Ireland Books

I met Dr. Coulson at the parish church in Nonington several weeks ago and have since had one of the staff at the Center for Kentish Studies recommend his book so I'm really looking forward to getting it. Coulson is history staff at the University of Kent. The recommendation I received was based on his attention to daily life and the social implications of what we might call "Castle culture" in the localities. We will see......I will post again after the book arrives.

Coulson seeks to revise the understanding of castles as basically military structures to an understanding of them as images of the primary factors and the complexity of European society in the time from the fall of Rome to the late Middle Ages. This society was basically hierarchical and aristocratic. Today's conventional conception of a castle as more or less a fortification is a largely romantic notion bearing little relation to the true place of castles in medieval society. In medieval Europe, towns, ecclesiastical areas, estates and mansions, and even temporary earthworks of a traveling army were regarded as castles. The word "fortalicium" originally used for "castle" meant "element" or "sign" of fortification more than strictly a military fortification. In the medieval society, this was understood to mean above all "a symbolism of aristocratic armed power." As symbols of this power, castles were also social centers where most of the interaction of the different social classes took place. As Coulson remarks, there is no military history associated with most castles. In his revision of the conception of castles, the author elaborates on the presence of high-rankng women in many of them. Coulson is a research fellow at England's U. of Kent. He does not undercut the significance of castles in medieval society; rather, he shifts the understanding of what their significance was.

A very good book, Castles of Britain and Ireland: The Ultimate Reference Book contains exelent quality photographs, and contains information of almost every known castle on Britain and Ireland. It talks about their evolution through the years and about the people involved on their construction. I greatly recommend it to anyone interested on knowing more about british castles, its information is very clear and easy to understand. If you are a castle fan, this is a must-have book.

Castles of Britain and Ireland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry is the most important and most used book in my library. Not only is it a great read front to back but is invaluable as a reference when reading any history book about Britain and Ireland. It covers every aspect of Castles; The History, the people, the construction, the defenses, and even the art of attacking a castle, including seige engines. When I travel to Britain this book will be in my backpack.

Luisa Lang Owen's recounting of her childhood and the losses she and others experienced before, during and after the war, including three years in a concentration camp is, at once, both hauntingly beautiful and horrific. Her captors, in seeking to exterminate individuals and their culture ironically distilled, in this young woman, the essence of being. Her lush and loving attention to detail, her artistic perceptions were heightened and strengthened in those years, and what we sometimes refer to as the "strength of the human spirit" is clearly defined in the telling of this woman's coming of age under life-threatening conditions. Both fascinated and saddened by the telling, I felt as if I'd entered the spirit of someone who has always lived and continues to live fully and attentively in the world.

This book should be read by all Danube Swabians and their offsprings as well as all freedom-loving, truth seeking and fair minded people of this world.

Written by a Jesuit priest and teacher of moral theology in Rinteln, Germany, the year 1631. Witch trials had reached almost epidemic proportions; madness and burnings were going on everywhere. Friedrich Spee dared to speak out against the injustice he had personally witnessed as a confessor ministering to accused witches in prison. He used the ruse of having the publisher take his manuscript and publish it "without the author's knowledge" to get it past the review of his superiors in the Jesuit order. A second edition was published the following year by a printer thought by historians to be fictitious. It was met with disapproval by the authorities and was recommended to be put on the Papal list of banned books, but it never was. All of this is from the translator's informative introduction.
The book itself is a monument of rational thought in a world seemingly gone mad. It is addressed to "the princes of Germany" though Spee pessimistically states that he doubts those who should read it, ever will. His plea for justice, mercy, and basic human rights is nothing short of brilliant and has much to offer to us today. Many of the principles and ideals which are the Constitutional foundation of the American judicial system are expressed here. Hellyer's English translation sparkles, bringing Spee's relentless logic, passion, and occasional biting sarcasm into an immensely readable form for modern audiences.
Spee makes no attempt to refute the existence of witchcraft. He admits that it is a horrible crime which should be punished severely. However, he must bring to the princes' attention that trials are being conducted in such a way that innocent people are being burned. "Out of fifty" he says, "I doubt that five, or even TWO are guilty." Point by point, question by question, he demolishes every argument used to justify the arbitrary and brutal practices of judges and Inquisitors. He demonstrates clearly from a Biblical standpoint, from the authority of learned doctors of theology and law, and from the perspective of natural law and simple common sense, that trials conducted in this manner CANNOT continue, since putting innocents to death is a great sin and places the princes themselves in moral danger.
I can't adequately express how enjoyable, uplifting, and inspiring this book is. Definitely a must-have for anybody interested in history, witchcraft / witch trials, law, religion, and human rights.

The Cautio Criminalis is a classic in the literature on witchcraft. It is both intensely logical and passionately involved with correcting the injustices of the witch trials. Marcus Hellyer has produced a highly readable translation which transmits both the clarity and the passion of the original. He has also included an introduction on the work which reflects the current state of historical knowledge. This book belongs to the classics of the struggle for human rights; it ranks with Johann Weyer and Beccaria. Hellyer also indicates, at the end of the introduction, that this is not only a historical question; where crimes that we consider heinous are concerned, we are only too ready to abridge the rights of the accused. The appearance of this book is more than welcome.

These dazzling transfers are exciting and varied. You won't be able to contain your creative impulses when you look at them. These designs are the stuff of late night art projects. Mallory Pearce has given us a very fine collection.

The art is great and the transfers are of high quality. The transfers are all different sizes, from full page designs to small trim pieces. Several of the designs can be chained to create borders. Some are mirrored and others are matched multi-part designs. Excellent quality and great variety.

A really lovely book to own with gorgeous photographs and a text that is as interesting as it is informative.

Highly recommended.

The religion and lore of the Celts had a tremendous impact on the development of Western spiritual thought. Today, Celtic knots, animals, and other figures are experiencing a new popularity. "The Celtic Cross" is a lovely, well researched volume that describes the art carved upon the stone crosses scattered across northern Europe, especially the British Isles. The iconography and other symbolism, the development of the art form, and the spiritual meaning are all discussed in some depth. The photos are terrific, and a list of place to see crosses in situ or in museums is also included, should you wish to see a few in person.

I picked this book up the last time I was in Ulster; I remember being slightly taken back by the title so much so that it initiated my purchase. Nevertheless, however, writing as a layman and as someone who takes great cultural pride in our Celtic hero Cuchulainn. I remember being slightly dismayed at thinking he might have been a Comet, then again, I have read that he might be a magic mushroom which isn't very charming either. In both cases matter is reified into the plane of psychological symbolism, now I wonder... Seeing that I have softened my scepticism, I must recommend this book as a great primer on so many interdisciplinary subjects, and whatever these guys have it is great skill at delivery. Imagine in the next 1000 years from now, folks will be saying George Best, was the reincarnation of that that particular famous comet. Well you can never know?

Patrick McCafferty & Mike Baillie
The Celtic Gods:
Comets in Irish Mythology
(Tempus Pub., Stroud, UK) 2005
Paperback, 224 pages
ISBN 0-7524-3444-6

Critiqued by Victor DeMattei

David Keys published "Catastrophe," based in part on the dendrochronological research of Mike Baillie, which highlighted a catastrophic climatic downturn in the sixth century of our era that led to a collapse of all the "classical" ancient civilizations across the globe; namely, the Greco-Roman culture in the Mediterranean and Western Europe, the Maya in Mesoamerica, and Asiatic cultures in the Eastern World, ushering in what has be¬come known as the "Dark Ages." Keys' explanation for the trigger event for this collapse was a massive eruption of ancient Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra about 535 AD, which released an enormous dust cloud that spread around the world and fomented a Fimbul winter throughout the northern hemisphere.

Coincidentally, this was at the same moment in time that the last native Latin-speaking Eastern Roman emperor based in Constantinople, Justinian, was trying to reconquer the former Roman heartland in Italy from the Germanic Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). This war was recorded by both Procopius of Caesarea, who was private secretary to the Roman general, Belisarius, and by Cassiodorus Senator, who was in effect the prime minister of the enemy Gothic king, Theodorick, who died just a the outbreak of the conflict. Procopius noted a massive plague that wiped out at least a third of the empire population. However, according to contemporary scholarship, disease and the course of the war reduced the population of Italy by some two-thirds, from an estimated six million down to two million, while disease-infected Rome was reduced from a million to some thirty thousand. Rome changed hands four times between 540 and 554 AD, and according to Procopius was even deserted for some six weeks. The fall of Italy in 540 AD to Torila the Ostrogoth was the actual, albeit argumentative, end of the imperial Roman Empire, and can be compared to the contemporaneous collapse of Mesoamerican civilizations.

Dendrochronologist Baillie and engineer/archeologist McCafferty both disagree with Keys' assessment that a volcanic origin for the disease-ridden climatic decline was the cause, and posit their own hypothesis of a trigger mechanism. Their disagreement is based on Greenland ice core samplings that show no more volcanic dust than normal during the sixth century, and opt for another putative cause, drawing largely on the work of astronomers Victor Clube and Bill Napier that cometary fragments were more likely trigger events.
They distinguish between long and short period comets, where the former are relatively unlikely to impact the Earth, whereas fragments from short period comets, such as Enke's or Halley's, are more probable. As comets orbiting within our solar system break up and are strung out they can potentially impact the Earth with devastating effect. The Tunguska explosion over the Siberian taiga in 1908 is thought to be a fragment of Enke's Comet.

McCafferty and Baillie point out that spasmodic if not periodic civilization collapses in the 25th century BC, the 12th century BC (about the time of the Trojan War), and the one that concern us here in the 6th century AD, are due to Comet Enke. They also present historical and mythological descriptions from China and Japan that fortify their conclusions.

This finally brings us to their main argument that Celtic mythology, such as the Cuchulainnian and Arthurian Cycles are coded accounts of such cometary strikes. (As a side issue, Cuchulainn [pronounced ku-ka'-lin] bears a linguistic relationship to the Mesoamerican Kukulcan.) The same goes for the Beowulf Saga and that of the legendary sixth century Irish saints. In Appendix IV of their book they graphically lay out the links in these stories that point to a cometary connection and the concomitant source of the action and danger in the skies above.
In "Playing with Catastrophic Links" the authors note, for example, that the Celtic hero Lugh kills his grandfather Balor, and if he hadn't Ireland would have been burned in a flash, and that the Irish prelate Mobhi dies in the plague that kills one-third of the people of Ireland. Also, recall Procopius, the 6th century Byzantine historian, who records a plague that killed one-third of the Mediterranean world. Again, in Irish myth, the prelate "Moling confused with Suibne foretells Fal's wheel that would destroy three-quarters of Europe."

Cuchulainn in his `frenzy' kills or injures two-thirds of the people of Ireland. Lugh's spear causes the Dolorous Blow that destroys three kingdoms. And, St. Patrick has a vision of Ireland being covered in flames. The boar Twrch Trwyth, pursued by Arthur and finally driven into the sea off Cornwall, laid waste to a third part of Ireland.

To reiterate, underlining these reported catastrophes: 1) Ireland would have been burned in a flash, 2) plagues that kill one-third of the people of Ireland, 3) Fal's wheel (consisting of paddles or oars) would destroy three-quarters of Europe, 4) frenzy of the gods that kills or injures two-thirds of the people of Ireland, 5) the Arthurian Dolorous Blow that destroys three kingdoms, 6) Ireland being covered in flames, 7) Twrch Trwyth laid waste a third part of Ireland.

Baillie points out that what we know from dendrochronology around 540 AD, there was a global tree-ring downturn. We know from history (Procopius, first of all) that around 540-542 plagues erupted in Europe and killed one third of the population, while the Roman Empire was making a last gasp to recover Italy from the Goths.

It seems from Baillie's research that the Earth periodically encounters comet swarms that cause considerable damage. Further, McCafferty and Baillie note, "there are, however, reasons for believing that at periods around 4500 and 1500 years ago, due to orbital changes, close passes may have taken place. Changes in the relationship between the orbits of the Earth and short-period comets meant that the orbits crossed, and for centuries there could have been repeated close encounters."

Current astronomical theory posits that the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto as the home of most cometary matter and perhaps many more as yet undiscovered planetesimals. The only viable orbital changes would be for the cometary matter, so these would be the most likely culprits for these catastrophic close encounters.

But, what is also interesting is the association of plagues with these events. This would seem to lend credence to the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe theory of panspermia, i.e., bringing in extraterrestrial microorganisms, but admittedly this may be pushing the envelope. More prosaically, one of the effects of multiple cometary incursions into the atmosphere would be an increased dust load and s collateral cooling effect--much as happened in 1815 with the eruption of Tambora leading to the so-called year without a summer of 1816. This in turn would lead to crop failures, famine, and diseases associated with deprivation, as peoples' immune systems would be compromised.

In brief, the whole thrust of McCafferty and Baillie's thesis is that Celtic mythology is largely a symbolic account of these catastrophic events. They also add what may be the most important point of all, for if they are right the security of our planet and the life it harbors could depend on it, which is a call for an interdisciplinary effort on the part of scholars in both the hard and soft sciences to study this problem together and see if the data fit. Then we could take counter measures that might save our planet and ourselves.

Celtic Myth And Arthurian Romance by Arthurian scholar Roger Loomis is a fascinating, persuasive, documented argument for the theory that the King Arthur of history was not an Englishman, but rather a Celtic warrior. Carefully annotated and researched chapters draw connections between the Camelot legend and Celtic lore, and bring to life a new side of the debate about who King Arthur truly was. An exciting and original analysis of one of history's most beloved eras and leaders, Celtic Myth And Arthurian Romance is a welcome and highly recommended addition to Arthurian studies reading lists and academic reference collections.

For anyone who's ever been fascinated by the tales of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, here's a book that puts it all in the fascinating context of Celtic mythology. The stock elements of Arthurian legend--the enchanted castles, the abducted princesses, the contests with mysterious knights--are revealed to have a coherent esoteric meaning.As Loomis writes, to understand the relationship between the familiar tales of Camelot and the wilder Irish myths "is to open suddenly the mountainsides into the glittering palaces of the Sidhe"--the home of the Celtic gods.

The brilliance of Roger Loomis--who wrote in the 1920s--is that while he draws the same kind of fascinating connections as Robert Graves, Loomis does so through careful argument and documentation. His work should inform any serious discussion of the origins of the Arthurian tales and the meaning of the Holy Grail.

This book has short stories that relate to Irish folklore around the time when the Tuatha De Danaan ruled the land. Many of the stories have been rewritten by other authors, however, I feel that this author does a incredible job of weaving in more information about the tales and people involved. Also in the introduction the author gives background to the history of Ireland and how the folklore came about. I would recommend this book to anybody intrested in Irish folklore, old and young alike.

Finally, a book of Irish stories that truly captures my heart and does justice to my ancestry. A wonderful job by the author of providing background and such. My favorite legends are brought vividly and hauntingly to life; I couldn't have asked for more.

For someone who wants a quick and dirty introduction yet up to date book on the ancient Celts I cannot recommend a better book. Although it is quite a short book it is highly superior to books havigng the three times the number of pages this book contains.
Although one may sometimes shy away from short books on complex topics like the Celts take heart for by placing yourself in the hands of Barry Cunliffe you are putting yourself in the hands of a master.
A winner!
High recommended.

The Celts have had a long and complex journey, both through history and myth, and this entry in the excellent Very Short Introduction series is a great place to start tracing that journey. Some historians question whether 'Celtic' is even a meaningful or useful term. Is it a modern invention? Who were, or are, these people or peoples we call 'Celts'? Cunliffe warns at the outset that finding reliable answers will not be easy, then proceeds to make it as easy as possible.

He views the subject from various angles - linguistic, archeological, Classical (the Roman and Greek accounts), ethnological - and gradually builds a coherent picture. His bias reflects the current orthodoxy that cultural influence spread without the mass migrations that used to be assumed -- ideas and customs spread, not necessarily people. He encourages us to take a view from the Atlantic, and see the Celts as European peoples who traded along that seaboard. Some readers might wish for more detailed maps -- the author or publisher seems to assume that you will know which rivers are the Marne, Danube, etc.

This is an authoritative and accurate work, although I did spot one surprising blunder: On page 137, the ceremony of All Souls is described as taking place on October 31, preceding All Saints. In fact it follows All Saints, on November 2.

Cunliffe's prose is very readable, except that he has a fondness for litotes ("It is not unreasonable to suppose..." "It is not unlikely that..."). This can get not unirritating after a while.

A great deal of misinformation surrounds Celticism. It has become a tool for propagandists and nationalists. There is a certain amount of healthy debunking in this book, but the Celts emerge alive and well. Before I read it, I thought I was of Celtic descent on my mother's side. After reading it, I still do, but now I have some idea of what that means. If you want to know about the Celts, then you need to choose your sources with care, because - as Cunliffe hints - there are many 'lunatic fringe' publications out there. This is a safe place to start.