The History of Ireland

In this episode we look at The Fate of the Children of Lír and explore how Ireland's most famous myth is not a myth at all. In fact, it's a Christian parable in a shape of myth. A bit like a child who's been turned into a swan.The artwork for this episode is THE CHILDREN OF LIR. THE ENCHANTMENT by Jim FitzPatrick.

A slight diversion from our current series on mythology to look at a unique connection between Ireland and Palestine. If you'd like to donate to support the people of Palestine you can do so here: https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/west-bank-gazaAs this could be a contentious episode, I wanted to ensure I shared all my sources. If it's something people find interesting, I'll keep doing for episodes moving forward. Seán W. Gannon, “The Formation, Composition, and Conduct of the British Section of the Palestine Gendarmerie, 1922–26,” The Historical Journal (2013). Cambridge University Press & AssessmentSeán W. Gannon, “‘Our Irish Constabulary’: The British Palestine Gendarmerie, 1922–1926,” in The Irish Imperial ServiceRichard A. Cahill, “The Image of ‘Black and Tans’ in Late Mandate Palestine,” Jerusalem Quarterly 40 (2009).Richard A. Cahill, “Going Berserk: ‘Black and Tans’ in Palestine,” Jerusalem Quarterly 38 (2009). Palestine StudiesUCC, The War of Words: Propaganda and Moral Force. University College Cork

In this episode Lug issues a fine to the Children of Tuireann and we look at how fines were the bedrock of medieval Ireland's decentralised system of laws.

In the latest episode we dive into the Fate of the Children of Tuireann, a story from the 15th century that builds on The Second Battle of Moytura and introduces a fascinating (if slightly horrible) character in the form of Brian, son of Tuireann.

In this episode we explore the concept of honour price and how it was one of the most important legal concept in early medieval Ireland. We then dive back into The Wooing of Étain, where three games of fidchell (ancient Irish chess) demonstrate different approaches to keeping deals and saving face.

In this episode we look at how early medieval Ireland was ruled through a series of different kings and over kings, as well as continue our story of Etain, who is now living in early medieval Ireland with no memory of her time with the Tuatha Dé.Image, used with permission, is Nuada the High King by Jim Fitzpatrick.https://jimfitzpatrick.com/product-category/celtic-irish-fantasy-art/the-book-of-conquests-and-the-silverarm/page/2/

In this episode we get back into The Wooing of Étain, exploring her life as a fly and witness how she is reborn 1000 years later...

In this episode we look at how a Welsh bishop with fringe apocalyptic ideas became the patron saint of Ireland – defeating a whole load of druids in the process.