians.


Barca was an influential family who knew Magos and was known by them. Barca is the source of our Presidents first name and for the name of the Spanish city Barcelona.


There is a lot to learn about Mago. They may have been the great tin merchants of the Mediterranean Bronze Age. 


It was Mago I who established a political dynasty of Ancient Carthage whose people wee called Magonids. The Magonid dynasty of Carthage lasted from 550 BC to 340 BC. During that time it was probably the main Phoenician colony. By the way, there was also a Mago II and a Mago III


Hasdrubal was a son of Mago and a long time ruler among the Phoenicians. The name was spoken in Rome.


A fragment of and Old Irish manuscript reads, "I took kingdom here, as a successor of my mother for she was Mara of Murese, daughter of Mago. And what better wife could I have then the daughter of a High King of Ireland.

Mago Notes One

 Mago is a given name of my Irish great grand father. My cousin Kevin once asked me why I thought the name was special and why I thought it had Phoenician connections.I don't remember giving him much of an answer. 


I may have asked cousin Kevin how many people he knew with great grandfathers named Mago. I may have asked him what he knew of Hannibal or told him that in Spanish mago means magician.


I guess Kevin and Richard, and Mary are each a name with its special meanings. However, I've this feeling that Mago is especially meaningful.


With this post I begin a series of notes on Mago. If you encourage me I will try to provide sources for information I give here, otherwise you may have to call me a damn lier or to take me at my word.


For example, I may say that there was a son of Mago with King Author in Cornwall. Or, that I once knew a woman related to Mellon related to Merlin. I don't know how I came by this info, but if you don't care I don't either.


Other things I say here may be easier for you to check up on. For example, I say that Hannibal's brother Mago knew how to ride an elephant. That's special and there is quite a bit of info on Hannibal available.


One of the things I intend to do On future "Mago Notes" is to repeat what I have seen, heard, or envisioned of the name or word Mago among the Phoenician and among the Irish and try to point out some associations.


I bet that if you checked the www you could find pictures of Mago's Cliffs at the side in County Clare.

Phoenicians in West Europe: From Canaan to Cornwall & Cork

Phoenicians in West Europe: From Canaan to Cornwall & Cork

A place to poke around for the beginnings of Mago in Ireland.

Career Advice | LoadzaJobs.ie

Career Advice LoadzaJobs.ie


In Ireland.

Dan, Dann, It's History Man

Tell me about it. Tell me the story.

Dan was a tribe of Israel. What did they have to do with Hellenistic people.

Danaans, Dananna, were Achaens who inhabited 
Achae and had some relationship with the Aeolians, Ionians, and Dorians.

Aegyptus and Danus were sons of Belus. Belus was a son of Poseidon and Libya.

How did Chaldeans and Danu and Dana come to be equivalents?

Help me out here. How can I begin to make sense of this?

A Worthy Quest

Who sets a worthy quest?

Who will sponsor an interested Irish youth on a worthy quest?

Which schools are teaching the highest level of archeology in Ireland?

Who is bringing more practical archaeology to Ireland?

There is more than one girl or boy vitally interested in the pre-history of the people on the island.

Tell Me More

Martin Carroll, father of Mary J. Carroll, may have been from count Kerry. He probably arrived in Burlington, Iowa ca 1852. He married Margaret ca 1840 in Ireland.

Mago William Sheehan may have been from Dingle. He was born ca 1939. He married Mary J. Carroll on November 27th of 1860. He died on April 5th of 1912.