1.
Midsummer
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The exact dates vary between different cultures. The Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St John the Baptist, and these are commemorated by many Christian denominations. In Sweden the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been discussions to make the Midsummers Eve into the National Day of Sweden. It may also be referred to as St. Hans Day, european midsummer-related holidays, traditions, and celebrations are pre-Christian in origin. The fire festival or Litha – Summer solstice – is a tradition for many neopagans, Solstice celebrations still centered on the day of the astronomical summer solstice. Some choose to hold the rite on June 21, even when this is not the longest day of the year, and some celebrate June 24, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Quebec, the traditional Midsummer day, June 24, is a public holiday. So it was also in Sweden and Finland, but in these countries it was, in the 1950s. In Wicca, practitioners celebrate on the longest day and shortest night of the year which has not had a set date since the retirement of the 13-month Celtic calendar, the celebration of Midsummers Eve was from ancient times a festival of the summer solstice. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southward again, in later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other powerful beings. The solstice itself has remained a special moment of the cycle of the year since Neolithic times. In Sweden, Finland, Latvia and Estonia, Midsummers Eve is the greatest festival of the year, comparable only with Walpurgis Night, Christmas Eve, Ancient Romans would hold a festival to honor the god Summanus on June 20. In the 7th century, Saint Eligius warned the recently converted inhabitants of Flanders against the pagan solstice celebrations. According to the Vita by his companion Ouen, hed say, on St. Johns Eve in certain regions the boys collect bones and certain other rubbish, and burn them, and therefrom a smoke is produced on the air. They also make brands and go about the fields with the brands, thirdly, the wheel which they roll. The fires, explained the monk of Winchcombe, were to drive away dragons, on St Johns Day 1333 Petrarch watched women at Cologne rinsing their hands and arms in the Rhine so that the threatening calamities of the coming year might be washed away by bathing in the river. In Austria the midsummer solstice is celebrated each year with a procession of ships down the Danube River as it flows through the wine-growing Wachau Valley just north of Vienna. Up to 30 ships sail down the river in line as fireworks erupt from the banks and hill tops while bonfires blaze, lighted castle ruins also erupt with fireworks during the 90-minute cruise downstream. This nationwide festival, called Festa Junina, or São João, rural life is celebrated through typical clothing, food, and dance
2.
Solar deity
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A solar deity is a sky deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms, the Sun is sometimes referred to by its Latin name Sol or by its Greek name Helios. The English word sun stems from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, the Neolithic concept of a solar barge is found in the later myths of ancient Egypt, with Ra and Horus. Predynasty Egyptian beliefs attribute Atum as the sun-god and Horus as a god of the sky, as the Old Kingdom theocracy gained power, early beliefs were incorporated with the expanding popularity of Ra and the Osiris-Horus mythology. Atum became Ra-Atum, the rays of the setting sun, Osiris became the divine heir to Atums power on Earth and passes his divine authority to his son Horus. Early Egyptian myths imply the sun is within the lioness, Sekhmet, at night and is reflected in her eyes, or that it is within the cow, Hathor, during the night, being reborn each morning as her son. Mesopotamian Shamash plays an important role during the Bronze Age, similarly, South American cultures have a tradition of Sun worship, as with the Incan Inti. Proto-Indo-European religion has a chariot, the sun as traversing the sky in a chariot. In Germanic mythology this is Sol, in Vedic Surya, and in Greek Helios, svarog is the Slavic solar deity, represented as a spirit of fire. During the Roman Empire, a festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun was celebrated on the winter solstice—the rebirth of the sun—which occurred on December 25 of the Julian calendar. In late antiquity, the centrality of the sun in some Imperial religious systems suggest a form of a solar monotheism. The religious commemorations on December 25 were replaced under Christian domination of the Empire with the birthday of Christ, the Tiv people consider the Sun to be the son of the supreme being Awondo and the Moon Awondos daughter. The Barotse tribe believes that the Sun is inhabited by the sky god Nyambi, some Sara people also worship the sun. Even where the sun god is equated with the supreme being, the Ancient Egyptian god of creation, Amun is also believed to reside inside the sun. So is the Akan creator deity, Nyame and the Dogon deity of creation, also in Egypt, there was a religion that worshiped the sun directly, and was among the first monotheistic religions, Atenism. Sun worship was prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion, the earliest deities associated with the sun are all goddesses, Wadjet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut, Bast, Bat, and Menhit. First Hathor, and then Isis, give birth to and nurse Horus, Hathor the horned-cow is one of the 12 daughters of Ra, gifted with joy and is a wet-nurse to Horus. From at least the 4th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the sun was worshipped as the deity Re, and portrayed as a falcon headed god surmounted by the solar disk, and surrounded by a serpent
3.
County Limerick
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County Limerick is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster, and is part of the Mid-West Region. It is named after the city of Limerick, Limerick City and County Council is the local council for the county. The countys population at the 2016 census is 195,175 of which 58,319 live in Limerick City, Limerick borders four other counties, Kerry to the west, Clare to the north, Tipperary to the east and Cork to the south. It is the fifth largest of Munsters six counties in size, the River Shannon flows through the city of Limerick into the Atlantic Ocean at the north of the county. Below the city, the waterway is known as the Shannon Estuary, because the estuary is shallow, the countys most important port is several kilometres west of the city, at Foynes. Limerick City is the county town and is also Irelands third largest city and it also serves as a regional centre for the greater Mid-West Region. Newcastle West, Killmallock & Abbeyfeale are other important towns in the county, there are fourteen historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, the highest point in the county is located in its south-east corner at Galtymore, which separates Limerick from County Tipperary. The county is not a simply a plain, its topography consists of hills, the eastern part of the county is part of the Golden Vale, which is well known for dairy produce and consists of rolling low hills. This gives way to flat land around the centre of the county. Towards the west, the Mullaghareirk Mountains push across the county offering extensive views east over the county, tributaries of the Shannon drainage basin located in the county include the rivers Mulkear, Loobagh, Maigue, Camogue, Morning Star, Deel, and the Feale. It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, the arrival of the Celts around 400 BC brought about the division of the county into petty kingdoms or túatha. The OBriens retained their power until late in the 1100s. The ancestors of both Michael Collins and the famous OConnells of Derrynane were also among the septs of the Uí Fidgenti. As the Ui Fidgenti were the clan in the Limerick after 400 a. d. the Uí Fidgenti still made a substantial contribution to the population of the central. Their capital was Dún Eochair, the earthworks of which still remain and can be found close to the modern town of Bruree
4.
County Louth
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County Louth is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Border Region and it is named after the village of Louth. Louth County Council is the authority for the county. The population of the county is 122,897 according to the 2016 census, County Louth is colloquially known as the Wee County as it is Irelands smallest county by area (826 km2. It is the 18th-largest in terms of population and it is the smallest of Leinster’s 12 counties by size and the sixth-largest by population. Despite its fairly average total population, Louth is the second most densely populated county in Ireland behind Dublin, County Louth is named after the village of Louth, which in turn is named after Lugh, a god of the ancient Irish. Historically, the placename has had various spellings, Lugmad, Lughmhaigh, lú is the modern simplified spelling. The county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. They also established a longphort at Annagassan in the ninth century, at this time Louth consisted of three sub-kingdoms each subject to separate over-kingdoms, Conaille, Fir Rois, and, the Fir Arda Ciannachta. The whole area became part of the OCarroll Kingdom of Airgialla early in the 12th century, a number of historic sites are in the county, including religious sites at Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey and the St Mary Magdalene Dominican Friary. The Normans occupied the Louth area in the 1180s, and it known as English Oriel. The latter became the McMahon lordship of Oriel of Monaghan, in the early 14th century, the Scottish army of Edward Bruce was repulsed from Drogheda. Edward was finally defeated, losing his claim to the High Kingship of Ireland along with his life, in the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk, by a chiefly local force led by John de Bermingham. In 1189 AD, a charter was granted to Dundalk after a Norman nobleman named Bertram de Verdun erected a manor house at Castletown Mount. Later in 1412, a charter was granted to Drogheda. This charter unified the towns of Drogheda-in-Meath and Drogheda-in-Uriel as a County in its own right, oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 slaughtering the Royalist garrison and hundreds of the towns citizens. Drogheda held for James II under Lord Iveagh, but surrendered to King William of Orange the day after the battle of the Boyne. They were betrayed by informers, notably a Dr. Conlan, who came from Dundalk, the priest and scientist Nicholas Callan was from Darver
5.
County Londonderry
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County Londonderry, also known as County Derry, is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Adjoining the north-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,074 km² and has a population of about 247,132 and it is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland, as well as part of the historic province of Ulster. Since 1981, it has one of four counties in Northern Ireland that has a Catholic majority. The county flower is the Purple Saxifrage, the place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire, meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Londonderry generally preferred by unionists, british authorities use the name Londonderry, while Derry is used by the Republic of Ireland. Mountsandel located near Coleraine in County Londonderry is perhaps the oldest recorded settlement within Ireland, at an early period, what became the county of Coleraine was inhabited by the OCahans, who were tributary to the ONeills. This county was named Londonderry, a combination of London and Derry, the Irish Society was made up of the twelve main livery companies of London, which themselves were composed of various guilds. Whilst The Irish Society as a whole was given possession of the city of Londonderry and Coleraine, the county town of County Londonderry, and seat of the Londonderry County Council until its abolition in 1973, was therefore moved to the town of Coleraine. The highest point in the county is the summit of Sawel Mountain on the border with County Tyrone, Sawel is part of the Sperrin Mountains, which dominate the southern part of the county. In the centre of the county are the deciduous forests at Banagher and Ness Wood. These councils were, Derry City Council, Limavady Borough Council, and Magherafelt District Council, most of Coleraine Borough Council, the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway continued as a private bus company based in the city but operating predominantly in County Donegal until it closed in 2014. Bus services are now provided by Ulsterbus, two major centres of the University of Ulster are in the county, including its headquarters at Coleraine and the Magee Campus in Derry. The Derry teams wear the red and white. There are many teams competing in up to five leagues. The county team has won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and five National League titles, hurling is also widely played but is not as popular as football. However, the county team is regarded as one of the top hurling sides in Ulster. The Northern Ireland Milk Cup was established in 1983 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in Europe and the world. In rugby union, the county is represented at senior level by Rainey Old Boys Rugby Club, Magherafelt who compete in the Ulster Senior League and All Ireland Division Three
6.
County Donegal
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County Donegal is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region of the Republic of Ireland and is in the province of Ulster and it is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. Donegal County Council is the council for the county and Lifford serves as the county town. The population of the county is 158,755 according to the 2016 census and it has also been known as Tyrconnell, after the historic territory of the same name. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster, uniquely, County Donegal shares a small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland – County Leitrim. The greater part of its border is shared with three counties of Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, County Tyrone and County Fermanagh. While Lifford is the county town, Letterkenny is by far the largest town in the county with a population of 19,588, Letterkenny and the nearby city of Derry form the main economic axis of the northwest of Ireland. Indeed, what became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610, there are two Gaeltacht districts in the west, The Rosses, centred on the town of Dungloe, and Gweedore. Another Gaeltacht district is located in the north-west, Cloughaneely, centred on the town of Falcarragh, the most northerly part of the island of Ireland is the location for three peninsulas of outstanding natural beauty, Inishowen, Fanad and Rosguill. The main population centre of Inishowen, Irelands largest peninsula, is Buncrana, in the east of the county lies the Finn Valley. The Laggan district is centred on the town of Raphoe, according to the 1841 Census, County Donegal had a population of 296,000 people. As a result of famine and emigration, the population had reduced by 41,000 by 1851, by the time of the 1951 Census the population was only 44% of what it had been in 1841. The 2006 Census, undertaken by the States Central Statistics Office, had County Donegals population standing at 147,264, according to the 2011 Census, the countys population had grown to 161,137. It has an indented coastline forming natural sea loughs, of which both Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle are the most notable. The Slieve League cliffs are the sixth-highest sea cliffs in Europe, the climate is temperate and dominated by the Gulf Stream, with warm, damp summers and mild wet winters. Two permanently inhabited islands, Arranmore and Tory Island, lie off the coast, Irelands second longest river, the Erne, enters Donegal Bay near the town of Ballyshannon. The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power, the River Foyle separates part of County Donegal from parts of both counties Londonderry and Tyrone. A survey of the marine algae of County Donegal was published in 2003
7.
Fairy
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A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. According to Thomas Keightley, the word derives from the Latin fata. Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal fada, in old French romance, fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs. Faierie became fairy, but with that now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people. The word fairy was used to represent an illusion, or enchantment, to the word faie was added the suffix -erie, used to express either a place where something is found or a trade or typical activity engaged in. In later usage it applied to any kind of quality or activity associated with a particular type of person. In the sense land where fairies dwell, the distinctive and archaic spellings Faery, the latinate fay is not to be confused with the unrelated fey, meaning fated to die. Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk. Sometimes the term fairy is used to any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes, at other times. Fairies have their origin in the conflation of Celtic traditions in the Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning enchanted, but was used as a name for enchanted creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period. In English literature of the Elizabethan era, elves became conflated with the fairies of Romance culture, the Victorian and Edwardian eras saw an increase in interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival viewed them as part of Irelands cultural heritage, carole Silvers and others suggest that the fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization, and loss of folkways. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers, even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans, on Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are rare in the folklore, even very small fairies flew with magic. Nowadays, fairies are depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes, some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot
8.
Cailleach
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In Gaelic mythology the Cailleach is a divine hag, a creator deity and weather deity, and an ancestor deity. She is also known as the Cailleach Bhéara or Bheur. The word cailleach means hag in modern Scottish Gaelic, and has applied to numerous mythological figures in Ireland, Scotland. Cailleach comes from the Old Gaelic Caillech, a form of caille. The Cailleach is often referred to as the Cailleach Bhéara, Cailleach Bheur, the 8th/9th-century Irish poem The Lament of the Old Woman says that the Cailleachs name is Digdi or Digde. In The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn she is called Milucra, sister of Áine, in the tale of the Glas Gaibhnenn she is called Biróg. Elsewhere, she is called Buí or Bua, in Manx Gaelic she is known as the Caillagh. The plural of cailleach is cailleacha in Irish and cailleachan in Scottish Gaelic, the word is found as a component in terms like the Gaelic cailleach-dhubh and cailleach-oidhche, as well as the Irish cailleach feasa and cailleach phiseogach. Related words include the Gaelic caileag and the Irish cailín and the Lowland Scots carline/carlin, a more obscure word that is sometimes interpreted as hag is the Irish síle, which has led some to speculate on a connection between the Cailleach and the stonecarvings of Sheela na Gigs. In other cases she is said to have built the mountains intentionally and she carries a hammer for shaping the hills and valleys, and is said to be the mother of all the goddesses and gods. The Cailleach displays several traits befitting the personification of winter, she herds deer, she fights spring, Là Fhèill Brìghde is also the day the Cailleach gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. As a result, people are generally relieved if Là Fhèill Brìghde is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep, will run out of firewood. On the Isle of Man, where She is known as Caillagh ny Groamagh, in Scotland, the Cailleachan are also known as The Storm Hags, and seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature, especially in a destructive aspect. They are said to be active in raising the windstorms of spring, during the period known as A Chailleach. On the west coast of Scotland, the Cailleach ushers in winter by washing her great plaid in the Gulf of Corryvreckan and this process is said to take three days, during which the roar of the coming tempest is heard as far away as twenty miles inland. When she is finished, her plaid is pure white and snow covers the land, in Scotland and Ireland, the first farmer to finish the grain harvest made a corn dolly, representing the Cailleach, from the last sheaf of the crop. The figure would then be tossed into the field of a neighbor who had not yet finished bringing in their grain. The last farmer to finish had the responsibility to take in and care for the corn dolly for the year, with the implication theyd have to feed
9.
Irish mythology
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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature and this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a number of recorded folk tales that, while not strictly mythological. Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition, the earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century. The first of these part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy, when using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy and it was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material, the Mythological Cycle, comprising stories of the former gods and origins of the Irish, is the least well preserved of the four cycles. The most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places, Other manuscripts preserve such mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The Battle of Magh Tuireadh. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to before Noah. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the people of later myth. The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great work of early Ireland. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians. It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, however, there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities. Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, a poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends Although enumerates them, he does not worship them
10.
FitzGerald dynasty
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The FitzGerald dynasty is an Irish Hiberno-Norman or Cambro-Norman dynasty. The dynasty has also referred to as the Geraldines. They were established by the conquest of large swathes of Irish territory by the sons and grandsons of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor, Gerald was a Norman castellan in Wales, and is the male progenitor of the Fitzgerald dynasty. Geralds Welsh wife Nest ferch Rhys is the progenitor of the Fitzgeralds. She was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth, through her the Fitzgeralds are descended from the Welsh rulers of Deheubarth as well as related to the Tudors who are descended from the same Welsh royal line. Consequently, the Fitzgeralds are cousins to the Tudors through Nest, in his poetry, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, referred to Elizabeth FitzGerald as Fair Geraldine. The main branches of the family are, the FitzGeralds of Kildare and its current head is Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster. The Lord of Lanstephan was a participant in the 1169 Norman invasion of Ireland. The FitzGerald dynasty has played a role in Irish history. Gearóid Mór, 8th Earl of Kildare and his son Gearóid Óg, 9th Earl of Kildare, were Lord Deputy of Ireland in the late Fifteenth and early Sixteenth centuries respectively. The FitzGerald dynasty became so intermingled with the native Gaelic Irish that they were often described as more Irish than the Irish themselves. The best example of this is Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, although made Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1367, Gerald wrote poetry in the Irish language, most famously the poem Mairg adeir olc ris na mnáibh. Indeed, although an accomplished poet in Norman French, Gerald was instrumental in the move by the FitzGeralds of Desmond toward greater use of the Irish language, the surname FitzGerald comes from the Norman tradition of adding Fitz, meaning son of before the fathers name. So, Fitz Gerald means in Old Norman and in Old French son of Gerald, Gerald itself is a Germanic compound of ger, spear, and waltan, rule. Variant spellings include Fitz-Gerald and the modern Fitzgerald, the name can also be used as two separate words Fitz Gerald. For more on the Kildare Geraldines, see Duke of Leinster, lady Edward FitzGerald, known as Pamela, wife of Lord Edward FitzGerald. The line of the Earls of Desmond has been extinct since the 17th century and their branch of the dynasty continues only in their distant collateral kinsmen, Irelands hereditary knights. Thus in fact represent a sister branch to the FitzGeralds of Desmond
