There was one morning when the world dissolved, obliterated in a downpour that melted the distant islands, then the immediate surroundings as well. Preceded by a cluster of unusually threatening, blue-bruised clouds, the incoming deluge had given plenty of warning. As a result, the girl was comfortably settled under a solitary oak at the tip… Read more »
There’s a lot of misinformation online about this rock in Kilcatherine on the Beara peninsula. So much so, that the rock is now regularly polluted by votive ‘offerings’ left by visitors and ‘seekers’ who don’t really understand the context or the evolution of its fame. This year, I’m hoping to make a start on the… Read more »
It’s been three years since I released the first official ‘Irish Imbas Catalogue’ (to much hoorah!) back in May 2020. One of the problems with catalogues, however, is that they really are a snapshot in time of creative work and output and, often, they don’t reflect creative or professional changes that have occurred over a… Read more »
Each year An Post runs a programme of special and commemorative stamps on behalf of the Irish Government. Deirdre of the Sorrows was part of the mythology series produced a few years ago and illustrates the legendary love story of Naoise and Deirdre and the jealous rage this caused in Conchubar mac Nessa. The story… Read more »
Oisín and Niamh galloping towards Tír na nÓg. Or is it? Is this an authentic reproduction of the classic Fenian tale or something else entirely? “How we picture Irish mythology” – the next in-depth post from Vóg (subscriber edition) on 30 April. You can find the ‘free’ and ‘paid’ sign-up to the newsletter HERE
What is the Sweetest Sound? The music of what happens next. In terms of what happens next, I’ve got my head down on a number of separate IRISH IMBAS projects, most of which won’t see the light of day until later this year (and some later still). Most of these are in varying stages of… Read more »
I’m currently behind on where I want to be with Liath Luachra: The Great Wild. At this stage, the draft is sitting at over 30,000 words and although I had planned to keep it around that length, the final product is looking more like 40-50,000 (in other words, it’s about 3-4/5 complete). This means that the… Read more »
We had a bunch of foreign visitors arrive at our home in Cork last night.Being hospitable, we fed them at the kitchen table.As soon as they’d consumed what we’d offered, they got up and started rummaging through the cupboards, combing through our personal correspondence, pulling our belongings out and throwing them one side as they… Read more »
For those of you who aren’t aware, an updated version of An Seabhach’s “Cath Fionntrá” came out last year. The story concerns the King of France’s ire (clearly, this was pre-revolutionary France) when his wife and daughter run off with his guest Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Joining up for vengeance with Dáire Donn (the King of… Read more »
An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitúil agus Oidhreachta (Ireland’s Office of Public Works and National Monuments Service), get a lot of bad stick online, usually from opinionated keyboard warriors who don’t understand the realities of managing a nationwide conservation programme. It’s nice, therefore, when they release a new project that helps to increase accessibility (and understanding)… Read more »
There’s a new version of ‘An Táin’ released this week. The cover image and fact that its title is ‘THE Táin’ suggests it’s designed for a non-Irish audience (although, to be fair, it’s primarily targeting children). I’ll be writing more about ‘An Táin’ in ‘Vóg‘ – the Irish Imbas newsletter – at the end of… Read more »
It’s nice to see people enjoying the St Paddy’s Day parades , taking place again after the Covid-19 years (this photo from the Cork parade in 2022 – from Cork County Council). It’s also interesting to see how the parades have changed so much over several decades. It’s probably worth noting that the parade was… Read more »
Representation of mythology, in the modern context, is a bit like those small leather screens attached to a horse’s bridle. What we see -or, rather, what we’re shown by various commercial and other vested interests – only gives us a very limited view of what mythology actually is and what it does. Irish Imbas is… Read more »
When I first started writing the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series almost nine years ago, I was keen to create a realistic, culturally authentic version of the famous Fenian Cycle. In particular, I wanted to write stories that were genuinely Irish while also accessible to non-Irish readers. As part of my overall goal with Irish Imbas… Read more »
As of today, it’s 9 years exactly since I published FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma – my first attempt at producing a genuine (as culturally authentic as I could make it) Irish historical/ adventure novel. To be honest, at the time I had no idea whether people would like it. I’d never written anything similar… Read more »
A lot of people tend to forget that Fionn mac Cumhaill also held a reputation as a talented poet (which has a whole bunch of relevant associations) and the Fenian narratives are strongly linked with what’s generally referred to as ‘nature poetry’. A number of ‘nature poems’ are actually attributed to Fionn (and I’ve a… Read more »
Father Sun had neared his peak when the girl in the clearing stirred. Stretched across the ankle-high grass, her initial shiftings were indiscernible beneath the black cloak that swathed her. As vigorous ripples of activity shifted through the garment however, it loosened and slowly unravelled. A bare pair of legs slid into the open and… Read more »
At this time of year, you can offer someone best wishes or a peaceful Lá Fhéile Bríde (St Brigid’s day) or Imbolg, depending on which way your belief system drifts. The former ( Lá Fhéile Bríde) is now an official holiday in Ireland (on Monday 6 Feb). I’m pretty agnostic about both, to be honest (although I’m totally… Read more »
