Irish History for Dummies

Where did the name of this country come from

2007-04-26T15:39:00.000+01:00

Taken from wikipedia

The ancient peoples of Ireland - such as the creators of the Ceide Fields and Newgrange - are almost unknown. Neither their language(s?) nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived. As late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium AD the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names – Banba, Scotia, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders; Hibernia and Scotia to the Romans; Ierne to the Greeks.

Likewise, the terms for people from Ireland – all from Roman sources – in the late Roman era were varied. They included Attacotti, Scoti, and Gael. This last word, derived from the Welsh gwyddel (meaning raiders), was eventually adopted by the Irish for themselves. However, as a term it is on a par with Viking, as it describes an activity (raiding, piracy) and its proponents, not their actual ethnic affiliations. The general term Pretani (or the prefix prit-) was sometimes applied to all the indigenous inhabitants of the British Isles ("Pretannic Isles") by the Greeks.[1]

However, Greek sources at the time cannot claim to have had an in-depth understanding of the ethnic nature of Ireland and Britain.

The term Irish and Ireland is derived from the Érainn, a people who once lived in what is now central and south Munster. Possibly their proximity to overseas trade with western Britain, Gaul and Hispania led to the name of this one people to be applied to the whole island and its inhabitants.

In around 900 BC, a race known as the Celts appeared. They were the result of cross-breeding between European Bronze Age people and wanderers from central Asia. They dominated the country for many years to follow, building many of the characteristic ring forts which are found all over Ireland. They did not confine themselves to Ireland, however, dominating Western Europe for a long time, sacking Rome in 390 BC, and Delphi a century later.

From what I can find the name Ireland is derived from the Proto-Celtic word, Éire which when translated means "the fertile place" or "Place of Éire (Eriu)" a Celtic fertility goddess.

Proto-Celtic is the ancestor of all the known Celtic languages and is thought to have been spoken from around 800BC.

Thats the best I can do........

Where do we go from here

2007-04-17T17:25:00.000+01:00

OK......we have established that the land that we now sitting on has been on quite a trip.

My father used to tell me that if all the people of Ireland got together around the coast and each with an oar, we could row the country to a different part of the world. The funny thing about it is that it is not so far from the truth. I was trying to find information on whether Ireland is still moving today and if so in what different, somewhere in the direction of Spain would be good. If that is happening Michael o Leary with have to charge 2 cents for the short haul Dublin to Stanstead flight.

If anyone can find information on the movement of Ireland, please post me a comment.

OK...where to next, I was thinking of getting some information on:

how the first people came to Ireland,
where did they come from,
where did they live,
what did they do,
what animals where here then,
where the first settlers called O Leary.
and did Tir na Oig exist?

Can anyone help out?

570 million years in 2 minutes

2007-04-13T11:28:00.000+01:00

Time for a rewind and a fast forward though 570 million years.

To understand where Ireland came from, when it was born etc, we need to look at the "BIG PICTURE".

From what I can find it seems like there where 2 main continents a long time ago, Laurentia and Avalonia. These two continents where moving closer and closer together until one day the two collided, a lot of geological activity took place during this violent period: minerals such as gold were left, like in counties like Wicklow and Mayo, volcanoes erupted at Vinegar Hill in Wexford, and rocks were crumpled, as can be seen at Port Oriel and Clogher Head.

Pangaea lasted for 200 million years, before the restless continents of North America and Europe separated again. A rift valley cracked open between them that has since widened to form the modern Atlantic Ocean. Must have been some rift :-). Small pieces of North America were left behind, tacked on to Scotland and the northwest half of Ireland.

570 million years ago
Other information points out that parts of land which is now part of Ireland originated south of the equator around the area where Indonesia is today. Ireland was split in two: Scotland and the north of Ireland were part of the North American plate, while the south of Ireland and England were part of Europe.

395-345 million year ago

The rocks which are now Ireland had moved on in its trip around the planet and was then located around Central America

190-65 million years ago

Ireland continued to move north to where Spain sits today. The Atlantic Ocean began to open separating America from Europe.

65-2 million years ago

During the Tertiary period mammals flourished and flowering plants replaced earlier more primitive species. The continents were shaped very much as they are today but the Atlantic Ocean was narrower and India had still not joined Asia. Ireland was now further north, roughly on the French Mediterranean coast, and its rocks rose slowly above sea level.

TODAY.

After all those exotic and cultured stop off points around the world, we are now situated with one of the worlds biggest swimming pools on one side and Great Britain on the other. The luck of the Irish! Haaaah.

So whats the story here then?

2007-04-12T17:34:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

Whats the purpose of this blog? The purpose of this blog is to motivate me to learn something more about my country, where did we come from, how did Donegal get to be where it is?, where did Christy Moore learn to screw his face up like he does? Why do we have red hair (well some of the unfortunate few, amoung us)? Why do foreign people think like we sound like we are singing when we are talking? Why did we end up so close to England?

On a slightly more sincere note, I have just realised that I am nearly in my 30-somethings, and I have noticed that there is a generation younger than me now, who all they think about is bebo, PSP2, internet, FIFA09, and “you have been tangooed” fake tan. Don't get me started on fake tan………..

What I am trying to say is that those things I have listed above are things that when I was 8 or 9 I would not have dreamt of. Just having a leather football that blew away in the wind instead of an orange plastic ball was a luxory. Remember the auld Atari…………….I waited 4 years for it, Santa kept forgetting it or something like that.

I want to learn more about why we Irish are like we are, why our country is like it is and the most scary thing……where are we going next.

Impossible I hear you say…….probably right. What qualifications does he have……..a Junior Cert C in history and I know nothing about anthropology but sure as the auld saying goes……..God loves a tryer.

If anyone out there with a good logical brain, I would appreciate trying to put together a road map on how to achieve this.

All help and assistance welcome…….