I’m back in the Gaeltacht having finished an intense but rewarding week on an Irish language immersion course in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Corca Dhuibhne; Ballyferriter, Dingle Peninsula. (There’ll be a lot of Irish in this blog, hopefully mainly spelled correctly, but it seems only right to give names in Irish first). The course was very […]
Bonfire Night;
Tobar Eoin Óg, St John’s Well, Carrigaline
Today is the Feast of St John the Baptist, a good example of one of those Christian festivals that neatly superimposed itself upon a much older pagan celebration, for it is also Midsummer – an ancient Celtic festival when fires were lit to honour Áine, the goddess associated with the sun, fertility and the protection […]

